About the game:
Welcome to Iceland: Settlement to Independence, an innovative worker placement board game that puts you in the role of the original settlers of Iceland, shaping the course of the nation for the next thousand years.
Iceland is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players that deals with the history of Iceland from its settlement in the 9th century to gaining independence in 1944. Players are individually competing for control of limited resources to gain influence and prestige, but simultaneously cooperating to help rebuild the country after it is ravaged by civil war, religious schism, changing climate, and the ever-present threat of volcanic eruptions.
Only one player can win, but if the players as a group have not overcome these hardships and advanced the economy and culture of Iceland enough to reach the independence threshold, then everyone loses.
Every game plays in a set number of rounds, from the Settlement Era to World War 2. Rounds consist of Events, Choosing Lawspeaker, and Player actions. Each round has a special event and aside from the first and last round, these are random but grouped within historical eras. The selection of events is based on historical events in Iceland, but each era has enough possible events to choose from that no two games will play exactly the same, even though every game is based on actual history. In addition, each historical period has the potential for a major volcanic eruption that will disrupt some or all of the seven regions on the map.
