In "Vendel to Viking," players take on the role of family heads from Nordic cultures who aspire to rise during the Viking Age. Each round represents a generation in which players strategically integrate capable individuals into their families. By placing family members on the game board, various basic and talent actions can be performed to gain advantages in different locations, such as new ventures or recruiting additional family members. When a family member is elevated to status, they are linked to a character card that is taken from a market and moved to the family tree. The presence of these characters on the ancestry tableau and the family tree has far-reaching effects on the family's options throughout the game.

• Strategic family game set in the Viking Age
• Integration of capable individuals into your family
• Unique character cards for each generation
• Influence of characters on the course of the game.