Northgard Battlegrounds is an auto-battler set in the Northgard world, made by Funday Games and published by Shiro Unlimited. You never steer a fight. Between battles you buy structures from a four-slot shop and place them on your hex settlement. Each unit camp sends one unit into battle per villager working there, and the fight plays out on its own.
A run ends when you win 10 PvP battles or lose 5 lives. Your rivals are boards other players built and saved, so you can't counter one opponent: you build a settlement that holds up against many. Early access opens on 27 October 2026, and the free demo is on Steam now.
What to learn first
Three ideas carry most of the game. Adjacency first: most bonuses only reach the six hexes around a structure, so where a piece sits matters as much as what it is. Then tags. Warband, Melee, Economy, Divine and the rest decide which pieces boost which, so read the tags on every shop offer before you buy.
Last, the two currencies. Krowns buy structures and villagers, from 4 Krowns for a Common to 24 for a Legendary. Lore buys Fate cards, and every card you pick adds favor with its god; Baldr, Odin and Thor open stronger cards and powers at 3, 5 and 8 favor. A second copy of a structure you own levels it up, to level 3 at most.
Read How a run works first: it covers the rules, the creature round that opens every season and a safe first Spring. Then pick a clan. Raven and Stag have been playable since the demo opened, and Wolf, led by Egil, joined in the 2026-10-19 update.
The Builds page has five builds with their clan, gods, core structures, Fate cards and placement. Choose one as the target for your first runs. Shop odds shows what each season can offer and what rerolls cost, the Favor planner shows which Fate cards your favor opens, and the Planner lets you lay out a board before you play it.
Liv starts with 15 Crit Chance and gains 3 more, plus 50 Health and 5 Damage, after every battle. Duelist's Cunning pays her 2/3/4 Damage per Economy structure each time she crits. Refined Weaponry adds 3/6/9 Damage to each unit for every Economy piece touching it.
The Wolf clan joins the demo, and a balance pass trims the Health, Tower and Thorns pieces that led after 0.77.111d, plus the top-performing Mystical units.
Northgard Battlegrounds hands you a shop, a hex board and a clan, then lets the fights play out without you. Every decision happens between battles. Here are the rules of a run and the first four rounds, where most early losses come from.
Wolf Clan Buffed
Playable clans
Berserker's Rage, Action Speed per neighbouring Melee
Hlidskjalf Nerfed
Health
Armor
Yggdrasil Nerfed
Skull of Hrungnir Mixed
Crit Chance
Frost per neighbouring Divine
Raven Banner Hall Nerfed
