Waters of Ragnarök – Design Notes
By Tryggvi Hákonarson, Lead Designer at Polar Region Games
Hello! My name is Tryggvi Hákonarson, and I am the lead designer at Polar Region Games. Today, I want to share some design thoughts about Waters of Ragnarök, our upcoming tactical Viking fleet combat game set in the wake of the world’s end.
As with all early design work, these ideas are subject to change. No design document survives first contact with development.
What is Waters of Ragnarök?
Waters of Ragnarök is a tactical ship combat game with exploration, trade, and ship customization. It takes place in the aftermath of Ragnarök or perhaps during its closing chapters.
The world has been drowned in water and fire. Many gods have fallen; only a few of the great Æsir and Jötunn remain along with humans, dwarves and elves. Those who survived have formed factions to endure the chaos. Some cooperate while others raid, but all share one goal beyond survival: to reach the legendary halls of Gimli.
You play as a seafaring hero, commanding a fleet across dangerous seas on a quest to find Gimli.
The Game System
The game is split between two primary modes:
Navigation Map. Sail across a vast ocean, avoiding hazards, gathering resources, and interacting with towns and other ships.
Purchase, craft, or loot ships and modules.
Manage your fleet: feed your crew, repair damaged vessels, and install new weapons or magical enhancements.
Encounter friendly traders, hostile raiders, and mythical dangers.
Combat Map. Engage in tactical fleet battles against enemy ships and monsters.
Control your flagship directly with WASD movement or the mouse.
Command allied ships through stances, roles, and direct orders.
Pause the battle at any time to issue precise commands.
Target enemy hulls, sails, weapons, or crew
Damage to the ships affects ship's performance.
Board and capture enemy ships or destroy them outright.
We’re developing a hybrid control system where you feel the immediacy of piloting your flagship while still making strategic fleet-wide decisions.
The Ships
These are not ordinary Viking longships. They are massive, 100-meter-long vessels built from the bones, teeth, and hides of slain monsters and Jötnar. Crafted to weather impossible storms and hostile waters, some ships are so large they function as floating villages.
Resources
In the drowned world after Ragnarök, the sea itself is your greatest source of wealth and danger.
Harvesting the Fallen
While human dead rot beneath the waves, Jötnar corpses eventually float to the surface. Their bones and hides are shipbuilding materials; their hearts and blood fuel powerful magic; even their teeth and hair have value.Mythic Salvage
Broken fragments of Yggdrasil retain magical properties. Ruined ships, drowned towns, and ancient artifacts lie scattered across the ocean.Dangerous Bounty
Every expedition for resources risks drawing the attention of predators, raiders, and worse.
Monsters of the Deep
Not all Jötnar and beasts perished in Ragnarök. The seas are still home to colossal giants, the offspring of Jörmungandr, and other horrors. The undead roam the waters aboard cursed ships, attacking without reason or mercy. Sailing in this new world means living with the constant threat of annihilation.
Waters of Ragnarök is about surviving and thriving in a hostile, mythic ocean. It’s about commanding a fleet, building it from the remains of fallen gods and monsters, and daring to challenge the dangers that still haunt the post-apocalyptic seas.
This is the world we’re building, and I can’t wait to share more as we bring it to life.
