Tap the game to open it fullscreen. On a computer, Esc exits; on a phone, use the ✕ button.

How to play

A marker goes back and forth on a bar. Tap (or press the space bar) when it passes the green zone to pull the rope: in the golden centre the pull is perfect and gains more. Tapping outside the zone makes the ship slip backwards. Reach Constantinople in 90 seconds, as the sky darkens.

The story behind it

Emperor Constantine VII described around 950 how the Rus carried or dragged their boats overland at the river rapids on the way to the Black Sea. The game is a simplification: the marker, the rope and the time limit are made up. Read the story in The Varangian Guard: the Vikings who protected the emperor of Constantinople.