The Book of Kells, a (~)1st century illuminated manuscript of the Latin gospels, is one of the most extraordinary works of art in the Western religious tradition. In Kells, players represent different orders of monks working to fortify Kells and complete as much of the Book of Kells as possible before the city is overrun by the marauding Vikings. The order that contributes most to the completion of the manuscript, while also slowing down the Vikings' progress, will win the honour of carrying the Book of Kells to the people of Ireland, thus spreading hope in a time of fear.

Kells is a mid-weight, Euro-style dice worker placement and resource management game. At the beginning of a round, each player rolls four dice (representing their monks). On their turn, a player will place a monk in one of the Work Areas surrounding the board, pay a food cost, and take a variety of actions. But each Work Area will have different requirements: in one Work Area, players may have to place dice of increasing value, in others of they may have to place dice of lesser value, equal value, use dice of an odd or even value, and so on.  Each Work Area corresponds to a certain action, such as harvesting the forest berries needed to make different varieties of ink, quarrying stone to build temporary fortifications around Kells, mining crystals that will improve the quality of the Book's lustrous illustrations, earning special abilities by visiting the monastery shrines, and, of course, inking pages in the Book of Kells itself. But beware; every round, the Viking ships move closer: will your order complete the Book before they reach the city gates?