It’s been a while since my last update, but I’ve been working on Nobles & Glory in a very different way. I’ve moved into layout and publishing using the free Affinity Publisher, and I’ve been surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.
I expected this part to be a grind: wrestling with formatting quirks and shifting text boxes, and getting lost in margins and bleed settings. Instead it’s been one of the most creatively satisfying stages so far. I like seeing the rules take shape on the page, and treating the book as something worth designing in its own right.
Laying it out has also made me look at the game differently. As I place text, headings and sidebars, I can see the structure of the rules more clearly, and the formatting has turned into a kind of design audit. I’ve simplified some sections, merged ideas, and found better ways to explain the main systems. The rules were working, but presenting them clearly showed me how they could work more cleanly. For example, I’ve been removing a lot of minor edge-case rules and replacing them with shared terms that are defined in a glossary. That’s made the core systems easier to follow and kept the book readable. The flavour text has found a more natural place too, sitting alongside the mechanics instead of interrupting them. The game and the book are starting to feel like one thing.
Affinity Publisher has been far easier to learn than I expected, and it’s let me use a different creative muscle. Designing page layouts, adjusting spacing and adding small visual touches has reminded me why I wanted to make this game in the first place.
Nobles & Glory has always been a love letter to the standard deck of cards, and arranging the rules, artwork and text into something physical has brought that feeling back. The rulebook has become a way to celebrate the deck itself, a small, ordinary object that carries centuries of design, symbolism and play.
– Jonathan
