Nobles & Glory is a two-player strategy game set in a richly layered medieval world, played entirely using a standard 54-card deck. It transforms familiar suits and face cards into the bones of a living kingdom, where each suit reflects a core societal power, and every action carries strategic and thematic weight. Each player governs asymmetrical kingdoms, drawing from distinct halves of an evolving deck to build unique Royal Courts. These courts do more than simply represent power; they shape your available actions, restrict or enable tactics, and influence how your kingdom accumulates the game winning Glory.

Your Population, made up of Number Cards, forms the foundation of your realm. These cards represent Nobles and Commoners, and together they drive your kingdom’s influence. A larger Population creates opportunity, but growth must be balanced against stability. As your court expands, you’ll encounter chances to form Guilds, establish Vassals, and generate Roles;  passive effects triggered by the spatial arrangement of suits in your Nobility. The kingdom evolves every turn, with shifting allegiances and unexpected events disrupting even the best-laid plans.

Throughout the game, players perform twenty-five distinct Actions, including Prolonged Actions that unfold over several turns. These mirror the drawn-out nature of warfare, construction, and diplomacy. The Legacy Action is the key to earning Glory and achieving victory; however, to perform it, a Royal Court Card must first be rotated, which can only be accomplished through certain Actions. Success relies not only on bold play, but on thoughtful preparation and timing.

Each player is also guided by an Omen. These cards introduce conditions that may trigger unexpected effects depending on how the game unfolds. Some Omens offer advantages when heeded; others deliver consequences if ignored.

As Glory accumulates, players are not just racing toward the end of the game; they are shaping the terms of victory. Final scoring is affected by the suits most prevalent across both Glory Piles. This means your pursuit of Glory becomes a political statement, influencing not just how much you win by, but what kind of ruler history will remember.

Each Turn is composed of several distinct phases, each representing a key moment in the rhythm of medieval rule. The Inauguration Phase allows you to bring new members into your Royal Court, establishing your leadership for the round. In the Peasant Phase, you must cull your population if Commoners outnumber Nobles, reflecting the hardship of managing an unbalanced realm. At the centre of each Turn lies the Action Phase; a uniquely shared structure in which both players may perform Actions, one at a time, in alternating sequence. The active player initiates the phase, but their opponent may respond with Actions of their own. The Action Phase continues back and forth until both players pass consecutively. Once it ends, the active player resumes the remainder of their Turn.

The Petitions Phase invites requests from the wider kingdom, and if you decline to answer, your opponent may seize the opportunity to act as the realm’s hero. The Migration Phase follows, where new cards are drawn and there is a chance to attract new subjects into your kingdom; this is also when unexpected world events may strike, altering the course of play. Lastly, in the Population Phase, you’ll manage your Nobility, adjust roles, and prepare for the next cycle of governance.

Nobles & Glory celebrates the complexities of medieval life, where rulers balanced war, religion, commerce, and culture amidst shifting power dynamics. Through strategic card play, tense actions, and turn-based structure, every decision carries weight. This is not merely a card battle; it’s a journey into the layered realities of medieval society, where noble ambition intersects with commoner struggles. From triumphs and betrayals in the Royal Court to the alliances and pressures of guilds and clergy, Nobles & Glory captures the challenges of building a lasting legacy in a turbulent world.

The Thematic Suits

Through centuries of use, the French playing card suits have accumulated layers of meaning. Traditionally, they mirrored the structure of society – from the plough to the pulpit, from the battlefield to the marketplace. Spears grew from the fields of agriculture, Hearts drew on the spirit and wisdom, Clovers wielded the power of the military, and Diamonds glittered with the promise of wealth. These symbolic interpretations are interwoven into the history of playing cards, explaining why even today these simple suit symbols can evoke such distinct realms of human experience. Each suit, in its own way, represents a fundamental facet of life, making the deck of cards a compact tapestry of medieval social order and enduring human values.

In Nobles & Glory, the black suits have been renamed for thematic clarity: Spades are referred to as Spears, and Clubs are referred to as Clovers.

Spears

Spears represent the warrior class, the nobles who relied on strength, discipline, and military strategy to expand their kingdoms. These rulers, clad in the dual armors of resolve and steel, lead with a martial mindset, turning military might into a pathway to glory. The Spears suit represents the militaristic and strategic side of medieval life, where honour was earned on the battlefield and expansion was seen as necessary for the growth of the realm. 

The military class of the Spears suit also included the guilds and people who forged weapons, built fortifications, and planned campaigns. While conquest and expansion were viewed as essential to growth, it was always coupled with a desire to protect and defend the kingdom. In this world, strength was the ultimate determinant of survival and power, and the Spears suit reflects that resilience and martial prowess were the bedrock of both glory and stability.

Hearts

Hearts represent those who pursued glory through wisdom, creativity, and spiritual enlightenment. These nobles sought to elevate society, not through conquest, but by promoting intellectual growth and artistic expression. In the medieval world, the pursuit of knowledge was deeply tied to the Church and religious institutions, which preserved learning and philosophy. From cathedral builders to scholars, from poets to philosophers, those of the Heart suit sought to transform their kingdoms by nurturing the mind and spirit.

As the heart of intellectual life, the Heart suit champions the pursuit of a more enlightened society, one that values education, art, and faith. For these nobles, true glory was found not in battle, but in the creation of a kingdom rooted in knowledge, progress, and reform.

These nobles and guilds do not merely imagine a better kingdom – they build it, one verse, vision, or sermon at a time. Their power lies in inspiration, education, and the courage to challenge tradition with new ideas. Glory, for a Heart, is found in the pursuit of a more enlightened realm – both on earth and beyond.

Clovers

Clovers represent the nobles who served as the guardians of the land, overseeing the agricultural backbone of the kingdom. Their lives were closely tied to the cycle of the seasons and the nurturing of the soil. They believed that the true strength of a kingdom rested in its agricultural production, which fed the population, fueled the economy, and sustained the nobility’s wealth. These stewards were not just landowners, but the managers of the earth’s resources, ensuring the survival and prosperity of their realms through diligent care and wise stewardship.

Guided by ancestral knowledge passed down through generations, those of the Clover suit tended to the land, helped by commoners who worked the fields and guilds supporting farming practices. Their role was not only to feed the kingdom but to maintain a balance between land and people. In this realm, the health of the land mirrored the well-being of the kingdom, making the Clover suit the embodiment of prosperity and stability.

Diamonds

Diamonds represent the nobles driven by the pursuit of wealth and economic power. These rulers shaped their kingdoms through trade, commerce, and the management of resources. The Diamond suit mirrors the rise of a capitalistic society where merchants, bankers, and financiers held significant sway, driving the flow of goods and wealth. In the medieval period, cities like Venice and Florence became powerful through their merchant guilds, whose influence extended well beyond mere trade.

The economic strategies of those in the Diamond suit relied on controlling resources, managing commerce, and expanding trade routes. These nobles were the architects of economic prosperity, ensuring their kingdoms thrived through the constant flow of riches. Unlike more traditional feudal kingdoms based on land and loyalty, those of the Diamond suit built their power on the principles of commerce, wealth, and trade, where the power of money could often rival that of the sword.