While my wife has been reading through the Nobles & Glory rulebook and helping me playtest a few final games, I decided to give myself a little side project. Something small. Something simple. A reminder that not every card game has to be layered with decades of history and strategy.
I want to keep making quick, fun card games; light, but with just enough strategic bite to keep players engaged. So I came up with Noble Petition.
When I design games, even small ones, I always set a few personal challenges. One of them is making sure the game can handle an unfair deal. I’ll test what happens if one player gets all the red face cards, and the other gets a handful of low black numbers. If the game can survive that and still stay fun; if players can lean into whatever hand they’re dealt, rather than just coasting or getting crushed; then I know I’m onto something.
But the real test is playing with my wife. She’s very competitive (in a good way) and she doesn’t hold back. If she takes too long to think about a move, or if she slams her last card down with a cheer, I know the game has some magic to it.
Another design challenge I like to set myself is to find a use for Jokers. I’ve always loved them. I collect them, actually; I’ve got over 400 different Jokers tucked away. So whenever I design a new card game, I try not to just throw the Jokers aside. I try to give them a proper role. In Noble Petition, I think they’ve found a home.
Here are the quick rules if you want to try it out yourself:
Noble Petition Rules
Setup:
- Shuffle a standard deck of cards (including Jokers).
- Deal 5 cards face-up into a circle. (if you deal any jokers, cover them with an extra card).
- Deal 7 cards to each player.
- Place the rest of the deck face-down in the centre as a Draw Pile.
Who Starts:
- If there are more red cards than black cards in the circle, the dealer goes first.
- Otherwise, the opponent starts.
How to Play:
- On your turn, place a card from your hand onto a card in the circle. The next player must place a card onto the next card in the circle (going clockwise)
- It must be the same suit and higher in value than the card it covers.
- Cards rank from Ace (lowest) to King (highest).
If You Can’t (or Strategically Choose Not To):
- Draw one card from the Draw Pile.
- Then, place any card from your hand onto any card in the circle of the opposite colour (red or black).
- If all cards in the circle are the same colour, place your card onto any card.
Face Cards have extra effects:
- Jack: Becomes the lowest value card of that suit when placed
- Queen: The next player must skip one card in the circle and play onto the second card along.
- King: Any card of any suit can be placed onto a King.
- Joker: Can only be played after drawing a card. It can be placed onto any card. Once placed, immediately draw a card from the Draw Pile and place it on top of the Joker.
Winning:
The first player to empty their hand wins.
If a player ever needs to take a card, and the Draw Pile is empty. The game ends immediately. Whoever has, the least cards is the winner (or a draw if even).
If you want to play it out.. Just shuffle all of cards in the circle, deal out five more cards into the cricle and continure playing with a fresh Draw Pile.
– Jonathan Hinson
