The Middle Ages is a card game for 3-4 players set in Europe during the Middle Ages, with each player taking on the role of a rival ruler, focused on expanding their holdings and weathering the perils of unrest and plague.
The Middle Ages uses a mix of hand management, worker placement, and multi-use cards. The game is driven by the Player Turn cards, which, in combination with the player's unique Accord card, dictate what the player can and must do during their turn.
Each turn, the player must add one card from their hand to a player's Coterie (theirs or another player's - there are benefits and drawbacks to either). After adding a card to a Coterie, if the player has 3 or more cards in their Coterie, they return all cards in their Coterie and receive a number actions based the cards that were returned. For each Action, a player can play a card to their Structures.
When the deck runs out for the second time, the game ends and players score points for their Accord Icons, Wealth, and Structures. The player with the most points wins.