Among Nobles

I had played it a very long time ago, after nicking it at an Essen, and I remembered two things: the rules, and the fact that we had not had a good time with five players at all. This time, though, with three around the table, Among Nobles was much more enjoyable.

Its basic flow was not difficult for me to pick up again, despite how long it had been since that previous game. It is one of those games that moves briskly enough to fit into roughly an hour, without demanding that you relearn everything from scratch whenever you return to it.

The interaction showed itself more in how the game developed, and especially in how things were decided at the end. Our game came down to the final marriage arrangement, which gave it tension and made the players’ choices matter right up to the last moment. And, at least with three players, that worked far better than I remembered it working with five.

I would not call it groundbreaking, nor is it trying to be. It does have enough clever touches to make it a good option for an hour-long game, especially if you can find it at a nice price now that it is considered “old.” For me, the important thing is to keep it as a game for three players—that is where it showed me its good side.