Armor of God

Rules overview

Armor of God: Solo

Theme

Put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–18) in this solo spiritual battle. Race against time to complete all six pieces of armor before facing the final confrontation. Build your armor strategically while managing the biblical order and surviving Satan's attacks. A solo card game of faith, endurance, and standing firm. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” — Ephesians 6:11

Objective

• Claim all six pieces of the Armor of God within 4 rounds.
• You win immediately upon claiming the sixth piece.
• You lose at the end of Round 4 if you have fewer than 6 claimed pieces.

Table Layout

[pile]

[pile]

Sword of the Spirit

32

[pile]

Setup

• Use a standard 52-card deck.
• The deck represents trials, temptations, and opportunities.
• Armor targets (Ephesians 6:14–17):
• Belt of Truth (16) — Eph. 6:14a
• Breastplate of Righteousness (16) — Eph. 6:14b
• Shoes of Readiness (24) — Eph. 6:15
• Shield of Faith (24) — Eph. 6:16a
• Helmet of Salvation (32) — Eph. 6:17a
• Sword of the Spirit (32) — Eph. 6:17b

Turn Sequence

Each turn, do these steps in order

1. Stand Firm (Auto-Claim)

If you have a banked pile that now qualifies (see Category Restriction), claim it immediately.

• This does not count against the one-claim-per-turn limit.

“…and having done all, to stand firm.” — Eph. 6:13

1. Life’s Trials (Draw)

Draw until you have 4 cards in hand.

• If you cannot draw to 4 because the deck is empty, the round ends (see Rounds & Defense).

“Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds.” — James 1:2

1. Satan’s Dart (Check)

If the Ace of Spades is in your hand, the Dart is active this turn. “…with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” — Eph. 6:16

4. Your Response (Play & Resolve)

Play 1 card to any active pile (not banked). Then resolve:

• Exact = If the pile total exactly equals the Armor target, attempt to claim (see Claiming Rules).
• If blocked by Category Restriction, the pile becomes banked (see Banked Piles & Doubt).
• Over = If the total exceeds the target, the pile busts (discard the entire pile).
• Dart Resolution = If the Dart is active, after resolving the play, follow Satan’s Dart rules.

5. Bearing the Weight (Hand Management)

If the Dart did not trigger: discard 1 card from hand, then keep up to 2 (you’ll draw to 4 next turn). If the Dart did trigger: discard your entire hand (including the Ace of Spades). “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” — Psalm 55:22

Claiming Rules

Category Restriction (The Whole Armor)

You may not claim a second Armor from any category until you have claimed one Armor from each of the other two categories.

• After you have one in each category (3 total), the restriction ends; you may then claim in any order.

“…having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” — Eph. 6:14–15

One Claim per Turn (from Play)

You may claim one Armor from play per turn.

• Start-of-turn auto-claims from banked piles do not count against this limit.

Banked Piles & Doubt Creeps In

Banking

If you reach exact but cannot claim due to the Category Restriction, the pile becomes banked:

• Tap the top card sideways to mark it as banked.
• A banked pile is frozen; no cards may be added.
• You may have only one banked pile at a time.
• If you would bank a second pile, the new exact pile busts immediately.

Doubt Creeps In (Decay)

At the start of your next turn, before drawing

• If the restriction is now satisfied, auto-claim the banked pile (free, does not count toward your one-claim-per-turn).
• Otherwise, Doubt creeps in: remove the top card from the banked pile, untap it, and it becomes active again.
• You may now add to it later (and you can bust it by going over).

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…” — James 1:6

Pile Order Lock

Cards in a pile must remain in the order they were played.

• The top card is always the most recent card played.
• Any removal effect (e.g., Doubt) removes the top card only.
• Do not rearrange pile cards.

Satan’s Dart

Core Rule

At the start of your turn, if the Ace of Spades is in your hand, the Dart is active this turn. After you resolve your one card play this turn, the Dart strikes:

• Remove the entire largest unclaimed pile (ties resolved by category priority: C3 > C2 > C1).
• Then discard your remaining hand (including the Ace of Spades).

Variant: Softer Dart

If the Dart feels too punishing, use this variant instead

• The Dart removes the top card from either:
• the largest pile, or
• each banked pile in play (maximum one card per banked pile).
• Then discard your remaining hand (including the Ace of Spades).

Rounds & Defense

The battle is long, but endurance is limited. You have 4 rounds.

Round End Trigger

If, at the start of your turn, you cannot draw to your full hand (4 cards), the round ends immediately:

1. Perform a Defense Check (below). If you fail, you lose.
2. If you pass, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck and begin the next round.

• Keep your current hand and all in-progress piles as they are.

Defense Checks (Baseline)

• End of Round 1 → must have ≥ 2 Armor
• End of Round 2 → must have ≥ 4 Armor
• End of Round 3 → must have ≥ 5 Armor
• End of Round 4 → must have all 6 Armor (Victory)

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.” — Eph. 6:13

Difficulty Variants

Hard Mode A — Early Pressure

• R1 → ≥ 3
• R2 → ≥ 4
• R3 → ≥ 5
• R4 → ≥ 6 (Victory)

Hard Mode B — Shortened Battle (3 Rounds)

• R1 → ≥ 2
• R2 → ≥ 4
• R3 → ≥ 6 (Victory)

Victory & Loss

Victory

• You win immediately when you claim the sixth Armor, or if you reach the end of Round 4 with all 6 Armor.

“You stand clothed in the full Armor of God. The enemy’s darts cannot prevail. Having done all, you stand.” — Eph. 6:13

Loss

• You lose immediately if you fail any Defense Check, or if you reach the end of Round 4 with fewer than 6 Armor.

“Your defenses falter. Without the full Armor, doubt and temptation overwhelm you.”

Appendix A — Quick Reference (Player Aid)

Turn

1. Auto-Claim (free) → 2) Draw to 4 → 3) Dart Check → 4) Play 1 & Resolve (Exact/Bust/Bank; resolve Dart if active) → 5) Hand: Keep 2, Discard 1 (or discard all if Dart).

Claiming

• Must claim 1 per category before taking duplicates.
• One claim per turn from play.
• Auto-claims from banked piles are free (don’t count).

Banking & Doubt

• One banked pile max; tapped and frozen.
• Start of your next turn: auto-claim if eligible; else Doubt discards top card and untaps.

Dart

• Core: Wipe largest pile (C3 > C2 > C1), then discard hand.
• Variant: Remove top card from largest pile or from each banked pile; then discard hand.

Defense Checks

• Baseline: R1=2, R2=4, R3=5, R4=6 (win).
• Hard A: 3/4/5/6. Hard B (3 rounds): 2/4/6.

Appendix B — Glossary

• Armor: One of the six pieces of God’s Armor (Eph. 6).
• Category: A group for two Armor targets: C1 (Belt/Breastplate), C2 (Shoes/Shield), C3 (Helmet/Sword).
• Claim: Securing an Armor by hitting its exact total and meeting restrictions.
• Banked Pile: A finished exact pile you cannot claim due to Category Restriction; tapped and frozen.
• Doubt Creeps In: Start-of-turn decay for still-blocked banked piles: remove top card, untap.
• Bust: Pile exceeds target; discard the entire pile.
• Satan’s Dart: Ace of Spades event. Core: wipe largest pile + discard hand. Variant: remove top card(s) instead.
• Defense Check: End-of-round requirement to continue.

Appendix C — FAQs

Q1. Can I claim more than one Armor per turn? A. No. You can claim one from play each turn. Auto-claims from banked piles at start-of-turn do not count. Q2. What if I finish a pile but already have an Armor from that category? A. You cannot claim it due to Category Restriction. If you have no banked pile, it becomes banked (tapped). If you already have a banked pile, the new exact pile busts immediately. Q3. Can I add cards to a banked pile? A. No. Banked piles are frozen. They either auto-claim when restriction lifts or Doubt removes their top card and untaps them. Q4. What does “largest unclaimed pile” mean for the Dart? A. The unbanked, in-progress pile with the most cards. Ties break by category priority: C3 > C2 > C1. Q5. Do banked piles count toward Defense Checks? A. No. Only claimed Armor count. Q6. What carries over between rounds? A. All piles and your hand remain as they are. You reshuffle discards to form the next round’s deck. Q7. Does “Doubt Creeps In” remove the whole banked pile? A. No. It removes only the top card, then untaps the pile so you can build on it again. Q8. Softer Dart variant: largest or banked? A. Choose one of these variant lines per strike: either remove the top card from the largest pile, or remove the top card from each banked pile (max one card per banked pile).