Learn to play
The Old Testament card game

Giants · Angels · the Deep

Fire from above. Serpents from the deep.

Patriarchs, prophets, kings and the whole Tabernacle stand against giants, beasts and the foes of God's people. Every card carries its Bible story and where to read it.

  • 129 cards
  • 2 decks
  • 5 ways to play
  • 1–6 players
  • ages 10+
  • 20–75 minutes

First Edition in preparation · café test nights come first

Learn to playCome to a café nightSee all 104 cards
Moses card
David card
The Ark of the Covenant card
Goliath of Gath card
Leviathan card
𐤕𐤁𐤍𐤄 𐤟 𐤇𐤅𐤌𐤅𐤕 𐤟 𐤉𐤓𐤅𐤔𐤋𐤌“Build up the walls of Jerusalem.” Psalm 51:18, carved in the old Hebrew letters, as on the Covenant playmat
Two decks · one story

The Covenant against the Deep

One player keeps the Covenant: the people of the Old Testament and the holy things of the Tabernacle. The other tells the story of the Deep: the giants, beasts and foes they faced. Swap decks next game.

63 cards · gold & the Tabernacle colours

The Covenant

  • Patriarchs & priests16
  • Prophets7
  • Kings, queens & courtiers6
  • Judges & warriors7
  • Heavenly host4
  • Holy Things7
  • Miracles14
  • Acts of faith2

“There I will meet with you.” Ex 25:22

The Covenant card back: the Ark of the Covenant under the cherubim's wings, light rising from the mercy seat, in a gilt frame set with twelve stones
41 cards · bronze & dark water

The Deep

  • Giants9
  • Amorite Kings5
  • Beasts5
  • Foes11
  • Strongholds5
  • Schemes6

“Darkness was over the face of the deep.” Gen 1:2

The Deep card back: Leviathan coiled round a dark tower in a stormy sea, in a bronze frame

The Deep player is a storyteller, not a villain. The box also holds 25 helper cards: how to play, Walls trackers, guide cards and score cards.

One deck · every age

From Eden to the rebuilt wall

The cards follow the Old Testament in order. Scroll on to walk through the ages, or pick one.

  1. Creation (Gen 1–4, 7 cards): Light, the garden, and the first brothers.
  2. Before the Flood (Gen 5–6, 3 cards): Enoch walked with God; Methuselah lived 969 years.
  3. The Flood (Gen 6–9, 2 cards): Forty days of rain, and the ark.
  4. The Patriarchs (Gen 12–50 · Job, 11 cards): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Job's long trial.
  5. The Exodus (Exodus–Numbers, 22 cards): Plagues, the Red Sea, manna and the Tabernacle.
  6. The Conquest (Joshua, 11 cards): Jericho's walls fall; Joshua and Caleb take the land.
  7. The Judges (Judges · Ruth · 1 Sam 1–7, 8 cards): Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Ruth and young Samuel.
  8. The Kingdom (1 Samuel–2 Kings, 18 cards): David and Goliath, Solomon, and Elijah's fire.
  9. The Exile (Daniel · Esther, 13 cards): The furnace, the lions, the writing on the wall, and Esther.
  10. The Return (Nehemiah, 1 card): Nehemiah rebuilds the wall in fifty-two days.
How to play

Your turn is called a day

Lay offerings on your Altar, turn them for manna, and send your people out. Strength meets Heart in battle, and every blow that gets through breaks the other side's Walls.

  1. Morning. Stand up your cards, Altar too. Use each-morning powers, then draw a card.
  2. Offering. You may lay one card from your hand face down on your Altar.
  3. Work. Turn Altar cards sideways for 1 manna each, and play cards with the manna.
  4. Go out. Turn characters sideways to attack. A character can't go out on the day it arrives.
  5. Battle. The other player may stand in the way. Each deals its Strength to the other at once.
  6. Evening. Damage heals and unspent manna is lost, as the manna was in the wilderness Ex 16:20. Keep 7 cards at most.

Strength against Heart

Cain card
Joshua card

Cain (Strength 3, Heart 3) goes out. Joshua (4, 4) stands in his way. Cain takes 4 and falls; Joshua takes 3 and survives. With nobody in his way, Cain would have broken 3 Walls.

Giants: only a Giant-slayer like David, or two or more together, can stand in Goliath's way.

Break the Walls

Bring the other side's Walls to 0 and you win at once. Jerusalem starts on 13 Walls in a Duel, Babylon on 21. A coffee bean marks each count.

The Glory

The Covenant only: start your day with 4 different Holy Things in play, one of them the Ark, and you win. “The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Ex 40:34

After every game the winner reads aloud the story of a card they played. The rules leaflet, the How to play cards and a large-print booklet come in the box.

See a real day

A day on the table

One Covenant day on the playmat, step by step: the Altar, the manna, a new character, and a fight with the Deep.

Five ways to play

How many are at the table?

Players:

The Duel

2 players30–45 min

The main game. One side keeps the Covenant, the other the Deep. Break the Walls or bring the Glory.

The Team Duel

3–6 players45–75 min

Two sides share a deck, an Altar and Walls. A captain settles the Offering and any dispute, a day each.

The Siege

1–2 players25 min

Together against the Deep. Hold Jerusalem while the Siege pile turns over a card at a time, until the pile is empty.

The Long Ages

2–6 playersabout 20 min

A Bible quiz from the cards. The Reader gives five clues, from the plate to the Bible reference. Call the name first.

Who Lived Longer?

2 players10 min

Flip two Covenant cards together. More years on the plate takes both. Methuselah's 969 years are hard to beat.

A 90-minute evening. Two players: Who Lived Longer?, then two Duels. Three to six: the Long Ages, then a Team Duel. Solo or two together: the Siege.
The cards

Every card carries its story

Each card has a painting, a plate with a fact to remember, its story and where to read it. Tap a card to read it.

Story pairs

Every threat meets its match

Each Deep card names the Covenant card that met it in Scripture. Beat it with that card and you give a Testimony: read the story aloud and draw a card. When a Deep character’s story pair makes it fall or leave play, the Deep player draws a card too.

David card
Goliath of Gath card

David & Goliath of Gath

A shepherd, a sling and a stone against a champion of six cubits and a span. 1 Sam 17

Moses card
Pharaoh card

Moses & Pharaoh

“Let my people go.” Ten plagues, then the sea parts. Ex 5–14

Out of the Whirlwind card
Leviathan card

Out of the Whirlwind & Leviathan

God answers Job from the storm: can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Job 38–41

The Writing on the Wall card
Belshazzar card

The Writing on the Wall & Belshazzar

A hand writes on the palace wall. That night the king of Babylon falls. Dan 5

Daniel card
The Lions' Den card

Daniel & The Lions' Den

“My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths.” Dan 6:22

Esther card
Haman card

Esther & Haman

A queen who spoke up “for such a time as this.” Esth 4:14

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין“MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.” Daniel 5:25, as written on the wall, as on the Deep playmat
For families, churches and teachers

Made to send you back to the Bible

Only the 66 books

Every person, place and story on a card comes from the 66 books of the Bible, with the reference printed so you can look it up.

God is never a card

Nothing in the game can attack or defeat him. Every Miracle is his act, painted as light, fire, cloud and wind, never a face.

Read it aloud

Players read each card's name and plate as they play it, and the winner reads a story at the end. Quotations are from the ESV.

Large print in the box

Every card's words in a large-print booklet, so grandparents can read their own cards without help.

A Bible quiz built in

The Long Ages turns the cards into a five-clue quiz for a Sunday school class, a youth group or a family table.

Friends of other faiths

Many honour these people too, some under other names: Ibrahim, Musa, Daud, Nuh. The rules suggest asking before showing pictures of prophets.

How the game treats Scripture

Every person, place and story comes from the 66 books of the Bible, and every card prints its reference.

God is never a card. Miracles are his acts, shown as light, fire, cloud and wind, never a face.

Angels are mighty, not gods. Scripture names only Michael as an archangel.

Where texts differ, the cards follow the Hebrew: Goliath is six cubits and a span.

Read the stories: Genesis 1–11 · Exodus 14–40 · Judges 4–16 · 1 Samuel 17 · 1 Kings 18 · Job 38–41 · Daniel 3–6 · Jonah
Play it first at a TCE café

Café nights

SERAPHS & SERPENTS is being played and tested by real players at our cafés in Singapore before the First Edition is printed. Café nights with leagues for families, churches and card players are planned for 2027.

To ask about a café night, a church group or a school visit, write to us:

general@theofficialtce.com
The SERAPHS & SERPENTS box: David and Goliath, with the title and Giants, Angels and the Deep
What comes next

Plans, not promises

The First Edition box is one complete game, every copy the same. If players love it, this is where it could grow.

Planned

More of the story

New sets of heroes, foes and holy things from the 66 books. The First Edition stays the core set and is never retired.

Planned

The SERAPHS & SERPENTS app

A card library with every story, a game log both players confirm, and café leaderboards.

Idea

Rankings

Rated games played face to face at registered cafés, churches and shops, building to country and world lists. Prizes are trophies, never cash.

Idea

The New Testament

A later set with the apostles and the early church. Christ is never a card: his miracles appear as Miracle cards.

The Caffeine Experience, since 2017

Brewing the Aroma of 2nd Chances

SERAPHS & SERPENTS is made by The Caffeine Experience, a Singapore social-enterprise café that trains and hires people given a second chance. Every box helps keep that work going.

Questions

FAQ

Can I buy SERAPHS & SERPENTS yet?

Not yet. The First Edition is being tested at our cafés before it is printed. Write to general@theofficialtce.com to hear when it is ready.

Who is it for?

Ages 10 and up, 1 to 6 players. Families, youth groups, Sunday schools and card players. You don't need to know the Bible: every card tells you its story.

How long does a game take?

A Duel takes 30 to 45 minutes, a Team Duel 45 to 75, the Siege about 25, and the Long Ages about 20.

Are there random booster packs?

No. The box is one complete game of 129 cards, and every copy is the same.

Which Bible does it use?

Every card comes from the 66 books of the Bible. Quotations are from the ESV, and every card prints its reference.

Why is there a Deep side? Isn't one player the bad guys?

The Deep player is a storyteller, not a villain. The giants and foes are there so the people of the Covenant have something to stand against, as they did in Scripture.

What do I need besides the box?

A handful of coffee beans to count Walls. A playmat for each side is optional and makes the table easier to read.