Land for Loyalty turns the feudal system into something students live through instead of memorize. Each student is randomly drawn into a role, with a medieval job, a new surname, and a place on a shared manor map. The class then divides into manors and plays through one year together.

How it works

1. The draw. Students are called one at a time. A name scroll builds suspense, and each reveal shows their station, trade, and duty.
2. The oaths. All the nobles swear to the king at the same time. Then the knights, peasants, and serfs swear to their own lords, using homage and fealty and filling in a Land Deed, a Knight’s Grant, or a Protection Card.
3. The year. Each manor randomly draws its situation, such as the River Manor, Hill Manor, Border Manor, Forest Manor, or Church Manor. It tracks three meters: Food, Safety, and Loyalty. Across four seasons, every manor draws random crises, and each station decides. The nobles prepare and make winter choices. The king sets tribute and may send help. The knights choose how to spend their service. The peasants and serfs vote in autumn. Every option shows its trade-off before you tap it, because every choice helps one meter and costs another. A meter at 0 brings famine, conquest, or rebellion.
4. The wrap-up. A scoreboard shows which manors thrived, survived, or fell, followed by discussion questions.

What you get

• One self-contained HTML file. It runs in your browser and needs no accounts, logins, or student devices.
• A printable four-page student guide built into the game: a character card, a manor map, the oath cards, and a summary page with a three-question multiple-choice exit ticket.
• On-screen teacher notes for every step, which you can hide while projecting, plus the exit ticket answer key.
• Saved progress for four class periods, with a backup code to move between computers.
• A “class rule penalty” button that takes 1 point from any manor and category on any screen.

Learning goals

Students will:

• Explain why feudalism developed after the fall of Rome.
• Describe the land-for-loyalty bargain and the chain from king to serf.
• Compare the costs and benefits for each station in the feudal system.

Details

• Grade and subject: Grade 7 World History (adaptable for grades 6 to 8)
• Standards: Ohio Learning Standards, Grade 7 Social Studies, History Content Statement 3 (the collapse of Rome and the development of feudalism and the manorial system), plus the cost-benefit economics statement
• Time: about 2 to 3 class periods of 45 to 50 minutes. It saves your progress, so you can stop and resume.
• Class size: works with about 12 to 30 students, in 1 to 3 manors
• Materials: a computer with a projector (Chrome recommended), the printed guide, and pencils
• Best used: after you have taught the basics of feudalism

Teacher tips

• Do a quick dry run with the sample class before using it.
• Copy the backup code from the save screen after each class.
• Roles are random and never about the student. The notes remind the class of this.

Tags: feudalism, medieval, middle ages, simulation, role play, world history, grade 7, social studies, Ohio standards, review game