After the miraculous success of the 1st Crusade in 1097, three Christian kingdoms are established in Outremer; the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa. But in 1144 the Crusaders suffer their first setback with the fall of Edessa at the hands of Zengi (the ruler of Mosul and Aleppo), which provokes the 2nd Crusade.

Crusader Kingdoms is a hand management game set in this era, in which up to 4 players control the main Christian or Muslim kingdoms of Outremer. Each turn players receive a variable number of cards that can be troops, events or response cards, and playing in alternate rounds they use them to try to expand their realm. The winner is the player controlling more areas at the end of the game.

The game includes a solo engine, and a two-players cooperative variant and play anywhere in around 1 hour (the solo version is even shorter).

Victory is determined by area control.