Sort the Court is a fantasy world-building game that utilizes a question-and-answer system. A player becomes the King or Queen of a small town and kingdom and then attempts to build up the town into a large kingdom by approving or denying requests by members of the court, visitors and even animals and non-human beings.
To start, the player taps the "New Game" option on the home screen and then chooses to play as the King or Queen. The ruler's court appears onscreen with the ruler sitting on a high thrown. They are then approached by a member of the court who explains that the ruler's goal is to increase the population and the kingdom's wealth and keep the citizens and visitors happy. If the player does well, they can eventually join the Council of Crowns.
To play the game, the player answers yes/no questions using the "Y" and "N" keys on their keyboard or by tapping the drawings of the keys on the screen. To read dialogue, the player uses a keyboard's spacebar or taps the relevant onscreen word.
Sort the Court isn't complex. The player must merely rule well. For example, the player might agree to allow a jester to perform a play or a circus to set up a show in town. They might agree to repair something or help someone. In some instances, they might agree to join a neighboring community as allies, allow a character to join the court or help someone who asks for money or some other type of service.
The game automatically saves the player's progress intermittently. Each level is designated by the passing of a day's worth of time, which is displayed on screen by changes in the color of the artwork and sky. Worldbuilding progress is displayed in the background as construction framework around certain buildings and an increase in the size of buildings.
It's important to note that every decision the player makes has in-world consequences. A non-player character might ask the player as ruler to agree to something evil or amoral. In some cases, saying yes can actually result in the player increasing the royal treasury but cost them several citizens or make people unhappy. Sometimes, the player won't know how to respond because they're not asked a question when someone comes to the court. They must guess and try to offset the positive or negative outcome with their future decisions.
