[2] In the game, players assume the leadership of one of the great houses of Westeros vying for control of King's Landing and the Iron Throne.

[3] Each house represents one of the main factions involved in the struggle for the Iron Throne emulated by the AGoT LCG.

[9] In addition to the noble houses, the AGoT LCG also features many other factions present in A Song of Ice and Fire as part of a particular theme.

Agenda cards either modify the rules for building the player's deck, or grant an in-game advantage, typically at the cost of some other disadvantage such as requiring extra power to win, reduced card draw, or limiting claimed power.

Plot cards indicate the base amount of gold available for the player to use to bring new cards into play during his Marshalling phase (indicated by a number within a gold coin), a base initiative value to determine the order of play for the round (indicated by a number within a diamond), a base claim value to determine the scope of the effect that player winning a challenge (indicated by a number in a silver disk), and a text box detailing any other effects or restrictions on the plot card, including any traits that it might have.

Most plot cards are designed with built-in trade-offs, sacrificing high claim for low income, or some other game mechanic drawback.

Generally, characters are the main focus of a deck as they are the principle card type used to participate in challenges, and thus collect the power tokens necessary to win.

Attributes of a Character card consist of a gold cost (generally represented by a number overlaid on a gold coin in the upper left corner), a name across the top that may be preceded by a black flag if the character is unique and/or an infinity symbol if the character is endless, a House affiliation (represented by one or more House shields in the upper right corner, although neutral characters will have a blank shield), artwork depicting the character in the top half of the card, a strength value (represented by a number on a stylized tapestry or a nondescript shield in the middle of the left side), zero to three challenge icons (a red axe represents Military, a green eye represents Intrigue, and a blue crown represents Power) arrayed in the bottom half of the left side, and a text box in the lower half of the card.

Within the textbox may be traits, keywords, other game effects or icons, and flavour text from the novels.

Traits are bold and italicized words at the top of the textbox, and usually represent roles or groups within the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, such as Lords or Dothraki.

Throughout the Winter block, some cards were printed with a black crow icon in the bottom left corner to indicate the attachment is Doomed.

Within the textbox may be traits, keywords, other game effects or icons, and flavour text from the novels.

Traits are bold and italicized words at the top of the textbox, and usually represent types of enhancements, such as skills or titles.

These function the same as normal attachments, except they are treated as having no names, no text, no gold costs, no House affiliations, and are discarded if they are ever forced to leave play.

Within the textbox may be traits, keywords, other game effects or icons, and flavour text from the novels.

Traits are bold and italicized words at the top of the textbox, and usually represent regions within the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, such as Westeros or Dorne.

Keywords are game mechanics defined in the rules that affect that location, such as Limited which restricts the player to playing one such card per round.

Event cards represent special actions or happenings from the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that can be used in the course of the game.

Within the textbox may be traits, keywords, but primarily will be one or more game effects, and flavour text from the novels.

Traits are bold and italicized words at the top of the textbox, and usually represent specific types of events such as Small Council.

A player must earn 15 power tokens between their House card and characters in play to win A Game of Thrones.

Numerous cards in the game can change the amount a player or his opponent are required to earn in order to win.

The player is then able to bring new resources in the form of characters, locations, and attachments into play by spending the gold.

Some events and other triggered effects also require the payment of gold, and unused income is not carried over into other rounds, so resource management is important.

Kneeling cards are rotated 90 degrees to the side, to indicate that they've been used to pay for an effect, or to initiate or defend a challenge.

Unique cards represent the special individuals, places, items, and happenings in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.

The Night's Watch are named after the guardians of The Wall in northern Westeros in the fictional setting of A Song of Ice and Fire.

These volunteers organize tournaments, arrange demonstration games for new and interested players, and hand out promotional materials provided by FFG.

[12] Aside from the restrictions on usable card pool, FFG places no limits on how Night's Watch volunteers organize the tournaments.

[27] The second base set - Ice and Fire Edition - followed next year and won the 2003 Origins Award for Best Card Game Expansion or Supplement of 2003.