Lord of the Rings

This strategy game is based on the books, and not the movies.  It is a fairly complex cooperative game, in which up to 5 players can participate.  Players take on the roles of Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fatty (a minor character from the book) and each have a special power, which they must use to work together to destroy the ring.  They have to get through 4 different boards in order to do so (Moria, Helm’s Deep, Shelob’s Lair, and Mordor).  Players begin a turn by drawing a random tile, which will usually either move them up through the board they are on or make a negative event occur.  They then can play up to 2 cards to progress further through the tracks on the board, choosing strategically which tracks to move up and which cards to hold on to, taking into account the events that could occur later on.  In the meantime the players characters are on a separate track which has Sauron at the end of it.  Various events and die rolls can cause either the players to move closer to Sauron or Sauron to move closer to the players.  Meet Sauron and you’re dead – and if the ring bearer meets Sauron the game is lost.  Victory is achieved if the ring bearer reaches the end of Mordor and is able to successfully destroy the ring without dying.

2-5 players.  Multiple expansions available (Friends and Foes, Sauron, Battlefields, The Black Gate).  Approximately 60-90 minutes.  Medium learning curve.

Becky says:  

This game has definitely grown on me when we played it more.  To begin with, it’s really hard to beat.  We’ve probably played 4 or 5 times now and won twice – but we’re still playing on “introductory” mode, which gives us a bit of a handicap.  I honestly thought this game screwed you over more than Shadows over Camelot ever could and it would be impossible to win.  The really cool thing was continuing to try it and discovering all of these strategies that occasionally work that I never would have thought of.  For instance, there have been times where we’ve just decided to take all of the negative events to get through a board as quickly as possible just to end it and hold on to our cards for future rounds.  In 5 player games we’ve also taken to making Fatty the “mule,” whose job it is to stock up on cards and give them up when necessary, usually spending his turn just drawing more cards.  I love that the strategy isn’t always obvious, and it definitely changes depending on how many people are playing.

It’s a game where working well together is really important, but everyone really has to be involved (unlike what happens sometimes with Pandemic).  Somehow, though, Lord of the Rings lacks just a little bit of the suspense and excitement that we get with Shadows over Camelot.    I’m not sure why that is (maybe the lack of a traitor?), but I haven’t quite found myself literally jumping out of my chair or pacing the room like I have with Shadows.  Lord of the Rings might be somewhat more enjoyable if you won more often, but that’s all part of the challenge.  I do like the fact that you get a score even if you lose, so you can still keep track and try to beat your previous scores. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the artwork on this game is really gorgeous.  Being geeks, we love the theme and the fact that it’s book based instead of movie based.  And we always enjoy a good cooperative game.  8.5 out of 10.

Jason says:

 I read somewhere that when The Lord of the Rings came out in 2000, it was a unique game because it didn’t pit the players against each other, it made them cooperate to beat the game itself.  It’s now 2012, so I guess I’m a bit late to the party, but that’s okay, because it’s still a really good game.  I’ve seen several cooperative games I think I like better, but variety is the spice of life, so this game has a place in my collection.  Also I am a fan of Tolkien’s books.

This game is extremely difficult, so it is rewarding when you can actually win.  Teamwork and discussion is mandatory, and sometimes even the best strategy is simply destined to fail.  Players have to seize every opportunity they can in order to have a chance at winning.  Everything is pretty straightforward and very linear, so it isn’t hard to learn, as long as you are willing to play through the first time knowing that one personwill have their nose buried in the rules figuring things out.  You could also play with someone who already knows the game.

I don’t have much to say about this game, besides that you should play it for yourself; that is a positive endorsement by the way.  Remember that I do endorse this game, because there are a few issues that I do have to point out.  The first is that this game is pretty static, and once you’ve beaten it, that’s it.  There are multiple difficulty levels, but like I said before, it’s extremely linear, so it is pretty much the same game every time.   The second issue is that there are a bunch of little nuances in the rules, and they’re important.  The worst part is that they are scattered all throughout the giant tome they give as the rules.  The rules aren’t very orderly and I’m still not sure I know every little detail there is to know; for example, we didn't know that the ring-bearer draws two cards at the end of every conflict (remember that, that’s important for winning, and lots of people miss that).  My third problem is the same participation problem that plagues Pandemic; it’s easy for a quiet person to sit back and think that everyone else is handling the game.  But then again, maybe communication is one of the skills you can attribute to “being good” at this game.

It doesn’t seem like I said many good things about this game.  But don’t be fooled, I really like this game and I think it’s worthy of anyone’s collection, especially those Tolkien fans (the game is based on the events in the books, not the movies).  As far as I know, it is the father of contemporary cooperative board games.  Also it was designed by Reiner Knizia, who is one of the most well-known and reputable game designers out there.  I give this game a 9.23/13, or a 7.1/10, and that means that I like this game just a smidge more than Pandemic.  So if you’re a savvy board gamer, try this, then try Pandemic.