Lord of the Rings

by Fantasy Flight Games

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00005NK1Z
• Item model number: 5023117594342
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,085 in Toys & Games (See Bestsellers in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

Here's your chance to prove you are worthy to save Middle Earth. Enter the world envisioned in J.R.R. Tolkien's book Lord of the Rings and become a member of the Fellowship. The goal of the game is to stop the Dark Lord Sauron from winning back the magic Ring, which Frodo has inherited and which Sauron would use to forever enslave the land.

The game is played on two boards simultaneously--the Master Board and the Scenario Board, with each player assuming a Hobbit character and advancing or retreating on the Corruption Line of the Master board. The goal is to stay on the light side of the Corruption Line. There are two double-sided Scenario Boards representing the regions of Middle Earth you'll be traveling through. The action of the game is rather complicated, being dictated by the picking of Event Cards, Feature Cards, Activity Cards, and by rolling the die. You'll soon see that this game is all about cooperation, friendship, and compromise--you are asked to give up valuable cards for the common good of the Fellowship. If you get all the way to the dark end of the Corruption Line, you'll be eliminated from the game.

There is no individual winner; the group scores points as a whole. At the end of the game, points are awarded based on the amount of shields the players have left and whether or not they succeeded in destroying the Ring. Designed by the acclaimed and prolific game designer Reiner Knizia and beautifully illustrated by longtime "Middle Earth" artist John Howe, the result is thought-provoking game-play and a mystical gallery of cards and game boards. This game is intricate and may be daunting at first glance, but after playing it a time or two, you'll find it challenging, exciting, and wonderful for fostering cooperation in teens and adults alike. --M. Sullivan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fancy your chances against the Dark Lord?, December 4, 2001

By	Jules Palmer (Stroud, Glos United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

When this game was released in 2000. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! With wonderful artistry from John Howe and the game devised by award winner Reiner Knizia I was really looking forward to opening the box - let alone play it!
I wasn't disappointed.
It took some effort to pick up the rules since there is a lot there but once underway it has it's own easy rhythm.
The co-operative gameplay works very well. Every player is one of the hobbits - Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, even Fatty Bolger gets a look in. And each one has an innate skill throughout the game. There's a lot of discussion between players as to whats the best strategy and about cards, etc.

This game is excellent at following the story.
Many times I felt like I was being uncontrollably corrupted and slipping towards the darkness. The 'sliding scale' of corruption is very ingenious. It is the cause of much alarm when the Dark Lord himself starts to slide from the other end towards you!
All the characters pop up in the game in the form of cards to help you in your quest. I would have liked some of the main characters (eg: Aragorn) to have had a more enduring effect than simply move you on a further few spaces.
Still, all in all a worthwhile game!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cunningly designed game..., December 29, 2001

By	Bill (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Like most of the reviewers, I've found this game to be quite fun. As has been mentioned, it is a cooperative game - if the players do not work together, then they will never beat the game. That makes it a nice diversion from the competitive games my family and friends usually play.

The designer obviously loved Tolkien's work and has done an amazing job of capturing the essence of the books in the game. The game is basically a race to destroy the ring before it corrupts you. The corruption scale neatly models this. Every major character and item in the book is represented by one of the cards. Most major events are also represented in the event system within the game. (Interestingly though, the game omits Tom Bombadil, just as the movie did.) It is really a well thought out design.

Another interesting aspect of the design is how it adapts to differing numbers of players. When I first read the rules, I assumed that the game would be much easier with 5 players than with only 2, as there would be more cards in play, and more people to spread out the corrupting influence of the ring. But the event system and the requirement for each player to collect certain tokens within the game negate the advantage of having more players. The strategy required to play the game is actually quite different depending on the number of players you have.

Another twist I've enjoyed is playing the competitive variant for experienced players. Cooperation is still absolutely required, but as you get closer to the end of the game, players become less willing to cooperate, because they want to win. Suddenly that corrupting influence of the ring becomes very, very real!

Perhaps those that say gameplay gets repetitive should try varying the number of players or try the competitve variant.

All in all, I've been very pleased with the game.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Game of Unique Mechanics and Limited Possibility, August 19, 2001

By	StarPilot057 (Laramie, WY USA) - See all my reviews

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

While innovative in style and game play, The Lord of the Rings board game lacks some of the deeper strategy offered by games that cast players as opposing forces, even when set amidst a conflict as epic as that envisioned by J.R.R. Tolkein. The game's feel is different and unusual, and until you gain experience by playing the game through a few times, it seems to be a game of great possibility. After a time, however, the supply of new things to try and new places to visit is exhausted, lowering the replayability value of this fascinating game.

The core concepts are not different from a variety of other adventure games; you use a combination of skill and luck to journey to different areas, traveling and fighting your non-player opponents. However, in this incarnation, many factors have changed. Your enemies are no longer distinct, but blend into a "fighting line" along which you advance your piece. Similarly, traveling, hiding, and friendship, which could serve as the basis for encounters with creatures and other players, have been reduced to a line format. Thus, besides minor variations, the only factors that distinguish one area (called a "scenario board") from another are the events that occur there. These events, taken from Tolkein's books, are translated into game terms in a variety of ways, some of them clever adaptations, while others seem unrelated to their effects on game play. Because of their importance, the events on the four scenario boards become the central elements in making game play decisions, so their unchanging nature is one of the elements that reduces replayability.

The players cooperate, advancing the same pieces and using items to aid each other as soon as themselves. This has the beneficial effect of giving players a chance to work together to defeat a great foe. Players can discuss strategies, attempting to determine which should be employed at each particular moment, and formulate backup plans in case the worst should befall. This type of cooperative puzzle-solving gives the game the human interactions it needs to stay viable and entertaining.

The fact that players work together also has the detrimental effect of making it irrelevant which item card was dealt to which player, as any player will use the necessary item when it is needed for the group. Additionally, since the items are the same from game to game, the randomization of the cards plays a very small role, so one game seems relatively like the next. Again, in the trade-off between replayability and creation of a rich gaming experience, replayability was sacrificed for the benefit of the game play.

This is not an easy game. There are a variety of ways to lose the game, ranging from being corrupted by the Dark Lord, Sauron, to letting too many events slip by in Mordor, to simply being unable to discard a required number of cards. However, there is only one way to win: reach the summit of Mt. Doom, with the ring bearer present, and destroy the ring without being corrupted by its influence. Additionally, there are three positions where Sauron may start, to adjust the game's difficulty level. Wait- does difficulty level adjustment equal replayability? Sadly, no. Changing Sauron's start position simply affects how much corruption you can withstand before losing the game; the strategies and game play are all the same.

The quality of this game is surprisingly high, a mark of many of Wizards of the Coast's products. The artwork has been done by John Howe, and each scene from J.R.R. Tolkein's books used in the game has been painted in a beautiful, semi-impressionist style. The item and character cards also feature paintings by this artist, making the game visually stunning. The playing pieces are also of a high quality- Wizards of the Coast could have supplied cheap plastic pieces, but instead chose to give hefty pieces of a smooth material (probably resin or coated wood). A Hall of Fame sheet, provided to allow you to record your score after each game and watch your skill improve, is a nice addition.

An expansion to this game is scheduled to be produced later in 2001. This expansion has the potential to greatly enhance an excellent, but not replayable, game. Additional rules and methods of interaction with other players would be some of the best potential additions this expansion could provide.

There are many reasons why you may wish to give The Lord of the Rings a look. If you tire of competitive games, or long to plan strategies with the aid of your fellow players, this game may be just what you seek. Any Tolkein fan will greatly appreciate the fine artwork and attention to detail this game provides, as well as all the reminders of the epic events in the novels. With a set of unique game mechanics, cooperative play, and high quality construction, The Lord of the Rings board game provides an amazing gaming experience, at least once or twice.