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A review of the Lord of the Rings board game - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

May 06, 2001 at 23:18:35

Aelmer has graciously provided us with a review of the Lord of the Rings board game which hit the store shelves a few months ago.

So, you want to be the Ring Bearer?

Well, you can be in the new Lord of the Rings board game. The object of the game is simple. Take to One Ring from Bag End to Mordor, and destroy the Ring.

Simple objective? Yes.

Simple to accomplish? No.

In this game you, and up to four other players, take the part of either Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippen or Fatty Bolger. Yes, Fatty is present, but only in the five player game. Each of the hobbits are represented by miniature figurine in a color that matches the hobbit's character card. Each hobbit has a special ability defined on his card. Sauron is represented by an ominous looking heavy black tower with a red eye. The other members of the Fellowship are represented among the 60 game cards and 35 feature cards, that allow you to move along your journey and may also help you pass tests that keep you from being corrupted. The One Ring is large golden plastic ring.

The hobbits begin on first white space of the corruption track on the Master Board. Sauron begins on either the twelfth of fifteenth space. During the game, events and failed tests can cause your hobbit miniature to move forward or backward on the track, or can cause Sauron to move toward the hobbits. This often involves a die roll that determines how many spaces your hobbit moves toward the dark end of the corruption track or if Sauron moves towards the hobbits.

Sauron never moves backwards. If your hobbit's miniature ends up on the same space with, or a space behind Sauron, your hobbit has been corrupted and is out of the game. If your hobbit happens to be the ring bearer, the game is over. Sauron wins. Sauron also wins if the ring bearer cannot meet the requirement of specific tests.

Key points in the books, such as Bag End, Rivendell, Lothlorien, etc., are represented on the Master board, and the adventures Moria, Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair and Mordor are also depicted on the two double sided scenario boards. Each of these scenario boards has an Event track, this can do you in quicker than anything else, and a main activity line and at least two sub-activity lines. Your fellowship of hobbits is represented by a white cone token on each of these. At the start of his or her turn, each player draws an event tile. The event tiles determine which type of cards may be played, or whether time passes and the event track token is moved. The Activity line tokens are moved playing the appropriate Friendship, Traveling, Hiding or Fighting card, or cards. As the token moves along an activity line, the player can aquire shields and life tokens. These are important and are required to pass certain tests. Not having these at the right time can cause your hobbit to move closer to the darkness and Sauron on the corruption line.

The game components are top notch. The rule book is only 15 pages, the last two pages are a synopsis of the book. The rules are fairly straight foreword, but I would recommend a slow through reading before beginning play. The backgrounds on the game boards are LOTR illustrations by John Howe.

Now for the big question. How well does the game reflect the Lord of the Rings. In my opinion, not very well. Yes, all the characters and places we know are there, but in an abstracted form. Couple this to the fact that the ring bearer can, and will, change during the course of play, and that a player can be eliminated simply because he or she can't discard the proper cards or shields.

With cooperation, very important, the players can plan for upcoming events. However, in most cases, success or failure rests on turn of an event tile or the roll of the die.

Is the game worth the $39.99 price that I paid? For me the answer is yes. Although the game is chance heavy and can be frustrating, it is a challenge. The game is recommed for ages 12 to adult.