Skip to content
Login / Register
Menu
Kickstarter – Gamefound
Board Games
Strategy
Family and Children
Party
Adult
Thematic
Ελληνικα Παιχνιδια
LCG
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
The Lord of The Rings: The Card Game
RPGs
D & D
Pathfinder
Gamebooks
Others
Accessories
Game Mats
Bags
Dice
Sleeves
Sapphire Sleeves
Paladin Sleeves
Other
Novels – Books
Plunder boxes
Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Search for:
Home
/
Shop
/
Board Games
/
Strategy
Add to Wishlist
The Lord of the Rings: The Board Game Anniversary Edition
60m - 90m
2 - 5 Players
Ages 12+
Dice rolling in a game can be used for many things, randomness being the most obvious. Dice can also be used as counters. The dice themselves can be unique and different sizes, shapes and colors to represent different things.
Dice Rolling
Hand management games are games with cards in them that reward players for playing the cards in certain sequences or groups. The optimal sequence/grouping may vary, depending on board position, cards held and cards played by opponents. Managing your hand means gaining the most value out of available cards under given circumstances. Cards often have multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating an "optimal" sequence.
Hand Management
The primary goal of a set collection mechanic is to encourage a player to collect a set of items.
Set Collection
Variable Player Powers is a mechanic that grants different abilities and/or paths to victory to the players.
Variable Player Powers
Fantasy
45.50
€
30 day low:
Out of stock
Search for:
Kickstarter – Gamefound
Board Games
Strategy
Family and Children
Party
Adult
Thematic
Ελληνικα Παιχνιδια
LCG
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
The Lord of The Rings: The Card Game
RPGs
D & D
Pathfinder
Gamebooks
Others
Accessories
Game Mats
Bags
Dice
Sleeves
Sapphire Sleeves
Paladin Sleeves
Other
Novels – Books
Plunder boxes
Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Login
Cart
Your cart is empty!
Return to shop
Skip to content
Open toolbar
Accessibility Tools
Accessibility Tools
Increase Text
Increase Text
Decrease Text
Decrease Text
Grayscale
Grayscale
High Contrast
High Contrast
Negative Contrast
Negative Contrast
Light Background
Light Background
Links Underline
Links Underline
Readable Font
Readable Font
Reset
Reset
aaj94
Lord of the Rings is one of those games that I'm sort of stunned I haven't had the opportunity to play (or own) before now (see: [thing=31481][/thing] which I STILL haven't played). I think I know who to blame, though: my father-in-law, who's owned this game for years and has spoken disparagingly of it the few times it's come up between us. That said, the number of strikes in this game's favor is mind-boggling: 1) by my favorite designer, 2) co-operative, 3) set in the world of Lord of the Rings, one of my favorite book series, and finally 4) Reiner Knizia. He's so good that he gets listed twice :D At any rate, I finally got a chance to try this game thanks to my coworker, who brought it on a work trip for us to try at the hotel one night. After a fantastic 3-player session, I was so impressed by the game that I bought it right then on eBay. I'm aware the anniversary edition just came out, but this made the original version available for bargain-basement prices. It was too hard to say no, even with my attempt to limit new game purchases in 2022. So, what does Lord of the Rings do so well? In short, it captures the [I]exact[/I] feeling of the Fellowship trying, against all odds, to deposit the ring in Mt. Doom and defeat Sauron. Evil has an undeniable advantage, and players must embody the principles of LotR -- self-sacrifice, faith in others, and an unquenchable optimism -- to succeed in this game (for what it's worth, we've lost in both plays). The rules overhead is significant, and yes, the gameplay is random (this is Tim's main beef with the game). It's [I]appropriate[I] that there may be 2, 3, or even 4 bad things that happen before your turn -- that's how the story goes! In our most recent play, we absorbed haymaker after haymaker from Sauron, only to make it all the way to Mordor, sacrificing ourselves one after another, before falling just short of Mt. Doom. That's a [I]memorable[/I] loss -- that's a story that we'll tell months from now -- that's Lord of the Rings 'in a box.' I've argued for years that the word 'theme' is misappropriated in board gaming circles. What's often described as theme is actually window dressing: [thing=269385]Journeys in Middle Earth[/thing] is recognizably Lord of the Rings, because look, here's Legolas! From the movies! OMG! Get excited! :P By contrast, the 'theme' of Knizia's Lord of the Rings is much more subtle. The principles of the book are what you must execute to win the game. The all-encompassing feeling of doom, of sprinting through a world cloaked in evil, the admirable sacrifices of the Fellowship to keep the ring safe -- it's all here. To steal Michael Barnes' more elegant words: [q]"There is a HUGE degree of thematic specificity in terms both broad and subtle that really transcends the simpler on-the-board mechanics. It's not about moving the stupid cone forward. It's about a lot of concepts that work as mechanics between players rather than between the players and the system- working together to plan for inevitable disasters, waiting for the slower team members to catch up, solving problems as a team, sacrifice, and standing together at the brink of annihilation. Things like that are definitely part of the LOTR theme, and they are definitely in this game."[/q] The game shows its age, for sure, but in comparing it with its contemporary, [thing=15062][/thing], LotR comes out looking great. There's more to do, your actions matter more, and you're still have way too much to do and too few turns to accomplish it in. Shadows does have the hidden traitor aspect, which is interesting, but the individual actions on each turn aren't really agonizing -- once you are at a mission, you will be playing a card there every turn for the next 3-4 rounds. This isn't a Shadows-bashing post, but Lord of the Rings remains interesting even 20 years later. All in all, I'm going to rate Reiner Knizia's Lord of the Rings a healthy [BGCOLOR=#99FFFF] [b]7.0[/b] [/BGCOLOR]. It would be inconsistent for me to bash 'puzzled-based' co-ops in other recent comments and not ding this game appropriately (though, if you ARE going to pitch me a puzzle co-op, make it fiendishly difficult, like LotR. See also: [thing=171668][/thing]). There's room for this to grow as we continue to have more epic matches, and learn and internalize the ruleset. I look forward to reveling in this thematic game a few times a year with three our four other good friends. [COLOR=#FFFFFF][BGCOLOR=#66CC33][b] EXPANSION(s) OWNED: [/b][/BGCOLOR][/COLOR] [thing=2449][/thing]
airjudden
Lord of the Euros. This is Knizia. He's trying, but in the end, it is a game about collecting tokens and matching symbols. It has beautiful artwork and it can be solo'd well. I find it takes about 90 minutes to play and I have to keep refreshing on the rules when I pull it out, so because of that, I don't pull it out more. It's not bad, but it is a far cry from War of the Ring.
aaarg_ink
130923 it's another great knizia especially outstanding as the first of this modern age of coops. I'd say its an excellent distillation of the Lotr story...both abstract and refined and yet thematic. Captures the linear path of the story but doesn't feel overly scripted.