Lord of the Rings Board Game

History

The Lord of the Rings board game was based on the book The Lord of the Rings written by J. R. R. Tolkien. The game was published in 2000 by Fantasy Flight Games. In 2004 it won the Games Magazine Games 100 Honor in the Family Strategy category.

The game was created by Reiner Knizia, a master game designer. The game was illustrated by celebrated Tolkien artist John Howe.

Playing the Lord of the Rings

The game takes about 60 to 90 minutes to play. Two to five players can play the game, but it is more difficult with only 2 players.

It’s a great game to play when you have a group of people who are bored. Players cooperate with each other in order to win, rather than compete as in other board games. Sometimes a player might need to sacrifice himself in order to save everyone else.

The Action

Each player takes on the role of one of the four Hobbits in the Fellowship: Merry, Pippen, Fatty and Frodo. Each Hobbit has a special ability: traveling, hiding, friendship or fighting. The Hobbits work as a team to develop strategies to destroy the Ring.

The players (the Hobbits) start at one end of the path on the Master Board. They move from place to place on the Master Board performing actions at each place. Players turn tiles and play different types of cards to move forward. They collect and spend round life tokens to stop advancing towards the Dark Lord Sauron. Tokens or the Ring can be used to get assistance from Gandalf.

As the game progresses, the Players move back and forth between the Master Board and the scenario boards. Sauron moves toward the Fellowship. Certain events can cause the Hobbits to corrupt and move towards Sauron.

Whenever a Hobbit meets Sauron he is corrupted and out of the game. The game ends if the ring bearer becomes corrupted. The Fellowship can call upon Gandalf for help or risk using the Ring - which may lead to further corruption.

The Elements

The game is played on:

• A Master Board on which the progress across Middle Earth is tracked.
• Two scenario boards which provide the backdrop for the actions what happen at particular locations.

The Lord of the Rings board game includes:

• Master Board
• 2 double-sided scenario boards
• 1 Sauron figure
• 5 Hobbit figures
• 6 markers
• 60 Hobbit cards
• 5 character cards
• 5 Gandalf cards
• 35 feature cards
• 23 square event tiles
• 11 round life tokens
• 32 shields
• 1 Ring
• 1 die
• 1 Hall of Fame sheet

The game has a lot of pieces that need to be set up. The more you play the game, the faster the initial set-up will become.

Winning or Losing the Game

The game is:

• Won if the ring is destroyed by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom.
• Lost if the ring-bearer is overcome by Sauron.

Expansion Sets

There are three expansion sets available for The Lord of the Rings:

• Lord of the Rings Expansion Friends & Foes
• The Lord of the Rings Sauron Expansion Set
• The Lord of the Rings Battlefields Expansion

Other Editions and Spin-offs

• Lord of the Rings The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition – A 2-player version.
• Limited Edition – 500 English copies were produced. The set is signed by the designer and the illustrator and includes an art print which was created and signed by the illustrator. The Hobbit character pieces are made from pewter and the Ring is 22-kt gold.
• Lord of the Rings Windows XP – Shadows of Angmar
• Lord of the Rings Trivia Game
• Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Xbox

Where to Buy

• Amazon.com
• Fantasy Flight Games
• Board Game Central
• Toys R Us
• eBay
• Book stores
• Toy stores