Game: Lord of the Rings

Thread: Re: User Review

Yokiboy — 2008-03-19T10:35:53+00:00

Very nice review. It helped how you started with telling us your views on children's games, I share your opinion 100%. I might have to pick up this game.

Thread: Re: User Review

wyldeoak — 2008-03-08T12:05:47+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful review. It helps to hear both yours and your kids' reactions.

Thread: Re: Tower exits

wmshub — 2008-03-03T02:35:50+00:00

Timw wrote:
We generally just play that you exit onto the first space marked with a tower - but I just wondered if this was correct, or mattered not a jot?!That's how we play also. As long as all players exit in the same place, it shouldn't matter.

Image

jsper — 2008-02-20T20:38:33+00:00

Promotional in spanish

Thread: Tower exits

Timw — 2008-01-21T13:54:37+00:00

I'm confused exactly where you exit the three towers from on your release.

One review mentions a printing error about pointing at the spaces linked with ropes , whereas my rules mention pointing the exit at the path ... neither of which are clear to me exactly which space on the come out!

We generally just play that you exit onto the first space marked with a tower - but I just wondered if this was correct, or mattered not a jot?!

Image

Timw — 2008-01-21T13:34:33+00:00

Family fun for a 4 and 7 year old

Thread: Re: Missing piece - what does the Palantir look like?

gobbeg — 2008-01-20T15:52:57+00:00

Thanks very much for the answer.

They are not all accounted for

Someone has mine!

Thread: Re: Missing piece - what does the Palantir look like?

chockle — 2008-01-19T20:06:28+00:00

rcmoore4 wrote:
It's a red marble!

Don't look at it! They are not all accounted for, the lost Seeing-stones. We do not know who else may be watching.

Thread: Re: Missing piece - what does the Palantir look like?

wmshub — 2008-01-19T06:39:13+00:00

It's a glass sphere of great power!

Although yes, as Rich says, looks exactly like a red marble. If you have a marble with maybe some sparkly stuff inside that may work even better.

Thread: Re: Missing piece - what does the Palantir look like?

rcmoore4 — 2008-01-19T02:50:33+00:00

It's a red marble!

Thread: Missing piece - what does the Palantir look like?

gobbeg — 2008-01-19T01:00:30+00:00

Just curious - I have a previously owned copy that's missing the Palantir piece. There's no picture of it in the images section - is it just a glass bead with a flat side to it? What colour is it?

Image

herman_the_german — 2007-08-16T15:47:09+00:00

Sampling of the wood tokens and dice.

Image

herman_the_german — 2007-08-16T15:41:37+00:00

Sam, Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Fatty hobbit cards

Image

herman_the_german — 2007-08-16T15:38:02+00:00

Nazgul meeple with life markers.

Image

herman_the_german — 2007-08-16T15:37:15+00:00

Shelob & Gollum tokens.

Thread: Re: Palantir Variant

Timw — 2007-07-21T15:27:42+00:00

My kids also love this ... but they struggled to not give away they hand they had nothing in. We simply added an additional green marble which makes it easier for the holder, and actually enhances their enjoyment of the reveal as often the holder also doesn't know which marble they are holding in which hand.

Image

Nevin — 2007-06-03T16:55:17+00:00

Playing on a lazy, rainy Sunday morning.

Image

Werbaer — 2007-04-09T10:09:51+00:00

German edition - flat cover shot

Thread: Re: Tower spot?

The Bellman — 2007-01-26T19:43:33+00:00

Leonardo wrote:
The rules say when you conclude on a tower space (after moving and spinning) you take the palantir challenge. This is always the last thing to happen on a turn so even if you were able to fight against sauron (on a previous or in that same turn) you still have to take the palantir again whenever you end (moved or not) on a tower space.

I concur; after your fight with Sauron, if you don't defeat him, you have to take the 'Palantir Challenge'.

Otherwise, why put a tower on that space? It was kind of intuitive for us to play it that way, and it doesn't greatly extend the gameplay.

Thread: Re: Playing with 4 year old

mdeuber — 2006-05-19T12:36:04+00:00

I now close my eyes when picking since the way he holds his hands out is a dead giveaway of where it is.

That's funny! I just introduced this game to my 4 yr old son yesterday and he did the same thing. Instead of closing my eyes, I mentally picked left or right before he showed me his hands. He was quite pleased to send me to the tower as well. He loved the game.

Image

Werbaer — 2006-05-10T10:38:24+00:00

Cover of the German Version

Thread: A Few Options For A Cooperative Variant

herman_the_german — 2006-03-07T16:53:16+00:00

That was my recollection, but going thru the comments here, someone was complaining about it(?)

Thread: Re: A Few Options For A Cooperative Variant

Leonardo — 2006-03-07T00:15:56+00:00

c) Also, if in a tower space, we attack first (if applicable,) and afterward play Hide-The-Palantir. This allows for less of those frustrating lose your turn deals: Being captured might set you back but you are, at least, permited some action during your turn. Losing your turn always sucks if you are a small kid!

I think the rules state that The Palantir is always the last thing to do on a turn...of course if you are in a tower space.

Thread: A Few Options For A Cooperative Variant

herman_the_german — 2006-03-06T18:10:05+00:00

This article is a bit of everything mashed together.

We first played the game (3 player) with my son Cesar (4) and daughter Meztli (7), and while she and I advanced to Mt. Doom and defeated Sauron, he chose to stay in the Shire collecting friends and avoiding conflict (as any fairly respectable Hobbit should.)

I'd already figured that the placing of the Nazgul would cause problems, (something similar to the Rhino in Jumanji,) so I solved it by selecting a Hobbit card at random and placing the Nazgul in front of the one Hobbit that came up. It's a bit more randomness thrown in, I know, but it defuses player nastiness, where this could cause problems with younger players.

We played with the advanced rules, which worked fine, as they enjoyed the Hide-The-Palantir portion.

In the end it was I who beat Sauron. We did not score the game.

The kids asked me what the Hobbits' names were, and according to the adult game they are:

Frodo - Yellow
Sam - Red (Purple)
Pippin - Green
Merry - Blue
Fatty - Orange

Since my son alway picks yellow, I told him Frodo was the Ringbearer, so he should be the one to destroy the Ring at Mt. Doom.

The next day, the second time we played, we called Mom to join us in a four player game. Cesar chose Frodo again, reluctantly at first, but I gave him the gold Ring fom the LOTR Monopoly to carry, which helped.

We played cooperatively and supported him all the way thru to Mt. Doom, advancing or coming back for Frodo, as needed.

During the middle portion of the game we had the Nazgul all over Middle Earth, but by the end they had returned to Mount Doom and we had to fight all three before defeating Sauron. Luckily, all four Hobbits made it there together, and we all had a couple of turns fighting with the Nazgul and Sauron before he was defeated.

We did not score, since everyone was satisfied with the ending.

All in all it was a good couple of sessions. The kids enjoyed the chance to play a game based on a grown up story (they haven't seen the LOTR movies yet, but have seen the animated The Hobbit.) And they enjoyed repeating aloud the names (Sauron, Nazgul, Palantir, etc.) and becoming familiar with Middle Earth.

Reviewing, the game options are:

a) Select Nazgul location randomly by picking a face-down Hobbit card.

b) Select Yellow/Frodo to be the Ringbearer (youngest player, typically,) and have him carry an actual Ring during play. Everyone must try to support/accompany this player to achieve the game goal.

c) Also, if in a tower space, we attack first (if applicable,) and afterward play Hide-The-Palantir. This allows for less of those frustrating lose your turn deals: Being captured might set you back but you are, at least, permited some action during your turn. Losing your turn always sucks if you are a small kid!

d) For older players, and for a more exciting game, you could use this time/moves limiting device:

- Players could start with a certain number (to be determined) of cubes and pay one cube at the start of each of their turns.

- Players would gain additional cubes as they defeated evil characters. The amount of cubes gained being equal to the amount shown in the evil character's token. In this manner, facing a powerful foe would sometimes be preferable than facing a weaker foe or even seeking a Friend!
This would limit the amount of turns the players could use before getting to Mt. Doom and facing Sauron, but would also force them to seek conflict.

- A Friend token would only give you an extra turn, if used for this purpose.

- Players would be allowed to transfer cubes or Friend tokens between them if on the same space, (absolutely necessary if the Ringbearer runs out!)

- The game would automatically end if all players lost their cubes and Friend tokens and no more were available:
If the Ringbearer cannot make it to Mt. Doom the Hobbits lose...
...and Sauron triumphs!

Thread: Re: Palantir Variant

herman_the_german — 2006-03-06T17:35:41+00:00

Sorry, kids LIKE the Palantir, this may be the most appealing to them. It'd be a shame to do away with it.

Image

Get Earthworm — 2006-02-14T10:45:54+00:00

The Fellowship

Thread: A game so simple and quick that even I enjoy it.

AEF&Papa — 2006-01-12T00:28:20+00:00

Ok - we got given our copy of this by my uncle last night. I sat up and read through the rules and thought - that seems a bit too simple.

So, we decided to play it today. The we consisted of AEF (10 yo) and her 5 yo sister E-G. We decided to play this with the beginner rules. Set up was very, very easy - the kids enjoyed the drawings on the pieces and the game board. They really like the castles.

We then played a round. It went very easily. You need some space mind you since you may be spinning the ring after rolling dice. With little ones, that can be a bit risky!

We got through the game in about 15-20 minutes the first time...the 5 yo winning. This has been the trend so far. We decided to play a few more rounds and got another three in within 45 minutes or so. Each round was different and enjoyable.

The 10 yo had to run to one of her activities...the 5 yo and I added the advance rules. This was fun - she enjoyed the guessing of the hands, and then having me do the same. The game took a few minutes longer, but that was no big deal.

So, I would say that this is a fun game for the younger kids. They do like making friends and beating the bad guys. They are quick to pick up on the rules as well. Also, it's fun for the parents - it's quick to set up and play, so allows for a game to scrunched in as time allows.

Thread: pleasant roll-and-move diversion

goldenboat — 2006-01-03T02:42:05+00:00

Miles and I are reading the Hobbit, so we gave this old favorite a go. This is a roll-and-move kids' game, but I find it superior to a lot of the games my kids like to play because it (somewhat) communicates its theme, the components are nice, and it plays rapidly. There's a lot of dice grinding and process in this one, but there's also some suspense (for kids at least), thanks to the spinner and the Palantir tests. The end result is a breezy game that my kids like, and which doesn't cause me to claw at my eyes and pray for it to end (as is the case with, say, Atmosfear).

Miles quickly blitzed the map, and took down Sauron in a single battle, spending Gandalf to offset his one bad combat result.

Thread: Playing with 4 year old

TMJJS — 2005-12-15T08:37:09+00:00

Played the game for the 3rd day in the row with my 4 year old son. Given that my choices are this, Candyland or Hi Ho Cherry'O, I usually lean towards this one. Really there's not a lot of strategy or decision making which leads to this scenario.
We both moved through the front line good guys and moved to the second line small bad guys. My son actually made a good decision and went for the wolf I think with only 3 cubes versus the other black rider with 5. However, as luck would have it, I was able to roll a Nazgul and placed it in my son's way. He got to the spot first but took an extra-ordinary amount of spins to get rid of the one Nazgul. In the meantime, I was able to race to the Eye and start taking off the Nazguls and cubes. Even though my son was at least 6 turns behind me, he got to the Eye just as there were 3 pieces left. He rolled a 2 and then the eye. I rolled for the win but got the eye. Jacob rolled for the win, but got the eye. I rolled for the win, but got the eye. Finally I rolled a win and took the game.
Overall my son loves this and his favorite part is the marble guessing. I now close my eyes when picking since the way he holds his hands out is a dead giveaway of where it is. He loves when I pick wrong and have to go to the tower.

Thread: Re: Tower spot?

Leonardo — 2005-09-21T14:16:31+00:00

You should only need to pick for the tower on the last spot when you land there. Once you succesfully avoid the "palantir" and start fighting sauron, you don't need to pick any more. If your turn ends and sauron isn't defeated, the fight just picks up again when your turn comes back around.

The rules say when you conclude on a tower space (after moving and spinning) you take the palantir challenge. This is always the last thing to happen on a turn so even if you were able to fight against sauron (on a previous or in that same turn) you still have to take the palantir again whenever you end (moved or not) on a tower space.

Thread: Re:Tower spot?

rcmoore4 — 2005-03-17T12:15:59+00:00

TMJJS (#455163),
Exactly right...this is a good time to use one of the friends...

A little sad that the rules for a "children's" game can be a little confusing on this issue, but hey, little kids might get a kick out of spending thirty minutes playing find the palantir

Rich

Thread: Re:Tower spot?

TMJJS — 2005-03-16T20:17:02+00:00

Therefore if you get to the last spot and still have a friend circle you can avoid going to the tower altogether.
Rules were vague since it says move (but don't have to) and then check to see if you are on a tower spot.

Thread: Re:Tower spot?

rcmoore4 — 2005-03-09T19:28:21+00:00

TMJJS (#445017),
You should only need to pick for the tower on the last spot when you land there. Once you succesfully avoid the "palantir" and start fighting sauron, you don't need to pick any more. If your turn ends and sauron isn't defeated, the fight just picks up again when your turn comes back around.

Rich

Thread: User Review

TMJJS — 2005-03-04T14:51:06+00:00

Won't go into "how to play" since you can read those in the other reviews, but will give my opinion.
Played for the first time with another adult gamer. Read the rules in about 5 minutes and started playing with the optional/advance rules. I got stuck on one enemy spot because I kept spinning the dark space while my friend got to the last spot early. *** Now the problem, at the start of every turn from now on, my friend had to avoid the tower which is only 50/50. Became very tedious to keep having to go back to the tower.
I think we might start a home rule that if you don't acutally move on your turn, you don't have to pick for the tower. This might make the game a good filler game that could be played in under a half hour.

Thread: Tower spot?

TMJJS — 2005-03-04T14:41:30+00:00

At the end of the game, if you don't move because you are trying to defeat the last spot, do you still have to pick for going to the tower?
The game wasn't too bad for two adult gamers until this came up and we spent 15 minutes getting to the last spot and then called the game after being on the last spot for about a half hour. (50/50 chance of going to tower before fighting the spot)

Thread: Palantir Variant

peacmyer — 2005-02-22T05:20:01+00:00

The Palantir advanced rule is too daunting, in my view, and slows the game down unduly. Better is the following: If concluding a move on a tower space, spin the spinner. If light, hobbit remains -- if dark, hobbit goes to the tower tied to that path. Provides a 1/4 chance of being interred rather than a 1/2 chance.

This variant discourages the collection of friends before hitting the tougher trails, and so reduces the importance of that strategical element. However, the increased speed of play provided by the variant is more important, again IMHO and given that this is a kids game.

Thread: Session Report

rcmoore4 — 2004-10-18T15:31:20+00:00

This is officially my son’s first board game. Yes, he’s only 2.2 years old (I couldn't wait until he's six), but he still kicked my butt.

I bought the game a while back, but it wasn’t until he wanted to play with my War of the Ring game that I thought it best he play with something more his size.

So we’d started by playing with the bits, which he loved. The “houses”, the marble, and the die can make for a fun game of guess which tower the palantir is hiding under. He would place the “birds” on top of the towers. He’d spin the wheel and roll the die. We even started learning some of the characters on the discs (Gollum is the “monkey” and Gandalf, well, he’s “Gandalf”!). Then we started setting up the game, just setting it up together.

Finally, we had worked our way up to setting the game up fully, including the red blocks (after we stacked them into a 9+ block tower…). Then I would tell him when to roll the die, and when to spin the “wheel”. I had to move his piece for him (he can count, but doesn’t quit get that you’re counting spaces on the board). When he fought “the spider” he got really into it…”Fight the spider, Fight the spider!”. I’m sure he didn’t understand what that really meant, but he liked spinning the wheel. Since this was the basic game (no marble yet…) he made it to Sauron while I was still working on the Witch King (he’d rolled some Nazgul and I put them in front of me to fight, so that slowed me down). On Sauron he made a complete run of it, with no eye (he would occasionally stick his finger on the spinner and stop it, but I gave it to him).

In the end, he won…although I’m not sure he was totally aware that he had actually played a complete game. Still, he kept focused on it for about 20 min, which is really amazing.

Afterwards he helped put the pieces back, which he insists on doing by himself. He’s pretty much memorized where everything goes now.

Is this considered forced indoctrination? I’ll let you decide.

Thread: User Review

Sky Knight X — 2004-06-29T23:11:13+00:00

Lord of the Rings (the kids game)

I believe that there is no such thing as a game that is ‘only fun for kids.’ If a game is not fun for adults, it is generally not fun for kids.

It is my opinion that kids often get stuck playing games that are not fun, because adults give their children boring games to play, thinking that they are ‘only fun for kids.’

I realize that there are games designed strictly for young kids and their specific levels of comprehension. I am just saying that a well-designed children’s game can be fun, different, and enjoyable for adults as well as children.

That long introduction is my way of explaining my mind-set when reviewing this game. I will attempt to review this from my perspective, combined with the views of my children.

GAMEPLAY: Everyone starts in the Shire as a generic hobbit (my kid’s have given them names. The green one is Frodo).

The hobbits make their way across the board towards Mount Doom. Movement is made by die rolls.

Players meet challenges along the way in the form of characters from the books (randomly selected). They will also have to confront the flying Nazgul. A spinner resolves the challenges.

If a player defeats the challenge and it is a good guy (Gandalf, Gimli, Bill the Pony, etc.), the player gets to keep the character tile, and use it to benefit her later on the journey. She may use the friendly tile to choose between three options: Ignore the results of one spin (spin again), move again (extra die roll), or automatically pass a crystal ball challenge.

If the challenge is a bad guy (Orc, Black Rider, Wolf, etc.), the tile is removed and the hobbit advances past the challenge. A new randomly drawn character tile replaces the defeated one.

As the players get closer to Mount Doom, the characters get tougher (Shelob, the Witch King, etc.) They also must defeat an additional challenge. Some spaces require the players to avoid Sauron’s eye through the use of the Palantir. The player chooses another player to hide the Palantir (marble) in one of their fists, and then she must select the hand without the Palantir, or suffer the fate of being placed back a few spaces onto one of the three towers.

The first player to reach Mount Doom and defeat Sauron wins the game.

EVALUATION: Even though this is a roll and move type game, there are some very compelling elements that make it fun for children, and enjoyable for adults.

+ The players get to choose from several different paths as they move towards Mount Doom. There is not just one fixed path, as in Candyland.

+ The spinner is a fun way for children to contend with the challenges. There is a lot of anticipation as the spinner goes around and around.

+ The players get to choose from 3 options for help from a friendly character tile.

+ Trying to guess which hand the marble is in is also fun for the kids, as well as choosing which player gets to hide it.

+ The game really conveys a sense of journey. When my son finally makes it to Mount Doom, he likes to point out how far he has traveled from the Shire, all the creatures he has defeated, and all the friends that he has ‘won.’

+ The component quality is very good. The artwork is great with a nice hobbity, cartoonish theme.

+ The game lasts for ½ hour or less.

My 5 year old knows how to play the game very well and can set it up without help. He has played it numerous times with friends and cousins his age, with only a little help from me. He wins most of the time, even against grown-ups. This is one of his favorite (top 3) games.

My 3 year old loves to play it, but needs my help throughout the game. He usually ignores my strategy tips. He just likes to move to the bad guy tiles and fight.

I like playing this game with my kids. It plays fast and we have a good time together.

While playing a game, my brother made the comment, “Remember when we were 5? We were playing checkers or pick up sticks. These kids are lucky to have such a fun game.”

I would have thought that this game would be more popular, particularly with the Reiner Knizia name attached. It probably has just been lost in the glut of recent Lord of the Ring games and children’s games.

SUMMARY: This is a fantastic and overlooked children’s game. There is a large amount of luck (spinner and dice), but also a lot of meaningful choices a player must make. The sense of journey is strong as the players make their way closer and closer to Mount Doom. The artwork and components are great. The playing time is quick, and there are a lot of neat elements that make the game fun. Highly recommended for children and their parents.

Thread: Re:User Review

goldenboat — 2003-08-29T03:02:40+00:00

A postscript to my review above ... I mentioned that the game had a trivial printing error. Eagle Games replaced the misprinted tiles at no charge -- excellent customer service.

Thread: User Review

goldenboat — 2003-07-31T12:35:05+00:00

The Lord of the Rings (children’s’ game) is either a riotous success or a mild disappointment, depending on your point of view. I think your dissatisfaction with the game will increase in direct proportion with the distance from your sixth birthday. I can’t fairly rate it – for my six-year old, it’s a seven or an eight out of ten; for this forty-something gamer it charitably pulls a four. In the final analysis I suppose I’m happy I bought it, and if a binary review is required, I give it a thumb’s up. But only just.

It’s a nice package, with an attractively illustrated board, little stand-up towers, and some quality wooden components. Everything packs neatly into a well-designed box. The game is advertised for between 2-5 players of ages six and up, lasting 15-30 minutes, and this play time has proven accurate for two-player games with my son. The rules are brief and mildly ambiguous, but parents will be able to figure it out, and kids will play their own way.

The theme is largely delivered through the components, although the mechanics are also in the ballpark for a Lord of the Rings game (especially when viewed against the limitations of a kids’ roll-and-move game). Everyone gets a different Hobbit, who has a colored pawn and a corresponding card (but, strangely, goes without a name … I guess this way everyone can pretend they’re Frodo). You start in Hobbiton and follow a minimally branching path across the board, rolling a die to determine how many spaces you move (a mechanic only slightly enlivened by a custom die, that offers one "2," a pair of "3’s," one "4," one "5," and a Flying Nazgul icon – a nifty little bit of design which I didn’t notice until just now, ensuring that kids will never suffer the disappointment of "rolling a 1," and also serving to flatten out the distribution of movement results you’d commonly derive from a six-sixed die).

Roll a number and you can move that many spots; roll the Nazgul, and you can position a Nazgul marker on an event location (presumably one where it will bedevil your opponent). There are eight event locations on the map (nine if you count Sauron on Mt. Doom), some of which contain potential allies, but most of which contain enemies of varying toughness (Gollum will hit the canvas after one blow, while the Balrog requires six, and Sauron himself a daunting nine).

Interaction with enemy events involves spinning a spinner (which represents the Ring), with one quarter chance of spinning the Eye of Sauron (ending your turn); otherwise you knock between one and three life points off an enemy, or must spin again, depending on what you’re fighting. Encounters with friendly tiles (such as Gandalf) also involve spinning, with only that Eye of Sauron chance that the tile won’t join your party; after that (in the "advanced" game), you can spend the friend tile to take a bonus move or cancel spinning the Eye or being imprisoned in one of the towers.

Yes, the towers. There are three of them on the map, and while they play no role in the "basic" game, the added complexity of using them is so sleight that I expect most players will treat them as compulsory. Besides, they’re kind of neat. If you end your turn on a tower space (there are several of these in the Mordor portion of the board), then your opponent gets to secretly take the glass Palantir into one hand (actually, it’s a marble, but go with me on this), and then present two fists to his opponent. Choose an empty fist, and nothing happens. Choose the Palantir, and you’re imprisoned atop one of the cardboard towers, from which you may escape the next turn without challenge.

The first player to make it to Mount Doom and survive a spin-off with Sauron (and likely a couple Flying Nazgul, as well) wins the game, presumably by slam-dunking the Ring in the hole.

And that’s it.

There are some mild production problems. A trivial printing error somewhat confuses set-up (the publisher has acknowledged this error in the message boards of their own website), but it’s far from a show-stopper. The rules say to orient the towers such that their doors face at the spaces linked with ropes, but I can find no such spaces on the board (of minor importance, because this presumably determines the space through which the player re-enters the board when escaping a tower). The 3D towers also slightly block your view of the surrounding spaces, so you’ll have to crane around a bit to see which way the path runs. The encounter spaces are named and nicely illustrated, but they’re usually covered by encounter tiles, so you rarely get to see them.

There are a few oddities in the design. Why are the Hobbits competing with each other? Why is the first encounter in Moria always a friend (if that is to be the case, shouldn’t this space be Rivendell, instead?). Why does everyone get to "use the Ring" (by spinning the spinner) – isn’t this supposed to be the "One" Ring? The choices you make aren’t especially meaningful. The combat system is a simple case of grinding it out and hoping for a positive result. I must admit I expected more from a Reiner Knizia game.

But I’m not the audience. My little boy is the audience, and he likes this game. What’s more, he likes it for many of the things that I find tedious. For conflict, I’d rather roll a die, but my son loves spinning the spinner. It doesn’t frustrate him that the spinner is slow, and sometime ambiguous (the dreaded "on the line" result) – he just gets a kick out of watching the spinner go around, and sweating it out when it looks like it will stop on the Eye. The Palantir mechanic is pure cheese, but my kid loves it, taking it very seriously, staring at my hands and carefully considering his choice before solemnly pointing to one fist or the other, and breathing a sigh of relief if the fist I open is empty.

So, as a roll-and-move diversion that serves as an excuse to spend time with your young children, you won’t go far wrong. My kid has fun with it, and that’s pretty much the whole point. The game also led him to ask questions like, "What’s a Hobbit?" and "Who is Sauron?" which will float any geeky parent’s boat, myself included.

Dedicated adult gamers could possibly house-rule this design into something more challenging, but with the wealth of Lord of the Rings games already on the market, I don’t see much point in it.

Recommended for parents of prospective Middle Earth fans or Tolkien completists. Knizia fans shouldn’t expect much. Hardcore gamers should definitely look elsewhere.

Thread: User Review

FuzzyLogic — 2003-05-23T13:12:19+00:00

This review is written with play by kids in mind. I have now played LOTR with my 5 1/2 year old daughter extensively.

There are two sets of rules, basic and optional. The basic rules are quite simple. Roll the die, move the indicated number of spaces (yikes, a roll-an-move Knizia game, what is the world coming to?). There is a "Flaying Nazgul" icon on the die in place of the 6 pip face; if you roll this you get to place a Nazgul token anywhere on the board which will hinder player movement.

If you reach an encounter (either a Friend or Enemy) you spin the spinner. The spinner is divided up into 1-cube, 2 cubes, and 3-cubes sections as well as an Eye of Sauron. When you encounter a Friend, any spin other than the Eye wins the Friend for you. When you encounter an Enemy, if you spin one of the Cube spaces, you remove the indicated number of cubes from the Enemy and spin again, until either all cubes are removed or you spin an Eye. Enemy strengths range from 1 cube to 9 (for Sauron) so it is qute possible to defeat Enemies in one turn. The first player to defeat Sauron wins.

The advanced rules add two major features. Most of the spaces near the end of the board are marked with a tower icon. If a player lands on one of these spaces, he may be captured and sent to a nearby tower. There is a 50/50 chance of being captured, decided by choosing a fellow player's hand that may or may not be holding a "Palantir", here transmogrified into a red marble. The second advanced rule involves the ability to discard a Friend the player has won in order to avoid a bad roll or spin or going to a tower.

My feelings on this game are mixed. I very much wanted this game to serve as an intro into my favorite fantasy world for my little girl. In that it has succeeded, I think. The rules of the basic game are perhaps too simple, basically Candyland with some easily defeated encounters and some minor choices in movement. The advanced rules add little in terms of decision making, and the whole "go to the tower" mechanism can be quite frustrating and really draws the end of the game out.

My daughter enjoys the game, but not as much as Rat-a-Tat Cat or Enchanted Forest. I'm a little disappointed. It's a step up from Chutes and Ladders, though. There are better games to introduce to your kids, but none of them have Hobbits in them.