therese blog

When I see something Lord of the rings-related I usually buy it, especially if it’s a board game, card game, video game (don’t even get me started on the Gollum-game), Lego, coaster. Slap something LOTR-related on it and I will probably buy it, within limits, I’m not crazy.

LOTR The fellowship – trick taking game was one of those things I just bought because of the theme. The trick taking part of the game did not appeal to me (if I want to play Bridge, I play Bridge). But the game was better than I thought and I found myself checking release date for the second game once a day. And yes, I’m already looking forward to the third game.

The first game had a tendency to get a bit harrowing towards the end, it was quite repetitive, especially if you lost part of the scenario.

The second game have put a few new mechanics in play that I think will counter the repetitive feeling from the first one.

I’ve only played this solo and I think the experience is quite different when you play as a group. Playing solo is more a game of chance because all the cards aren’t dealed directly.

Playing solo you deal four hands of four cards each. The rest of the cards are put in a draw pile. You then assign a character to each of the hands, and then you may perform ONE setup action for one of the characters. Then you start playing. There are of course a few other rules, some special cards and every chapter has each own setup and also introduces new characters as you go along.

I really like the artwork and the game follows the book and not the movies which I think is great.

What brings down the rating of this game, for me, is that it does depend a lot on chance in the solo game experience. I can make a strategy with the cards I have in the beginning but I have no control over the rest of the cards. When playing four people, you could get a bit more strategic, I think. With that said I really like the solo experience, it feels like the game adapts well to solo gaming and it’s not just something that got thrown along with the game. There’s special rules in some of the chapters för solo or two/three player gaming.

I rated Lord of the rings – The Two Towers – Trick taking game at a 7. One point higher than the first, because I think this one has a bit more variety to it, but I also think it gains from playing them in order.