Lord of the Rings by Hasbro, 2000

Personal Information

Acquired: 29 August 2001
Friends and Foes expansion acquired: 5 December 2001
Sauron + Promo Cards expandsion acquired: 13 December 2002
When I was in Spokane for Christmas of 2000, my brother and I went down to a local game store to browse the newest releases. The featured game that month was Hasbro's Lord of the Rings. After a quick glance at the display, I thought some of the artwork was cool, although the hobbit miniatures were somewhat lackluster. I did not bother examing the actual gameplay itself because I assumed that any game based on the Lord of the Rings, especially one by Hasbro, was bound to be a big let down. My next encounter with this game was when I was surfing the web and came across the board game geek website. The reviews of Lord of the Rings were very positive, and the cooperative aspect of the game seemed intriguing. As a consequence, I purchased the game and have not regretted my decision.

Description:

Lord of the Rings is a cooperative board game created by esteemed designer, Reiner Knizia. In this game, each player controls one of the hobbits that formed the fellowship of the ring: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin and Fatty (whether or not Fatty should be considered part of the fellowship is not within the scope of this game description). The players work together in order to reach Morder and destroy the ring. All the while, the evil Sauron tries to kill or corrupt each of the hobbits. There is no individual winner to this game; either the hobbits win or Sauron wins (i.e. everyone loses). Knowledge of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy is not necessary to enjoy the game, although it certainly enhances the experience (unless someone spends all his time complaining about the differences between the game and the books). The game itself plays fairly well, although it can lose some of its appeal if not all the players have similar experience. If one player has played many more times than the others, he may fall into a dictatorial role that can destroy the cooperative atmosphere that makes the game fun. Replay value is definitely a concern, as well as the fact that luck can play a huge roll in the outcome of the mission. Despite these drawbacks, though, I still find myself quite willing to play the game, suggesting that it still is quite fun, or that I am incredibly boring person. For the sake of my own self esteem, we will assume the former rather than the latter.

My Score: 7/10

Personal Addendum: The fact a game relies significantly on luck really ought not to turn me off. After all, I still get a kick out of playing Domination, a card game designed by me and some fellow high school band mates, and despite my trenchant assertions to the contrary, the game is almost completely based on chance. Whether or not the reason I enjoy Domination is because of its brilliant gameplay, or because of other, more insidious reasons, is another matter entirely.

Links:

Board Game Geek page.
Back to my board games page.