After two popular releases of the Adventure Book Games, The Wizard of Oz and The Princess Bride, Ravensburger released a third installment, The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game. Despite how you feel about the length of the movie, this game plays surprisingly fast. Now, if you haven’t played a game from this series, let’s take a journey through Middle Earth.

Gameplay

The setup for this game is so easy, I was right off the back impressed by this. I could have set this up with my eyes closed. There are eight chapters to the game, each chapter has its own set of tokens it needs and which miniatures it needs, making each chapter a small setup because you will likely only need a few tokens. Shuffle some cards, put each piece in place and there you go, setup done in about 45 seconds. There are four different decks you use, each specifically marked for ease of access. To make it even easier, each chapter of the board tells you exactly when to use each deck.

Playing the game is just about as easy as the setup. I would say that the gameplay is a 50/50 blend of luck and strategy. Each turn you will move miniatures, discard cards, complete missions, draw cards, discard cards, and resolve plot points. The luck in the game comes a little from drawing story cards and getting the story cards you need to resolve challenges, but where most of the luck comes from are plot points. At the end of each turn, you turn over a plot card, it’s a numbered card with a number one through twenty, whatever the number is you have a plot card that will tell you what happens. The plot cards can move an enemy, move multiple enemies, or simply do nothing.

The goal of the game is to play through the story of The Lord of the Rings. The game has eight chapters that you play through, each chapter being a different crucial point of the movies. With each chapter, there are different challenges and different goals to complete. Your main goal is to complete the entire story of the game. Making the journey that Frodo had to make in the films.

The thing I think adds to this game a lot is the chapters. The chapters play fairly quickly because turns don’t take long and everything is laid out for you so you don’t have to reference the rule book constantly. On top of that, the chapters are laid out like actual chapters. Say you finish a chapter and forget you have to pick up your goldfish from school, it’s super simple to pack the game up and continue after you drop the goldfish off at soccer practice. It also has a single-player mode, I admit that to most people single-player board games may not seem fun, but for those who enjoy board games but don’t have a consistent group or partner to play with, this game has you covered.

Artwork

Each chapter has its own specific board. The boards are each made to look like a map that is reminiscent of something a dungeon master would use in Dungeons and Dragons, and I think it fits the Lord of the Rings look well. On top of that, the little prints on the tokens are well-made little art pieces. Also if you have a board game collection that you keep organized by aesthetics this series has you covered because they even keep them numbered for you to put right up on your shelf.

Replayability

To be completely transparent I don’t know how much replayability you could really get out of this game. You might be able to get a new playthrough with different people but you have to remember it is based on the story of a movie so the goals aren’t random and they will be the same every time. But I could see it being a decent replay for movie nights where you need some themed games.

What It Could Have Done Better

As far as gameplay is concerned, I don’t have many criticisms to fit in. The game flows well and it is super simple to understand. The only “complaints” I have are about the game pieces. Some of the miniatures have small flimsy parts that I could see getting damaged very easily if you’re not careful. The other thing, is there are characters that don’t have miniatures that I think should. Mainly Gandalf and Gollum because they’re used a couple of times.

If I have to say something about gameplay I would say the replayability aspect. They should have added a “hardcore” mode or a “speed” mode. That could have added a more challenging mode and a reason to play again.

Verdict

The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game is a very nice adaptation of a story into a board game! If you pay attention you know exactly where in the story you are. The game flows nicely and I really like that you can start and stop whenever you need to. It makes the game a good choice for those who don’t have a lot of time. I really liked it and I haven’t played the first two Adventure Book Games, I was drawn in because I’m such a big Lord of the Rings fan. But playing this, I think I will have to keep an eye out for the other two.

The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game is available now exclusively at Target for an affordable MSRP of $34.99 USD.