The Lord of the Rings (game)
| Lord of the Rings | |
|---|---|
 Board game logo |
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| Game data | |
| author | Pure Knizia |
| graphic | John Howe |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 2000, new edition 2011 |
| Art | Board game |
| Teammates | 2 to 5 |
| Duration | 60-90 minutes |
| Age | from 10 years on
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| Awards | |
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Game of the Year 2001: Special Prize “Literature in Games”. |
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The Lord of the Rings is the title of a board game by Reiner Knizia , which was first published in 2000 by Kosmos- Verlag. In the game adaptation based on the novel of the same name by JRR Tolkien , the players take on the role of a hobbit to fight the way from the Shire to Mount Doom and destroy the one ring there. The game can be played with two to five players aged ten and over; the manufacturer specifies a playing time of 60 to 90 minutes. Compared to other author's games , The Lord of the Rings has a special role due to its cooperative gameplay . While in parlor games a single player is usually the winner at the end of the game, in the implementation of Knizia the game can only be won or lost jointly by all players.
Overall, the game was able to win a final placement of the Gamers Choice Award as well as the special prize “Literature in Games” from the jury of the Game of the Year . The game was published in 18 languages and sold more than a million times internationally by 2006. Three expansions have appeared since it was first published, with the third expansion package no longer being published by Kosmos, but by Heidelberger Spieleverlag .
For the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2011 KOSMOS published a new edition of the game with a new design, revised layout of the rules and minor rule changes. It is the German version of the new edition published by the American game publisher Fantasy Flight Games at the end of the previous year . There the game falls into the category of the Silver Line Games, games with simple rules and a maximum duration of one hour.
Backstory
The game puts the player in the role of up to five hobbits who relive the adventures of Frodo and his companions from the three-part novel by Tolkien. In addition to Frodo, the players play the roles of Sam , Merry , Pippin and Dick . Overall, the game is closely based on the novel. Only the role of Dick was expanded to make a game possible for five. The hobbits start with the ring together in the Shire in Bag End, from where they travel to Mordor via the stations Rivendell , Moria , Lothlórien , Helms Klamm and Kankras Lauer . Many objects and characters from the novel are taken up in the form of special cards.
Since the game was released before the successful film adaptation from 2001 to 2003 and therefore cannot be attributed to the many merchandising articles that appeared in the course of it, content is used that was not mentioned in the film.
Game flow
The game runs in seven phases, which correspond to the stations on the route drawn on the main game board from the Shire to Mordor. The first two stations, Bag End and Rivendell, and the fourth station, Lothlórien, represent pleasant sections of the journey for the players and give the opportunity to equip themselves. For this purpose, it is noted on the main game board in what number of hobbit cards - in the later course of the game the basis for each move - and other special cards are distributed. The remaining stations Moria, Helms Klamm, Shelter Lauer and Mordor form the actual content of the game.
For each of these stations there is a separate game plan, which is created in the corresponding travel section below the main game plan. Each of these four adventure maps shows three or four individual paths up to ten fields long, which symbolize individual storylines. Each storyline is marked with a symbol that indicates the type of adventure: battle (weapons), hiding (tree), wandering (feet) or friendship (reaching hands). As soon as a new station is reached, i.e. a new adventure board is revealed, the first field of each path is marked with a neutral white position marker. In principle, each player can achieve successes and advance on each track in the course of the game, the individual tracks are not tied to individual players.
The hobbits' player figures are placed on the main game board. They stand opposite Sauron on a separate ledge that runs below the path from Bag End to Mordor. At the start of the game, Sauron is placed on Mordor's side, the hobbits are 15 spaces away in the Shire. Due to various events in the game it can happen to a player to have to move closer to Sauron and thus to move his hobbit figure one space towards Sauron. Conversely, it can happen that Sauron approaches the hobbits one space with his figure. As soon as a hobbit reaches Sauron's field or vice versa, the player is eliminated. If Sauron has reached all hobbits, the game is lost.
One move
A player's turn consists of two phases. First of all, the player must reveal the top one from a stack of event cards. This shows either one of the four positive symbols for friendship, travel, hiding and fighting or a certain action by Sauron. The latter may mean, for example the advance of Sauron toward the Hobbits or the shot with a further negative consequences for the players displayed cube force. The event cards can also show a sundial , which heralds the next event. For this purpose, various events are recorded in sequence on each adventure game plan, which occur gradually and mostly have negative consequences for the players. The active player reveals event cards and carries out the corresponding events until one of the four positive symbols appears. He then moves one space forward on the storyline track belonging to the corresponding symbol on the adventure board. Then the player can play up to two hobbit cards. These also show one of the four positive symbols. According to the symbols played, the player may advance on the corresponding tracks. Various symbols are drawn on the individual fields of the storyline bars: shields, suns, hearts and rings. When moving on or across a field, the player who moves takes tiles with the corresponding symbols from a general supply. Then it is the next player's turn.
Evaluation of an adventure game plan
A stage of the game is completed when either the last event had to be carried out on an adventure game board or the players have reached the last space on a certain storyline highlighted as the main storyline. At the end of a game segment, each player must have collected a certain number of symbols (heart, sun, ring). If players are missing symbols, they must draw the difference in Sauron's direction. Then all players give the symbols. It can also happen that the ring carrier changes. At the start of the game, Frodo is given the ring. The person who has collected the most ring symbols at the end of a game segment becomes the new ring bearer. By owning the ring, the player is given the opportunity to make a special special move once per travel segment.
Playing
The game is won when the players on the last adventure game board in the main storyline have advanced to Mordor Mountain of Fate and were able to destroy the ring there. If all players, or at least the ring bearer, have succumbed to Sauron by then, or if the last event occurs in the last adventure, the game is lost for all players.
If the players so wish, they can calculate a number of points according to the game rules after the end of the game, on the basis of which their performance can be assessed. A result sheet is enclosed with the game, in which the results of the individual games can be noted with the appropriate number of points. In order to adjust the level of difficulty in upcoming games, the rules suggest that experienced players move the figure of Sauron three to five spaces closer to the players from the start.
Game material
The characters are kept simple. Simple white lacquered wooden cones act as position markers and show the progress on the action bars. The life tokens, shields and event cards show corresponding symbols without any further decorations. In the first edition, the hobbit figures, the Sauron figure and the One Ring were still modeled, since the new edition in 2011 they have also been made of cardboard.
The game includes:
- Main game board
- 2 double-sided game plans for the 4 travel sections Moria, Helms Klamm, Kankras Lauer and Mordor
- The one ring
- Sauron figure
- 5 hobbit figures
- 6 position stones
- 5 character cards
- 60 hobbit cards
- 5 Gandalf cards
- 35 special cards
- 23 square event cards
- 11 round life tokens
- 32 shield tiles
- 1 cube
- Results sheet
Illustrations
Due to the appearance before the successful film adaptation from 2001 to 2003, the board game implementation by Knizia visually differs significantly from other game implementations of the material, since photos of the actors and locations were not used. Instead, both the game board and the hobbit and special cards were illustrated by hand. The drawings were contributed by the Canadian John Howe , who had been working on the Tolkien novel in various publications since the 1980s.
The representation of the individual characters, objects and locations is loving and tries to take up the descriptions of Tolkien as accurately as possible, whereby a gloomy atmosphere usually prevails. Howe himself writes about the illustrations of Tolkien's works:
"Illustrating the Words of JRRTolkien means deciding what is best not illustrated, deciding what needs deep shadow or distance or slanting November light."
“ Illustrating JRRTolkien's words means deciding what is best not to be drawn at all, or where deep shadows, spacing or slanting November light are appropriate. "
criticism
The concept of cooperative play was new at the time of publication in board games for young people and adults. Up to now, such ideas have been introduced almost exclusively in toddler games like Orchard or role-playing board games like Hero Quest or Dungeons and Dragons . In the implementation of Knizia, the game gets its decisive charm from the many possibilities that are open to the player during his turn. Due to the different storylines to be worked through at the same time, compromises have to be made in every move, which creates a strong potential for discussion among the players.
The game is rated as moderate to good in independent game reviews. The most serious point of criticism is a certain luck factor, which arises when the event cards are drawn. Sometimes several (often negative) events can be triggered before the players have a turn. Another point of criticism can be seen as the lack of an individual game winner - here it depends on the preferences of the players whether winning or losing together can retain its appeal over many games. Despite their complexity, the rules are predominantly seen as logical and consistent, which is why they are rarely criticized. Only the entry for newbies is described as difficult. For regular rounds, however, the playability for children from 10 years is confirmed.
Extensions
The basic game was designed from the beginning to be open to possible expansion. Not least because of the many abstract symbols in the game, these can be easily integrated into the game process afterwards. In the previous game, symbols that appeared repeatedly, such as an upright rectangle as a sign of having to hand over a card or a black square as a sign of having to roll the dice, could be replaced by new functions of the expansions.
| The enemy | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Pure Knizia |
| graphic | John Howe |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 2001 |
| Art | Expansion pack |
| Teammates | 2 to 5 |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Age | from 12 years |
The enemy
The first published expansion, The Enemies, adds two more adventure boards to the game. Between Bag End and Rivendell, the players also contest the path through Bree . Isengart is inserted between Lothlórien and Helms Klamm as a stopover . Enemy cards also come into play. These show different opponents of the heroes of the novel and indicate by which victims they are to be defeated. At every point in the game where, according to the rules of the basic game, a player was asked to discard a card, an enemy is revealed instead. A total of up to seven enemies can be displayed during the game. As soon as the players cannot prevent an eighth enemy from being displayed at the end of a turn, they lose the game. Furthermore, players have the option to skip certain adventure maps if they have defeated all enemies at the end of certain game segments.
For the appearance of the expansion for the international game days in Essen 2001, another additional card was distributed to the trade fair visitors, which is not available in stores.
| Sauron | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Pure Knizia |
| graphic | John Howe |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| Art | Expansion pack |
| Teammates | 3 to 6 |
| Duration | 90-120 minutes |
| Age | from 12 years |
Sauron
With the Sauron expansion released in 2002, the basic idea of the cooperative game is partially discarded. One of the players is given the opportunity to take on the role of Sauron to compete against the other players. This means that a game with up to six players is possible. Sauron's turn is always before a hobbit begins his turn or when a hobbit has to roll the die. Sauron acts using his own Sauron and Nazgul cards, which he can play against the players. In each turn, Sauron may play any card or draw Sauron cards from the deck.
The Black Rider comes into play as a further element . It is placed next to the Sauron figure at the start of the game and can be moved during the course of the game using Sauron and Nazgul cards. If the Sauron player manages to move the black rider from Mordor to the ring bearer and back, the other players lose and Sauron wins. The Sauron expansion is still playable together with The Enemies .
| Battlefields | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Pure Knizia |
| graphic | Brian Schomburg |
| publishing company | Heidelberg |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| Art | Expansion pack |
| Teammates | 2 to 5 |
| Duration | 90-120 minutes |
| Age | from 12 years |
Battlefields
The third expansion battlefields extends the story of the hobbits to include the other companions and the battles that take place in the various story sections. There is also a battlefield for each adventure game board (including that of the expansion The Enemies ), which is placed next to the game board. Enemies enter the battlefields via trigger tokens that are placed on the action bars of the adventure boards. By playing cards, the players themselves can summon their companions Aragorn , Boromir , Gandalf , Gimli and Legolas to the battlefields to fight the opponents there. Depending on the opponent, the players receive different advantages from a victory. The battlefields can be combined with the expansion The Enemies , but not with Sauron .
In contrast to the basic game and the first two expansions, Schlachtfelder was no longer published by Kosmos-Verlag, but by Heidelberger Spieleverlag . This resulted in the unusual situation that the basic game was partially no longer available when an expansion package was released, as Kosmos-Verlag had stopped production by then. The extension was developed by Reiner Knizia - for the illustrations, however, the publisher no longer used Howe, but Brian Schomburg . The Heidelberger Spieleverlag continues to sell the extension in three languages. Both the instructions and the cards containing text are included in German, English and French.
Difficulty and duration
All three expansions each contribute to an extension of the playing time. Even if the first expansion Die Feinde offers the possibility of skipping individual sections of the journey, the newly added elements and decision-making options increase the consultation times within the group of players, which leads to longer playing times, especially in the second and third expansion.
In terms of difficulty, all three expansions increase the chances of Sauron's victory, especially when combining two expansions, inexperienced players can get into trouble. Since it is up to the players to choose the starting field for the Sauron figure themselves to be different near or far from the hobbit figures, this fact can be compensated for.
Further editions
The board game implementation and partly also the extensions of the Lord of the Rings are so far available in nine other languages. A “limited edition” has so far been published in English and German. The plastic version of the ring was replaced by a gold-plated silver ring, the hobbit figures are cast in metal. An art print of an illustration by Howe is also included. Each of the maximum 250 German and 500 English copies was hand-signed by both Knizia and Howe.
In addition, numerous other board games have been released since the novel was made in theaters, which embed the material in different game principles. Knizia worked on four other publications as main author for various publishers and Howe worked on two other publications as illustrator. The game below, The Lord of the Rings: The decision that Kosmos published in the publisher's own series " Games for Two " was made with both parties.
Web links
- Game instructions:
- Basic game (Kosmos; PDF file; 4.27 MB)
- Base game, version 2011 (Kosmos; PDF file; 4.96 MB)
- The Enemies (Kosmos; PDF file; 2.84 MB)
- Sauron (Kosmos; PDF file; 3.98 MB)
- Battlefields (Heidelberger Spieleverlag; PDF file; 475 kB)
- The Lord of the Rings in the Luding games database , The Enemies in the Luding games database , Sauron in the Luding games database and Battlefields in the Luding games database
- The Lord of the Rings in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
- Website of the illustrator John Howe with illustrations
- FFG website for the board game (Silver Line Edition, 2010)
- Kosmos website for the board game (Version 2011)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Internal interview (PDF; 240 kB) from Ulm University
- ↑ Silver Line Games ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ see the exhibition directory of John Howe on his own website ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Link verified on Nov 6, 2007
- ↑ Tolkien's World - Paintings of Middle-earth, HarperCollins Publishers 1994 ISBN 0-261-10307-5 , p. 129
- ↑ see game review at "Holgs Spieleteufel", 12th paragraph , link verified on 6th Nov 2007
- ↑ see game review at "Spiel mit Mir" , link verified on Nov 6, 2007
- ↑ see game review in the "Pöppelkiste" ( memento of the original from March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Link verified on Nov 6, 2007
- ↑ see game review at Spieletest.at ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Link verified on Nov 6, 2007
- ↑ see game review by the "Brigadiers" ( memento of the original from April 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Link verified on Nov 6, 2007
- ↑ See the freely available pdf version ( Memento of the original dated November 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the map on the English Knizia website convivium.org.
- ↑ see Lord of the Rings in the board game database BoardGameGeek (English), link verified on 7th Nov 2007
- ↑ see illustration and information from John Howe on his website , link verified on November 7, 2007
- ↑ The Luding game database lists 42 hits for the "Lord of the Rings" query , link verified on Nov. 7, 2007
- ↑ "The Lord of the Rings: The Companions", Ravensburger 2001; "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", Ravensburger 2002; "The Lord of the Rings - The Decision", Kosmos 2002; "The Lord of the Rings: The Child's Game", Kosmos 2003;
- ↑ "The Lord of the Rings: The Search," Kosmos 2001; " The Lord of the Rings: The Decision, " Kosmos 2002;
