Avg. Review:

When I first opened the box, I thought to myself, "This game looks way to complicated to play." I saw five game boards (1 Master board and 2 double-sided Scenario boards with four different adventures), 60 Hobbit cards, 5 Character cards, 5 Gandalf cards, 35 Feature cards, 23 square Event tiles, 11 round Life tokens, 32 shields, 1 Ring, 1 die, 5 plastic Hobbit figures, 1 Sauron figure and one very detailed instruction booklet complete with pictures (not too shabby for $30!!).

After reading through the instruction booklet, I decided I was a bit hasty with my judgment. The game is not complicated at all, in fact, it is so much fun, my husband and I played it 3 times in a row, which took about 4 hours for the two of us. I imagine it would take less time with more players.

The game, of course, is based on the Lord of the Rings novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. There is even a synopsis of the book in the instruction booklet for those who have not had the pleasure of reading it. All you need to play the game is two to five willing participants and you are ready to begin your quest to destroy the ring.

"One ring to rule them all
One ring to find them
One ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them"

Each player chooses a Character card. There is Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry and Fatty. The Character card gives each player special skills which they can call upon throughout the game. For example, Fatty may draw 2 additional Hobbit cards from the deck after each Scenario board is completed. This skill is unique to Fatty so he is the only character that can draw the extra cards. If you are playing with less than 5 players, the instruction booklet indicates which characters are to be played.

The Master board has 15 squares ranging from white to black. This is called the Corruption Line. The players place their Hobbit figures on square "0" which is the lightest. Sauron is placed on square "15" which is the darkest. The goal is to stay away from the darkness…don't let Sauron catch up to you. The group begins in Rivendell, which is a safe haven. Once preparations for the journey ahead are made, the group continues on to Moria. This is where the first Scenario board comes into play. Each scenario has Activity lines for some or all of four activities: Friendship (represented by a handshake symbol), Travelling (feet), Hiding (tree) and Fighting (axe and sword). There are also Event boxes on the left side of the board. Trust me, you want to do your best to stay away from these Event boxes. They are nothing but bad news!!! The Event tiles should be shuffled at the start of each scenario and should be placed to the side of the board where all players will have access to them. There are also Feature cards for each scenario, which should be displayed at the top of the Master board.

 The ring bearer begins by revealing an Event tile and acting on it. An event tile gives one of the following instructions:

• Progress the maker to the next Event box down (again, this is bad…sometimes, you will have the option of giving up cards or life tokens to keep from advancing to the next event. I highly recommend doing all you can to keep from moving to the next Event box…then again, what do I know, I still haven't defeated Sauron.).
  
• Move Sauron or the Hobbits on the Corruption line.
  
• Advance the marker on the Activity line that matches the Activity symbol shown.

The active player must keep drawing Event tiles until a tile showing one of the activity symbols (handshake, tree, axe and sword, or feet) is drawn or until the scenario ends.

Once an Activity symbol is drawn, the player can decide to play either one or two cards from their hand but if two cards are played, one must be white and one must be grey. If the player chooses not to play any cards, he may draw two Hobbit cards or move his Hobbit backwards by one step, towards the light. Once the group completes the scenario board for Moria, play continues on through Lothlorien, another safe haven, Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair and finally, Mordor where the final showdown against Sauron takes place.

Trust me, as you move through the Scenario boards, you will begin to cringe when you draw the Activity tiles. You will begin to chant, "no whammies, no whammies." This is just a brief overview of the game. There is so much more involved in the quest to destroy the ring. I would recommend this game to anyone, even if they aren't familiar with the book. It's easy to learn, a lot of fun to play and you get a really cool ring prop to play with on top of it all!! What more could you ask for??

--Tonya, Wizard's Keep staff