| Game
Overview
This
game is another in a growing trend of co-operative
games. The players must work together in
the quest to throw the Ring into the fires
of Mordor - and they are battling against
the game's system. Each player takes on
the role of a hobbit and each character
has their own special power to aid the fellowship
in their quest. The game uses a series of
boards to display and progress the action.
A master board shows the current position
of the fellowship and Sauron stands at the
opposite end. If Sauron reaches a Hobbit
they will perish. If he reaches the Ring
Bearer the game is up. Above the player's
positions are the main scenarios - Bag End,
Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Lothlorien, Isengard,
Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair and Mordor. The
base game comes with Scenario Boards for
Helm's Deep and Moria, whilst two expansions
include many other major locations from
the series. But do not despair as there
is plenty in the base game to keep you going
for some time. Several regions such as Bag
End and Rivendell are simply staging areas
where the players can prepare for the journey
ahead (gain cards), but the scenario boards
of Moria and Helm's Deep is where the action
really happens. Each of these boards depicts
several activity lines based on the themes
of friendship, travelling, hiding and fighting.
The cards within the game belong to one
of these four sets (icons depict the type
of card) and each turn allows a player to
play up to two cards in order to advance
the fellowship markers on these activity
lines. Doing so will earn a player shields,
ring tokens, hearts or special cards that
may save the fellowship in their time of
need. But only when the fellowship reaches
the end of the main activity line on a scenario
board will they escape that particular area
and get a step closer to Mordor. Prior to
each player's turn an event tile must be
drawn and they generally include major setbacks
for the fellowship that must be dealt with
by discarding certain cards (therefore weakening
the player's options on future turns) or
moving Sauron closer to the fellowship.
At the end of each scenario each player
must sacrifice a shield, heart and ring
token or else they will be drawn toward
Sauron on the master board. This mechanic
is clever as it forces the players to co-operate
to help each player get as many of the tokens
as possible. A scenario board can also be
completed by undertaking all of the events
(these occur by drawing event tiles) but
the pain of doing so is not advised. The
game is won or lost as a team but for the
more competitive a scoring system does exist
to determine an overall winner.
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