Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 90-120 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

War of the Ring the Card Game shares the name of one of the best board games IMHO. Though it does not deliver the same epic experience, it does bring its own unique gameplay to your table.

War of the Ring the Card Game Rules Description:

War of the Ring the card game pits the Free Peoples and the Shadow. You fight over battlegrounds and paths gaining VPs each round. The first team (or player) to lead by ten or have more points at the scenario’s end wins. To begin, choose the scenario you want to play. There are different scenarios based on the number of players or game length you prefer.

The game is played over rounds made up of five steps. The first is the Location step. The starting player reveals a battleground from their location deck and a path resolving the text on each. Each location has a defense value and displays which factions (for battlegrounds) or characters (for paths) may be played there.

Next the starting player may take one of the following actions in the Action step; play a card, move a card, winnow, use a card’s action text or use a ring token. A majority of your actions will be playing cards and any time you play a card, you must cycle (discard) a card. Different cards may be played to different areas depending on their faction, the numbered path, or their card text. Some have abilities that trigger when played. Others have effects when they are in the reserve (an area in front of you not considered to be a location).

The move action lets you take cards from your reserve and move them to a location. You may not move a card in the round it was played. If you don’t like your cards, you may take the winnow action. This allows you to eliminate two cards to draw one. Eliminated cannot re-enter the game. Some cards require you to use an action to apply their effects. Once per game in the Trilogy scenario you may use your ring token to draw two cards. If you have not used it at the end of the game it is worth one VP.

During the Combat step, the starting player determines the order the locations are resolved. On path locations the Free Peoples are always the defender. Add the skull symbols then subtract the number of shields and shield tokens on the path location. Leftover defenders on the path are cycled. If not all the skull symbols have not been canceled, the Free Peoples player(s) must eliminate cards from the path until the number of shield icons equalizes the remaining skulls. If they meet or exceed the number of skull symbols they win the path and those VP. If they don’t, the Shadow player(s) get the path VPs plus the number of remaining skull symbols. After combat all Shadow characters are eliminated.

On battlegrounds, you follow a similar flow counting swords instead of skulls. The defender is also determined by whose battleground it is. Leftover defenders on battlegrounds get cycled and attackers are eliminated.

Next you check for victory. Add up all the VPs on your locations plus one VP if you didn’t use your ring token. The Shadow player(s) also add their corruption tokens. If either side leads by 10 VPs they instantly win. If neither side has won, players draw cards based on the scenario. If combat was resolved on the last path, the game ends, and the team with the higher score wins. The Shadow player wins ties.

Quick Review of War of the Ring the Card Game:

War of the Ring the card game is not the same epic experience as the board game. But that is a very high bar and tough game to be compared to. Some fans of that game might be looking to see if they should pick up the card game for a shorter, more compact version.

The components for this game are very nice with great art work and sturdy cards. The rulebook is easy to follow and full of examples. But you will still probably need to look up some terms and remind yourself of the flow of things.

Though it does not offer the experience as the board game, War of the Ring the card game does have some good things going for it. First the cycling mechanic creates tough and interesting choices and lets you manage your future hands. Most cards you cycle you will see later in the game. Sometimes you can cycle a character that can only be placed on a later path, but sometimes you’d like to keep everything in your hand too. You will need to balance short term tactics with long term strategy.

The board game is best with two players. I feel the card game plays best with four. It works fine at two but really sings with four and having the option for either is nice. The designer has posted another two player scenario to try here.

There are not a ton of good team based competitive games and this is a good one. The asymmetry of the faction decks will have you wanting to give each one a try. This adds replay value to the game.

There are some things I wish were better too. Having a Lord of the Rings theme and reading through the cards it seems there will be lots of opportunities to play out key moments from the books in this card game. Unfortunately, given the randomness of card draw, it is hard to pull off some combos as it requires having the right hero with the right weapon in the right place.

War of the Ring the card game is more enjoyable when played and studied and learned. Having knowledge of the cards will increase your enjoyment of the game. That will take time. If you are wondering whether to pick this up or not, you might have an answer based on this question. Are you someone that plays a game once in a while and only a few times? If so I am not sure this is for you. But if you play games consistently and play them several times you will get a lot out of this one.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 (5 if you play and learn it) out of 6
Overall 4 (5 if you play and learn it) out of 6