Stats:
No. of players: 1-2
Amount of time to play: 30-90 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

The Lord of the Rings Card Game is a scenario-based, cooperative card game. You control heroes and allies of the Free Peoples and must successfully finish your quest to win.

Lord of the Rings Card Game Rules Description:

The first thing you need to know about the Lord of the Rings Card Game is it is a living card game (LCG). LCGs are similar to CCGs but instead of buying random booster packs, you buy a set of cards. You can expand your game by buying expansion packs.

The Lord of the Rings Card Game comes with four 30 card starter decks. Each starter deck is associated with one of the four spheres of influence: tactics, leadership, lore and spirit. The spheres all play differently and you can even build 50 card tournament decks with dual spheres.

You start the game with up to three heroes in play. Each round they will generate resources which are used to put allies and other cards into play. Then you must decide who will quest and who will fight.

Questing helps you reach your goal but you must also fight your enemies. Some characters will need to defend to keep your heroes alive. Then you get a chance to attack.

At the end of each round your threat level increases by one. If your threat level reaches 50 before you have met the scenario goals you lose.

Quick Review of Lord of the Rings Card Game:

The Lord of the Rings Card Game has received mixed reviews and I can understand the difference in opinions. The theme is awesome and the mechanics are solid. The art is fantastic and the components are all high-quality.

The rules are a tough read. You should watch a video (or two) showing you how to play the Lord of the Rings Card Game or have a friend teach you. It is not too complex and once you have played a few times you will have things down. If you are learning straight from the rules the curve will be steeper.

The Lord of the Rings Card game is challenging, especially if you are using the starter decks and playing solo. You can merge two spheres and have better success but your deck will still not be a finely tuned machine.

I think the biggest problem I have with the game is the lack of deck building present in the base set. A tournament size deck is 50 cards. You must merge two spheres to reach 50 cards. But even then you are only removing ten cards total from the two spheres. In my mind that is not crafting a deck.

The other option for more deck options is to buy more base sets or expansions. While not a horrible thing I wish there was more deck building in this one box.

The game play and mechanics are fun and fit the theme. You need to manage resources well and balance questing, attacking and defending. You will always feel one area is being neglected, but that tension is not a bad thing. Most Lord of the Rings game are stacked against the Free Peoples and they should be.

The fact the Lord of the Rings Card Game is cooperative helps it stand out from other card games. This is a cooperative game that will not get taken over by one strong personality. Since you have your own deck, you and you alone will get to play it.

All in all I think the Lord of the Rings Card Game is a very good game. If you like other LCGs and CCGs you should try it out. Be aware of the investment though. You will probably want two (maybe three) base sets and picking up a few expansions won’t hurt anything (except your wallet). The cost is definitely less than a CCG. But if you think you can pick this up to build a bunch of fun decks and not have to put more money in, you are wrong. You can buy this and have a decent card game, but it will be more fun if you get more stuff.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 (N/A for solo)
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6