A review is never late, Bilbo Baggins, nor is it early. A review arrives precisely when it intends to.

1-5 Players 60-120 Minutes Age 14+

Designer Nathan I. Hajek, Grace Holdinghaus

Artist: Various Artists

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games (FFG)

I Come Back To You Now At The Turn Of The Tide

There are times when I feel at odds with the outside world and all its varied troubles and want nothing more than to curl up in a comfortable chair with my favourite book, preferably under a thick blanket so I can’t be found, and lose myself in the pages a well formed narrative, the same can be said for board games, sans the blanket of course. Well dear reader, they don’t come much bookier than The Lord of the Rings, and board games don’t come much gamier than The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth. Just as an avid reader can feel welcomed back to a familiar story, board games can offer a similar experience. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth is an app driven adventure board game from Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) set against the backdrop of Professor Tolkien’s greatest literary work. Join me then as we delve into what I believe is one of FFG’s greatest accomplishments, taking an app driven game set in Tolkien’s world and making it appeal to traditionalists and new comers alike! That’s no mean feat!

The Board Is Set, The Pieces Are Moving

LotR: Journeys in Middle-Earth is a campaign adventure game set in the famed epic fantasy world. The game incorporates both traditional characters from the books and original characters of FFG’s design. Players select their characters and embark upon a campaign adventure made up of linked scenarios forming a cohesive story. Characters can level up, strengthen their decks, acquire or upgrade new items and unravel mysteries as they progress, all while exploring beautifully illustrated modular tile maps that form each chapter of the campaign. The game’s content is curated by the app, which does most of the heavy lifting, allowing players to focus on the story at hand. This also allows for a greater level of content both current and in the future as there are multiple campaigns available, either free, or by purchasing new DLC adventures within the app itself with more content being released on a semi-regular basis. Some content requires one or more of the expansions in order to play as these additions include new map tiles, characters, minis and tokens and new rules. Players can activate the new content in the app by simply checking the products they currently own under My Collection. Not only does this open up a wider range of campaigns and stories, but new content is compatible with existing campaigns, meaning the moment you add new enemies or tiles to the mix, the app can incorporate these elements into your current campaign. This is great method of bringing fresh enemies, locations and items into older campaigns, leading to greater replay-ability.

Riddles In The Dark

Journeys in Middle-Earth utilises deck building to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the characters each of which has their own deck of cards made up from a combination of Basic cards, common to every player, Character cards, such as Aragorn or Bilbo and Role cards, for example, Captain or Burglar. These cards are combined to form each character’s unique deck and are used for most actions, from searching for items or interacting with NPCs or environmental elements to combat and skill checks. This gives players an enormous amount of control over how they develop their characters and provides a very real sense of determining their own strengths along the way. It also allows for players to identify weaknesses in their fellowship and address those as the games progress. Best of all, it removes the luck element which plagues so many dungeon crawler/adventure style games. Rolling dice, while satisfying at times, can lead to undue frustration when a powerful character just can’t seem to pull out a win against even the lowliest of opponents. It speaks to the strength of Journeys in Middle-Earth, that, like the lore upon which it’s based, the game demands a little more from its audience.

Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe

Scenarios take place on either overland adventure maps, where players can freely explore the world, encountering small bands of enemies or speaking with the denizens of Middle-Earth or on battle maps which are up close and personal staging grounds for the more combat heavy skirmishes. Most scenarios, particularly the overland ones, feature deep gameplay steeped in Tolkienesque narratives told though the app which employs the talents of professional voice actors to set the tone. None of the scenarios tread directly on the canon established in the books, but they could easily have taken place elsewhere in the world. The familiar dark and somber themes of a sinister evil growing in secret and spreading its influence throughout the land is at the heart of Journeys in Middle-Earth, even then, these events are juxtaposed with moments of whimsy and delight as the heroes encounter allies, help out townsfolk, uncover ancient lost lore or simply stop for a breather near a graceful waterfall. These events can often prove as distracting as they are alluring as each encounter becomes another obstacle between the characters and the success of their task. Similarly to Mansions of Madness Second Edition, the app here keeps the pace moving by way of Threat, an ambiguous ticking clock that, if the players aren’t cautious, could lead to the failure of their mission if they haven’t met certain objectives in the required time.

There May Come A Day When We Abandon All Bonds Of Fellowship….

Like it or not, companion apps are here to stay in modern board gaming and the technology is only going to increase as game designers and publishers find further and more innovative ways to marry the analogue to the digital. LotR: Journeys in Middle-Earth strikes an ideal balance between the two camps, allowing the app just enough to enhance the experience by taking care of the mundane elements of GM admin and enhancing the event with story and ambience while the players keep their focus firmly on the play space before them, for the most part. I say that because there are times when the app will demand the players attention, though this is normally reserved for conducting combat and inputting skill test results or advancing the game state, each of which is accomplished in a couple of taps of the screen, then you’re back to the miniature based action.

… But It Is Not This Day!

The campaigns themselves are nicely rounded out with a good mix of investigative and battle situations sprinkled with a few side quests and other tempting distractions to entice you. The length of the core campaign felt about right, consisting of about 12-14 games depending on the choices (and friends) you made along the way. During our play throughs, if we ever felt the pacing begin to dwindle we’d next find ourselves thrust from the upper world into a dungeon or a battle map presenting us with a fresh array of challenges. This served to vary the gameplay and prompt adjustments to our strategy. The app informed us if the next game will take place on an adventure map or a battle map, so we had at least a vague idea of what was coming.

Something Happened Then The Ring Did Not Intend

A horde of orcs, or maybe men… I can’t really tell.

While the campaign length was good, I’d advise choosing your play group carefully since characters cannot be dropped in or out between chapters. If you start with two players then it’s going to remain that way until the very end. This is a little disappointing as gaming groups don’t always consist of the same number or make up of players from week to week, people get sick or busy so unless you’re prepared to play with the maximum number of characters and have some players pull double duty from time to time, you’re likely to find yourself shelving Journeys in Middle-Earth from time to time if the right players are unable to attend.

Have You Got Any More Of Those Shiny Daggers?

The real treasure is the friends we made along the way… and that ring.

The component quality is consistent with most of FFG’s current offerings with a decent number of well sculpted minis, though somewhat lacking in variety in the core box and character depictions and artwork that feel right at home in Tolkien’s world. The doubled-sided map tiles are made up of hexagonally edged boards of various sizes and shapes resulting in endless combinations to explore, and if you add one or more of the big box expansions each one almost doubles the amount provided in the base game. It should be noted also that if you opt to pick up the expansions, in addition to more creatures, characters and cards, you’ll also be able to access its accompanying campaigns on the app. Each of the big box expansions are themed around other well known locations, for example, Shadowed Paths explores the darker regions of Mirkwood and the Mines of Moria while Spreading War shifts the exploration to Gondor and Rohan. I’m quietly crossing my fingers for a Scouring of the Shire expansion to round out my hobbits and expand the setting to include the rolling green hills the halflings call home.

Death Is Not The End…

The Lord of the Rings: Journey in Middle-Earth has been a personal favourite in our house for a while and is probably the one big box game we’ve tabled more than any other since it entered our collection. One of the big draws for me is the ease of set up and how naturally the gameplay just seems to flow effortlessly from round to round. The app plays a huge part in how accessible Journeys in Middle-Earth is for gamers and the varying difficulty levels that you can set mean you get to play the game your way, whether you want a tightly wound scenario where every move must count or the freedom to wander at your own pace and explore everything Middle-Earth has to offer, this one has you covered. In short, an excellent game, well balanced and paced and ideal for a dedicated group of adventurers or those who prefer to fly solo. There’s something here for everyone, except of course if you don’t like Tolkien, in which case I doubt you’re still reading.

Thank you for giving us your time and I hope you enjoyed this review. Have you played The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth, or have been curious about the game? Then please share your thoughts in the comments below or you’re more that welcome to join Above Board’s Facebook group here where you can join in discussions with our fantastic community and keep up to date with what’s coming on the website in the near future!

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth Review