The recently introduced The Lord of the Rings: Quest in Middle-earth board game didn’t interest you much, or are you more focused on thoroughbred card adventures than figurines? So, today’s review of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, which is not intended for as many players as the aforementioned game, but is still aimed at story lovers, you might like it.
- Number of players: 14
- Game time: 90-120 minutes (depending on the number of players)
- Price: 1519 CZK (Thlam Games)
- Credit: Asmodee Blackfire
- Age: 14+
Gimli, Aragorn and more reunite in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
The narrative of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game inherently makes a little more sense than the plot presented in The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth. Or at least the set of heroes is more logical and more in line with the general framework of Tolkien’s universe. The action of the main variation takes place in the 17-year period between the 111th birthday of Bilbo and the departure of Frodo. So the time frame is fixed here, which means that Bilbo is finally out of the game. Instead, the assortment of heroes consists of Aragorn, Gimli, Eleanor, or Legolas. However, the spectrum itself is wider, as it contains exactly twelve characters, divided essentially into four different packets.
When you reach for the command set, you will be waiting for, for example, Aragorn, the fallen Theodred from the movie trilogy, or Gimli’s father, fat Glóin. Each of the decks is on completely different cards. The Aragorn alternative is a part built on the support of others, which is often quite convenient. As for the allied units that you will find in this set, you can count on the representatives of Gondor, Rohan and Dwarves, as well as one elven archer. Personally, I really liked the Faramir card from this variant, which increases the willpower of all the characters of the selected player by one point, which is a decent bonus.
Each of the cards has a certain value, which must be paid using one of four sources. The card may be in the realm of Command, Knowledge, Spirit, or Tactics. At the beginning of each round, each of the characters receives resources belonging to his orientation, then draws a card from his deck and can begin planning. As part of the planning, allied cards, spells, or equipment are acquired that can strengthen individuals or the entire group. The composition of the cards is always quite diverse, so there is plenty to choose from. However, under any circumstances, it is necessary to plan your steps a little in advance. The ability to prepare for any situation is, in fact, one of the elements that will help you win meetings and, as a result, entire trips.
The narrative takes you to different locations in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.
Selecting one of the sets will take you to one of the scenarios. However, ideally, of course, you first need to play through the introductory story, which will take you on a journey through the Dark Forest. Not a very beautiful place, but where else to start your journey, if not from here? Space is full of horrors, but it’s not the only place you can visit in this card adventure. There are three scenarios in total. You can also head to Dol Guldur to explore the Necromancer’s Tower, or head towards the River Anduin. Individual cards are rendered very beautifully, so you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the narrative, which can always take a slightly different course.
Just like in the books, in this card game, Darkwood is a place full of spiders to fight. In their travels, the heroes encounter the undead, goblins, and various wildlife inhabitants. For myself, I was interested in, for example, the Swamp Serpent, which increases the level of threat with each attack, or the leader Ufthak, whose combat power increased with each attack. The course of the clashes themselves is built on a simple principle. Evil will take the Shadow cards and the enemies will attack. The player chooses a defender, after which their defense value becomes a shield that protects them from damage. If the defense is broken, an assessment follows, during which the damage is reduced by the strength of the defense. If you do not place anyone as a defender and do not exhaust the attack effect, attack targets any hero that takes full damage.
After the monsters are destroyed, the phase begins when the heroes attack. Players have the option to choose a target as well as the number of characters to attack it. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to evaluate the attack power as well as the damage. As with heroes, it also uses the idea of defense, which is a factor that reduces damage taken. As soon as the damage exceeds the number of lives, the monster or even the hero is sent to the discard pile. You need to work on making sure that the damage you take is something permanent, so you carry it over to the next turns. And it is this factor that makes you think a lot about the use of equipment cards and other elements, because often some adventures stand and fall on a certain hero, and when he dies, you are simply unlucky. The end can also mean reaching a threat value of 50.
Of course, it can turn out well. For example, if you find and kill the Ungoliant Child during the quest through Darkwood, you will actually win, the quest will end and you will have the opportunity to celebrate with beer and mead. Just an adventure the way it should be. The complexity itself is not high with proper planning. Of course, not everything always goes exactly as it should, but even such situations can be dealt with.
The card bet in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game pays off
This story map relies on the smart card format, dazzling visuals, and gameplay that won’t give you any headaches because at its core, it’s amazingly accessible. The range of characters is varied, and the setting does not make everything seem distracting at all, so you can really enjoy the stories on offer, even if you’re a fan of the Lord of the Rings world.
We can say that The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is one of the games that you should pay attention to precisely because of how easily you can find your way to it. Personally, I could imagine that there would be more adventures in the base version, but when it comes to them, you can always expand the elemental range. Basically it’s about how much you crave new quests. Personally, I would recommend this work primarily to fans of Tolkien’s work, who will enjoy both stories and illustrations. However, it can also be a decent entry-level title.
Source :Indian TV
