The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It is a cooperative game set in the fantasy world of JRR Tolkien's books. The initial time-frame for the game is the 17 years between Bilbo leaving the Shire and Frodo following him.
Other name(s) | Der Herr der Ringe: Das Kartenspiel Pán prstenů: Karetní hra Le Seigneur des Anneaux: Le jeu de cartes O Senhor dos Anéis: Card Game El Señor de los Anillos: El Juego de Cartas Il Signore degli Anelli: Il Gioco di Carte Władca Pierścieni: Gra Karciana Ο Άρχοντας των Δαχτυλιδιών 魔戒:卡牌版 |
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Designer(s) | Nate French |
Publisher(s) | Fantasy Flight Games |
Publication date | 20 April 2011 [1] |
Years active | 2011 - present |
Genre(s) | Co-operative Living Card Game (LCG) with Deck Building |
Language(s) | English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Czech, Chinese |
Players | 1 - 4 [2] (Best with 2 players [3]) |
Setup time | < 5 minutes (excluding deck building) |
Playing time | 30 - 90 minutes [2] (typical: 60 minutes [3]) |
Random chance | Some (card drawing, deck building) |
Age range | 12+ [3] (13+ recommended [2]) |
Skill(s) required | Card playing, Deck building, Logic, Strategy |
Material(s) required | Optional: Pen and paper for scoring |
Media type | Playing cards |
Website | The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game — Fantasy Flight Games |
Mechanics
Like other games in Fantasy Flight's Living Card Game line, it has deck construction and regularly released expansions similar to a collectible card game, but without the randomized card distribution.[4]
Unlike most card games of this type, it may be played either solitaire or with a group. Although a core set only supports up to 2 players, the game can be played by 3 or 4 with an additional core set. Unusually, players are not opponents but cooperate against an "encounter deck" which represents the forces of Sauron and produces the obstacles that the adventurers have to conquer.
Each player has their own cards: their heroes (up to 3) which start in play, and a deck of at least 50 cards, composed of Allies, Attachments (such as weapons, armor, and other items) and Events. Although the core set comes with pre-constructed decks, deck construction is a major aspect of the game, and many players build their own decks, utilising cards from the various expansions.[5]
Community
The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game has an active following, with multiple podcasts and blogs dedicated to discussing gameplay, strategy, deck-building and news, as well as providing custom content.
Podcasts: Cardboard of the Rings[6] The Grey Company[7] The Mouth of Sauron[8]
Blogs: Tales From the Cards[9], Hall of Beorn[10], Master of Lore[11], Dor Cuarthol[12], Vision of the Palantir.[13]
Expansions
There are several types of expansion to this game. Each Deluxe Expansion (and the core set) contain 3 quests and begins a new cycle, which usually share a mechanical or story driven theme. These releases are supplemented by 6 Adventure Packs for a total of 9 quests per cycle.
The Saga Expansions follow the story of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The latter introduced a mode of play called Campaign mode allowing for some degree of permanence between the quests telling the story. Players can earn powerful "Boon" cards, which can be used in following quests, as well as "Burden" cards which make future quests more difficult.
The Standalone Scenarios are one-off quests released without any player cards. Fantasy Flight Games usually releases one to coincide with their Gen Con event and their Fellowship (in house) event. They have often been more difficult than a standard quest and allow the designers to experiment with ideas outside the confines of the main game.
Name of the expansion | Type of expansion | SKU | Release year |
---|---|---|---|
Khazad-dum | Deluxe Expansion | MEC08 | 2011 |
Heirs of Numenor | Deluxe Expansion | MEC17 | 2012 |
The Voice of Isengard | Deluxe Expansion | MEC25 | 2014 |
The Lost Realm | Deluxe Expansion | MEC38 | 2015 |
The Grey Havens | Deluxe Expansion | MEC47 | 2015 |
The Sands of Harad | Deluxe Expansion | MEC55 | 2016 |
The Wilds of Rhovanion | Deluxe Expansion | MEC65 | 2018 |
A Shadow in the East | Deluxe Expansion | MEC77 | 2019 |
The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill | Saga Expansion | MEC16 | 2012 |
The Hobbit: On the Doorstep | Saga Expansion | MEC24 | 2013 |
The Black Riders | Saga Expansion | MEC32 | 2013 |
The Road Darkens | Saga Expansion | MEC34 | 2014 |
The Treason of Saruman | Saga Expansion | MEC45 | 2015 |
The Land of Shadow | Saga Expansion | MEC46 | 2015 |
The Flame of the West | Saga Expansion | MEC54 | 2016 |
The Mountain of Fire | Saga Expansion | MEC62 | 2017 |
The Massing at Osgiliath | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC15 | 2011 |
The Battle of Laketown | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC35 | 2012 |
The Stone of Erech | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC33 | 2013 |
Fog on the Barrow-downs | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC36 | 2014 |
The Old Forest | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC37 | 2014 |
The Ruins of Belegost | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC63 | 2015 |
Murder at the Prancing Pony | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC64 | 2015 |
The Siege of Annuminas | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC72 | 2016 |
Attack on Dol Guldur | Standalone Scenarios | uMEC74 | 2017 |
Adventure Pack Cycles continue the story of Deluxe Expansions, or, in case of the Shadows of Mirkwood Cycle, the Base Game. Each Deluxe expansion provides three scenarios, and each Adventure Pack in the associated Cycle provides one more scenario, along with several Player and Monster Cards. An Adventure pack consists of 60 fixed cards.
Adventure Pack name | Cycle | Expansion | SKU |
---|---|---|---|
The Hunt for Gollum | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC02 |
Conflict at the Carrock | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC03 |
A Journey to Rhosgobel | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC04 |
The Hills of Emyn Muil | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC05 |
The Dead Marshes | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC06 |
Return to Mirkwood | Shadows of Mirkwood | Base Game | MEC07 |
The Redhorn Gate | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC09 |
Road to Rivendell | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC10 |
The Watcher in the Water | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC11 |
The Long Dark | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC12 |
Foundations of Stone | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC13 |
Shadow and Flame | Dwarrowdelf | Khazad-dum | MEC14 |
The Steward's Fear | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC18 |
The Druadan Forest | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC19 |
Encounter at Amon Din | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC20 |
Assault on Osgiliath | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC21 |
The Blood of Gondor | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC22 |
The Morgul Vale | Against the Shadow | Heirs of Numenor | MEC23 |
The Dunland Trap | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC26 |
The Three Trials | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC27 |
Trouble in Tharbad | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC28 |
The Nin-in-Eilph | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC29 |
Celebrimbor's Secret | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC30 |
The Antlered Crown | The Ring-maker | The Voice of Isengard | MEC31 |
The Wastes of Eriador | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC39 |
Escape from Mount Gram | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC40 |
Across the Ettenmoors | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC41 |
The Treachery of Rhudaur | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC42 |
The Battle of Carn Dûm | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC43 |
The Dread Realm | Angmar Awakened | The Lost Realm | MEC44 |
Flight of the Srormcaller | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC48 |
The Thing in the Depths | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC49 |
Temple of the Deceived | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC50 |
The Drowned Ruins | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC51 |
A Storm on Cobas Haven | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC52 |
The City of Corsairs | Dream Chaser | The Grey Havens | MEC53 |
The Mûmakil | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC56 |
Race Across Harad | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC57 |
Beneath the Sands | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC58 |
The Black Serpent | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC59 |
The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC60 |
The Crossings of Poros | Haradrim | The Sands of Harad | MEC61 |
The Withered Heath | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC66 |
Roam Across Rhovanion | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC67 |
Fire in the Night | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC68 |
The Ghost of Framsburg | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC69 |
Mount Gundabad | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC70 |
The Fate of Wilderland | Ered Mithrin | The Wilds of Rhovanion | MEC71 |
Wrath and Ruin | Vengeance of Mordor | A Shadow in the East | MEC78 |
The City of Ulfast | Vengeance of Mordor | A Shadow in the East | MEC79 |
Digital adaptation
Fantasy Flight Interactive developed a digital version of the game for Microsoft Windows, which was released on 28 August 2018.[14] The game, still in an early access phase, was made free to play at its full release.[15] An Xbox One version was announced at E3 2019.[16] In June 2019, it was announced that the release of a PS4 port was planned for 8 August 2019 [17] The release date was pushed to 28 August 2019 for PC, Mac, Xbox One and PS4 versions.[18] The Nintendo Switch version was released on November 5, 2019 in Europe.[19]
References
- "Your Tale Begins Today". Fantasy Flight Games. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- "The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game". Fantasy Flight Games. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- "The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game". Boardgame Geek. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- "LCG Player's Guide". Fantasy Flight Games. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- "Deck Building 101". Tales from the Cards. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Cardboard of the rings". Cardboard of the rings. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Grey Company Podcast". Grey Company Podcast. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "The Mouth of Sauron Podcast". The Mouth of Sauron Podcast. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Tales from the Cards". Tales from the Cards. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Hall of Beorn". Hall of Beorn. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Master of Lore". Master of Lore. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Dor Cuarthol". Dor Cuarthol. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- "Vision Of The Palantir". Vision Of The Palantir. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- "The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- Tarason, Dominic (9 December 2017). "Fantasy Flight Interactive are bringing The Lord Of The Rings LCG to Steam via Early Access". PCGamesN. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- https://www.trueachievements.com/n38060/the-lord-of-the-rings-adventure-card-game-announced-coming-to-game-pass
- https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2019/06/10/the-lord-of-the-rings-adventure-card-game-is-coming-to-ps4-this-august/
- "The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game". Nintendo of Europe. Retrieved 20 April 2020.