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

Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth is a tabletop game that immerses players in the rich and captivating world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Developed by Fantasy Flight Games, this cooperative adventure game offers players the opportunity to become heroes of the Free Peoples and embark on quests to thwart the forces of darkness.

Weighted Score - 72/100

Gameplay

“Journeys in Middle-Earth" combines elements of role-playing games and traditional board games. Players can take on the roles of iconic characters such as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, or some new, lore-friendly characters created by Fantasy Flight games such as Beravor, Elena, and or Dis. Each character comes with their own unique abilities and flavor.

After selecting your character, you select a class. Will you play the Hunter to deal some extra damage? Or do you prefer inspiring and healing your friends through the role of the Musician? Or would you rather rally your party as the Captain? Whichever you choose, each role adds additional customization to your character with unique abilities.

The game is driven by a companion app, which serves as the game master, guiding players through various scenarios, providing the story, and presenting players with choices that shape the course of their adventures. This integration of technology allows for an engaging gameplay experience, as players explore maps, battle enemies, and uncover hidden secrets.

The game uses a basic deck-building mechanic, where players can purchase more powerful cards for their selected classes using the experience gained in their adventures. Players can also upgrade equipment and find useful trinkets as they progress through the campaign. This progression system adds depth and strategy to the gameplay, as players customize their decks to suit their preferred playstyles and overcome increasingly challenging obstacles.

Replayability

Score: 5/5

"Journeys in Middle-Earth" boasts impressive replayability, thanks to its branching narrative paths, encounter generation, and multiple character classes and abilities. Each play-through offers a fresh experience, although the core narrative of the campaign itself doesn’t vary much. Whether playing solo or with friends, players will find themselves drawn back to Middle-earth time and time again.

Complexity/Accessibility

Score: 3/5

The core mechanics of this games are not difficult: Take a couple of actions each turn, draw cards to test your attributes or attack/defend. However, there are 48 PAGES of reading that explain how to play and that give specific references to more nitty gritty rules, like what to do when you try to interact with a token on a space with an enemy. This is not a game you can just jump into and know how to play after 10 minutes. It will definitely take some reading to understand the ins and outs. Once you have a grasp on how to play, you’ll want to keep your 32-page Rules Reference booklet (yes, booklet) handy to help answer questions as you continue to play. That said, you’ll eventually gain a good grasp of the rules and may not even need the Rules Reference by the third adventure. Is it the most complex game we’ve ever played? Nope! Is it the easiest? Certainly not! Fantasy Flight has rated this game as being best for players 14 years old and up.

Family Friendliness

Score: 4/5

This game is pretty darn close to being clean for just about any age. As far as content goes, the app does have a sort of bloody slash animation that plays when your team attacks the baddies, but it is quite mild. There's no sexual content, although some same-gender relationships are hinted at. These encounters may not even happen in your game if you’re not interacting with every encounter on your map. If we really stretch for something else to add here, some younger players may get a little creeped out by the music the app plays for ambience, but that can easily be turned off.

Cost

Score: 2/5

In order to purchase just the base game, you’ll end up spending around $100 US. If you really enjoy the game and want to own the expansions, the additional adventures (in-app purchases), and all of the figure packs (1 for the base game and each expansion), you’ll end up spending over $300. For most people, that’s a lot of money. Hence the low score.

Time Investment

Score: 1/5

This game takes a LONG time to complete, if you want to really explore every map. A 13-adventure campaign took us MANY hours to complete. One adventure can easily last an hour or more. If you want to complete a campaign, you may be looking at a 13-hour to 15-hour endeavor. Most people don’t have that kind of time, but if you’re looking for a game to get a lot of play time out of for your money, this may actually be a selling point for you!

Build Quality

Score: 5/5

The game features well-illustrated and constructed game boards, cards, and quality miniatures that can definitely survived some drops. Yes, there was some unintentional testing. The attention to detail and high-quality materials definitely elevate the experience.

Community

Score: 1/5

There is a Reddit group (r/JourneysInMiddleEarth) of about 3400 people, but that’s about it.

Lore

Score: 5/5

This is “The Lord of the Rings Journeys in Middle-Earth”. We don’t need to say much more than that. It’s Lord of the Rings. It’s Tolkien's universe! This is the stuff that has inspired many an author and movie maker, as well as the entire fantasy genre. This is the measuring stick by which nearly all other fantasy stories are measured. You get to play the part of one of various characters, some of which are straight from the lore of Tolkien. You can play as Aragorn, Legolas, Arwen, Beorn, Gandalf (expansions required for some of them), and various others. Fantasy Flight has also added in a few characters of their own creation, as well, but they certainly do not detract from the lore-rich world of Middle-Earth. You get to play through locations such as Mirkwood, Anumminas, and Moria. If you are a fan of board games and Tolkien, there are few board games out there that will allow you to enjoy such a rich experience in Middle-Earth!

Conclusion

"Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth" is a must-have for those board gamers who are fans of Tolkien's work. With its engaging gameplay, storytelling, and high replay value, you’ll enjoy many hours of adventure. Whether embarking on solo quests or teaming up with friends to save Middle-earth, players are sure to find themselves captivated by the wonders and perils of this beloved fantasy realm. Just remember . . .

“[…] if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings