Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth review – The fate of the Middle Earth hangs in the balance.

Lord of the Rings will always hold a special place in my heart. From the first time I read the trilogy in middle school, or watched the movies for the first, or 30th, time, or introducing the world to my students and family, there is something timeless about the story of how a few people can change the world with a little determination. In Duel for Middle Earth, two players will assume the roles of good and evil in the fight for the future of the third age.

Duel for Middle Earth is designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala and distributed by Repos Production. Duel for Middle Earth is a new iteration of the game system laid out in 7 Wonders Duel. Already a favorite two player game of many, improving the mechanics and adding the Lord of the Rings theme has made something special even more so.

To begin, players will choose a side; either the fellowship trying to destroy the one ring and gather support of all the different races of Middle Earth or the forces of Sauron trying to regain the ring and subjugate the lands. The game is divided into the three eras, each with a unique deck of cards. Players will arrange the cards, both face up and face down, into a specific pattern based on the era they are playing. Players will also place starting figures on a map placed in the center of the table and a tableau of fortress tiles and tokens representing the different races of Middle Earth above the map. Finally, a tracker depicting Frodo and Sam being chased by a ringwraith is placed in the play area.

To win the game, players must meet one of three conditions:

• Quest for the Ring Track Victory – If the fellowship gets Sam and Frodo to Mount Doom or the ringwraith catches the hobbits, the game will end with a victory for that team.
• Conquer Victory – If players can get on of their towers or soldiers in each of the seven regions on the central map, they can claim victory
• Alliance Victory – If players can gain one symbol representing all of the seven factions in their card tableau, they will have gained enough support to claim victory.

 

Players will alternate turns by taking a card from the central tableau or purchasing one of tower tiles above the map. When taking a card, the players can place it in their player area, paying any costs printed on the card, or they can discard it for a coin or coins depending on the round. Certain cards require players to have symbols represented on the cards in their tableau in order to take the card. Coins can be used to substitute for a missing symbol. Some cards will feature a special chaining banner allowing players to attain cards with a matching banner for no cost. Cards are color coded and each color has a different function in the game.

• Grey – these feature symbols representing different skills. Some cards will feature multiple symbols for players to use.
• Yellow – give players to printed coins
• Blue – allow players to move their maker further up the Quest for the Ring track, gaining any passed or covered bonuses.
• Green – these cards represent the different races of middle earth you can ally with. When a player gain different combinations of symbols they can gain special race tiles that give immediate or ongoing bonuses in the game.
• Red – lets players place units on the map. If there are conflicting units in the same space, they will cancel each other out until one, or both, players run out of units in a space.
• Purple – these show up in chapter 3 and let players manipulate units on the map, destroy opposing units, or make their opponent lose coins.

Landmark tiles allow players to place fortresses on the map and give special benefits to the player. These tiles require a variety of different skills and a coin cost that rises depending on how many other fortresses a player has. Fortresses do not engage in conflict with opposing units and are a powerful way to gain a conquering victory.

Players will continue taking turns throughout the three chapters until one of the three victory conditions is met. If all the cards are moved through in chapter 3 without a victory, the player present in the most regions wins the game. If this doesn’t resolve the win, the players will share the victory.

Overall Thoughts

The production for the game is excellent. The organization tray is made of recycled cardboard instead of the plastic used in many other games. This is a trend I have started to see in different productions and I am a big fan of using reusable materials. The box also has the starting tableau configuration printed on the side, which eases the set-up for each chapter. The cards are of decent quality but I decided to sleeve them pretty quickly after a noticeable bend took shape after just a few plays. Making the game colorblind friendly by adding symbols to the cards was a fantastic addition. The pursuit track comes in three layers and features a fun way for both players to track their progress towards Mount Doom. The artwork from Vincent Dutrait is a beautiful interpretation of the events of the books and immerse you with the vibrant colors. One of the coolest features comes from the red cards in each era, Which, when placed side by side, form a scene from one of the three books. Chapter One features the fellowship’s encounter with the Balrog in the mines of Moria, Chapter Two features the battle of Helm’s Deep, and the Chapter Three cards show the epic battle of Pelennor Fields.

As stated, the game builds upon and improves the mechanics that were introduced in 7 Wonders: Duel. Improvements come in the form of ditching end game scoring and solely relying on the three win conditions. The “wonders” element from the original is transformed into the “landmarks” and folded into the area control elements which completely replace the battle track from the original game. The area control is much more satisfying and the different colored soldiers and towers pop off the map. Another great addition is the Quest for the Ring pursuit track which adds a thematic win condition that also allows for some much needed power ups throughout the game. It’s fun to see the hobbits being chased down by the ringwraiths as they race to destroy the one ring. The alliance win condition, though similar to the progress tokens in the original game, offer some great one time and ongoing bonus conditions. As players learn the game, they are able to search for the power-ups that will most serve their strategy. The game plays quickly and forces players to pay attention to how the other player is progressing toward the win conditions. Players may have to take or burn a card they don’t want to keep it from their opponent. Players also have to deal with the fact that not all cards are available at the start of each chapter. Taking a card you want could potentially give your opponent something that could benefit their game. In the original game, it seemed that a player could run away with the game when racking up points, making this version a much more strategic experience.

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