Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game
	Developer Decipher Publisher Decipher Version Through Two Towers block Reviewed by Kevin L. Kitchens [Feedback] [Author Bio] Review Date September 9, 2003

Rating (out of 5.0) 5.0 out of 5.0*

Judge for yourself

Strengths Complex strategy game Easy to learn Beautiful cards Blend of offense/defense Weaknesses Costs of building large collections of cards

Screenshots MORE SCREENSHOTS

* Notes Gaming Voice ratings are based on the technical and/or gameplay merits of a given product as well as the developer's choice of features and delivery of same. Our rating is not an endorsement of the thematic content of a given title. Gamers and parents are cautioned to determine if such content conflicts or coincides with their values and beliefs.

"There are all these cards, but is the game any good?"

The books had a long road to the big screen. Primarily because the technology didn’t exist to properly tell the story. Until December 2001 when New Line Cinema released "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" in theatres. "The Two Towers" followed in 2002 and this December, the concluding chapter "The Return of the King" will be released.

Epic books make for epic movies and card game maker Decipher has taken reign of the series to produce the epic Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. Since November 2001, two distinct sets have been released for the game, each focusing on one of released movies.

The first set, aptly named "Fellowship of the Ring" included the base set of 365 cards. Two subsequent expansions of 122 cards each ("Mines of Moria" and "Realms of the Elf Lords") followed over the next few months. "The Two Towers" base set added another 365 cards to the mix and then two 128 card expansions "Battle of Helm’s Deep" and "Ents of Fangorn" were added. In total, more than 1,200 cards are presently available for the game.

As you can guess, this next year will bring the "Return of the King" base set and two more expansions. Another 600 or so cards added to the mix.

"Well, great," you might say, "There are all these cards, but is the game any good?"

YES!

This game is a not only a blast to play, but is very addictive to boot. But let me explain the game in a nutshell and you decide for yourself.

The game (in a nutshell)

The beauty of the game is the blending of offense and defense into one deck.

Cards consist of four basic types: Shadow cards, Free Peoples cards, Site cards, and The One Ring. To play in the game, you need a deck comprised of at least 30 of each of the Shadow and Free Peoples cards (in equal numbers), an Adventure Deck of nine Site cards, one Ring card, and a Frodo card.

The Free Peoples cards represent the good guys in Middle Earth; Shadow cards the bad guys. They are split further into the following cultures -- Free Peoples: Shire, Gandalf, Gondor, Elven, Rohan, and Dwarven; Shadow: Ringwraith, Raider, Dunland, Sauron, Isengard, and Moria. A last culture, Gollum, spans both Shadow and Free Peoples, to represent the dual personalities of the character.

Once you have a draw deck, you build an Adventure Deck of nine "sites" that will be visited along the way. Each site you choose could help the Free Peoples player or the Shadow player – so choose them wisely based on your deck strategy. Each player will proceed along the same Adventure Path (that is combined from all players’ adventure decks).

To learn the game itself, read the instructions found online (http://decipher.com/lordoftherings/downloads/index.html) or watch the video tutorial Decipher has made available ( http://decipher.com/lordoftherings/gettingstarted/videotutorial.html). The best way to learn, however, is to purchase the "Two Player Quickstart" which includes two starter decks and a CD-ROM tutorial which is excellent. In light of these sources, I’ll just cover some of the highlights of the game here.

The beauty of the game is the blending of offense and defense into one deck. Since your deck is made up of equal parts Shadow and Free Peoples cards, then your hand at any time will be a combination of these cards. While it is your turn to be the Free Peoples player, your opponents will be using their Shadow cards. Likewise, when it is their turn to be the good guys, you get to play your bad guy cards.

The most challenging aspect of the game is building a draw deck that is small enough to get yours cards out quickly, but large enough to have all the cards you really need for your strategy. It is very hard to force yourself down to 30 cards of each side and the fewest I’ve been able to feel comfortable with was 34 cards. I have had a deck with a whopping 100+ cards total, but that proved useless. In this game, less is definitely more.

A shadow point saved is a shadow point earned...

Another novel aspect is the game’s "currency", the Shadow Point. When the Free Peoples player puts cards into play, he is charged Shadow points which get added to a "twilight pool". Some cards you play may allow you to play cards for a reduced cost or simply reduce the twilight pool itself, but the bottom line is, as Free Peoples player, you want to keep the twilight pool low because...

...once the Free Peoples player has played their cards, the Shadow player(s) get to spend the pool putting their cards into play. So the greater the twilight pool, the more potential damage can be wrought by the enemy. They also have similar cards which reduce the amount each card might cost, but again, the Shadow player wants more shadow points in the pool.

A card is worth a thousand words...

The price point for the cards is probably the greatest drawback for the game.

The cards themselves are quite beautiful. At present they feature scenes from the films – though some later cards will feature original artwork. The different culture cards have unique style and coloring that help them stand out, while maintaining consistent details to ensure vital game information is easy to identify and use.

Cards are also assigned a rarity level (common, uncommon, and rare) based on each card’s abilities. However, rarity is more a function of distribution rather than production. A set of 365 cards for example contains 121 common cards, 121 uncommon cards, and 121 rare cards (plus 2 special "premium" cards). So while each set contains an equal number of cards of each type, you will get more common cards per purchase than rare cards.

Cards are sold primarily as starter decks and booster packs. A few other packaging options are available, but these are the most common.

Starter decks retail for around $11 and include 63 cards. These cards are "fixed" in that you get the same cards every time you buy a particular starter (with the exception of 3 random "rare" cards). You get nine site cards, one Frodo, one One Ring, a 52 card draw deck (for a beginners game only), and a rule book. As the name implies these decks are for starting out a collection. Starters have the added benefit of including special versions of cards call Premiums. These have alternate images and are only available in the starters.

Booster packs include 11 random cards distributed as follows: seven "common" cards, three "uncommon" cards, and one random "rare" card. Additionally one card at random might be replaced with a foil-enhanced card of any rarity (for collectors, foil cards are more "rare" than rare cards).

The price point for the cards is probably the greatest drawback for the game. While the $3 price point is standard for card packs these days (including sports cards and other trading card games), it is still a bit steep for adequately building up a collection. Especially for kids who will definitely find interest in the game.

A solid game...

Of the 1200+ cards released so far, only 10 have been corrected for errors. This demonstrates the care and thought that Decipher has put into the game in advance. The company also tracks cards used throughout tournaments and has even banned some cards from tournament play that were considered too powerful. But again, only a handful have qualified for this banned status.

Conclusion

The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game is definitely one of the better card games available. Despite the high cost of building a massive collection, you can still have a good time with the basic entry decks and add on to your collection over time. Decipher has done well with the first two films’ card sets and a third is on the way this November. In addition, plans are to continue the viability of the game for the next several years, so there is still plenty of time to get onboard.

An online version of the game is also slated to launch in the near future. Our preview of that game can be read HERE.