Lord of the Rings Duel - Review

ODBG 0018 - Review of Lord of the Rings Duel.

What is Lord of the Rings duel?

In short it is a 2 player competitive game where the forces of good and evil are trying to control middle earth. It's an ideal light strategy game where you are competing over 3 fields of Middle Earth: The Journey of Sam and Frodo to Mordor to destroy the ring; The area control of the regions of Middle Earth; Gaining the alliances of Middle Earth.

What is good about Lord of the Rings Duel?

Many routes to victory - Players have to balance their strategy in the 3 areas of Middle Earth. This creates a really enjoyable tension of putting together and executing a strategy without focusing on any one strategy at a time.

Fast paced - Each play and turn is straightforward without being convoluted. This results in a really smooth fast paced game where turns don't last too long. And when it's not your turn you're able to continue thinking about your strategy.

Artwork - Really clean and represents the game really well. It doesn't take you out of it. Each of the 3 victory elements has slightly different artwork which denotes the differences really well.

Easy to set up and teach to new players - it's not convoluted therefore the setup is really fast and the rules don't take too long to get players started. Whilst there are several types of component and card to go through its not so much that it creates analysis paralysis.

Bad points about Lord of the Rings Duel

Replayability- after playing it about 5 times and really enjoying each of them I haven't been back to since until this review. Perhaps from being overplayed but I think it's because its 2 player.

It's 2 player - whilst this is a strength because its fewer people to find to play a game. It is something which I think limits the number of times its brought to the table. As with most things if you want to play a game with a group of people it's not got high enough player count. It you want a game for 2 players whilst it's a fun game there's other 2 player games out there that I prefer like chess, Tabula, the Lord of the Rings Trick Taking game.

Summary of Lord of the Rings duel.

It's a great 2 player game that's ideal for couples or parents and children who love Lord of the Rings and aren't looking for anything too complex. It's a nice relaxed hour and a half of fun which is great for being enjoyed once in a blue moon just like a wine connoisseur might occasionally enjoy a cheeky Smirnoff Ice.

Thanks for reading

Sam

As always if you're looking to destroy or save middle earth this game might well be for you… but … if you found this blog useful and you're wanting occasional newsletters with the latest you can subscribe below ;)

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