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Ares Games War of The Ring: The Card Game – 60+ Minutes of Gameplay for 2-4 Players – Card Games for Teens and Adults Ages 13+ - English Version

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Or the rulebook says: “The Shadow must try to slowly cuorrupt Frodo, burdening him with wounds toils, sorrow… blah blah blah.” Item Cards are played onto characters that have already been played. They usually convey buffs or alter some of the game rules so that they don’t affect the character they are played to. Both Battlegrounds and Paths may have some text that tells players immediately to carry out an action. Usually directing players of certain affinities to draw or discard cards. Both types of cards also have a number of victory points associated with them. In each round, the cards are fought over, with the victor taking the spoils. The person with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner. I loved this game, but before I explain why, let me just point out the only reason I can see for not liking the game.

The Free Peoples desperately try to complete their quest to destroy the One Ring, while at the same time defending their homelands from the encroaching hordes of Sauron and from his evil allies. While there are two and three-player variations, this game plays best as a 4 player game: 2v2 – with players teaming up to represent the Free Peoples and Shadow forces.During the game, players will take turns playing cards representing the characters, armies, items, and events of the War of the Ring. Each card they play will help or hinder the journey of the Fellowship as it progresses on its Path; or be used to defend or conquer the strongholds of Middle-earth, as they fight to control the new Battleground cards activated in each round. The last rulebook-ish con is why they decided to use the word ‘activate’ for TWO things, paths and battlegrounds. That’s pretty confusing, because activating does drastically different things here. Namely activating paths replaces them, and activating battlegrounds DO NOT replace, rather add another battleground. Not sure why they didn’t just use different names here. Her Comments: There is enough variety in the cards and locations that the game will often play out differently. I also appreciate that the two player game and the team game are different experiences. While War of the Ring: The Card Game is as richly thematic as its predecessor, it’s a much faster-moving game than the multi-hour epic.

War of the Ring: The Card Game centres around two locations played in the middle of the table each round. One is a battleground representing one of the key battles between the Free Peoples of Middle-earth - elves, dwarves and the nations of Rohan and Gondor, as well as the Fellowship of the Ring - and the orc and Uruk-hai forces of Shadow, while the other is a path card that divides the journey of Frodo into nine key chapters, from the Shire to Mount Doom. Speaking of the original WOTR, that game was INSANELY hard to learn, its like the the rulebook and its player aids were some archaically worded parchment that were ACTIVELY gatekeeping the play. Happy to report that learning this War of the Ring is mostly good, with good examples, good use of space, fantastic card breakdown, etc. etc. This is helped by the good player aid that explains all the symbols, and slightly differentiated for the opposing teams here. There are a few other game modes outlined in the manual. Including a cut-down beginner scenario for 2 players, that plays only up until the breaking of the Fellowship. I have played 3-player where I took the Free Peoples and played both hands. I wouldn’t recommend this for your first game, but it’s arguably a little easier for the Free Peoples’ player doing it this way, as you know exactly what to play into for each hand. The dream card match up! Why You Should Play War of the Ring: The Card Game. Eliminate is a key concept in the game. Cards that are eliminated do not take any further part in the game (similar to forsaken cards). So now onto gameplay cons, and we have to start with how randomness is handled. Now granted, this is a card game so there’s always going to be an element of randomness with card draws or card flips, but War of the Ring CG does this to a severe way in many areas. First are the battlegrounds, you know where you’re forced to fight, where since they’re flipped over randomly every round, it makes early-mid game combat pretty volatile and unfair feeling.

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It is, to a degree, an asymmetric game. It feels hard to win if you’re Free Peoples. Much as in the book, the forces of Sauron are so strong as to be overwhelming. As the Free Peoples player, sadly, there is no Deus Ex Machinato see you through to the end. (Although there is an eagles card to get you out of a tight spot!) Nevertheless, every game has been very close, and more importantly an absolutely barnstorming Lord of the Ringsexperience. It does take at least 3 games to start to form strategies. To work out the best way to be efficient with your cards, and even then, I’m sure there are many nuances I’ve yet to discover. The depth of the game is truly impressive. Many cards work well together, but which combination do you go for? Because your cards are also currency, you can’t ever play them all.

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