#28: Lord of the Rings (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Lord of the Rings

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 28th
• 2012: 17th
• 2010: 15th
• 2005: 33rd
• appeared in all four lists

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 480
• rating: 6.83

Print Status

• in print (but only in a newer/stripped-down edition)

Why It's On The List

• There had been cooperative games before this one... but Knizia broke the mold and created a sprawling (and gorgeous) cooperative masterpiece that reflects the tensions & storylines of the books in a highly abstracted way. And my wife likes it.

Tips & Tricks:

• There are three expansions to the already meat-y base game...
• Friends & Foes (which added Foes as well as two new "locations" - boards - to work through) - yes, it did make the game longer by almost half.
• Sauron (which added several different ways to play the game, including a "one player - Sauron - versus everyone else" variant that works like a charm)
• Battlefields (which added another board for each location... is highly abstract... and, to be completely honest, I've never actually played.)
• Suggestion: don't combine the Friends & Foes and Sauron expansions - it's just too darn long.
• I've played 50+ games of this... and will happily play it again if someone asks.

Extras

• Here's what I wrote about the game for The One Hundred: both my personal entry and the group entry.