Going out your door can be a dangerous business. However, opening a beautiful board game and stepping onto the road of adventure is the opposite. Your path can still have a sense of discovery, thrill, and being part of something big—just with minimal risk. It’s the only way we’d want to join Frodo on his quest. If you also find that appealing, then Ravensburger’s upcoming game is for you. The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game is a chapter book-style game that makes you part of the Fellowship. Nerdist is happy to share this exclusive news, along with a first look at the game.
Like Ravensburger’s other Adventure Book Games for The Princess Bride and Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings gameplay goes chapter-by-chapter. Eight total chapters will take you from the sleepy Shire to the fires of Mordor—as long as you don’t draw the Eye of Sauron. The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game‘s official synopsis states:
Sauron’s shadow has fallen across Middle-earth, and the One Ring must be destroyed. Leave the Shire’s green pastures to travel to fair Rivendell, survive the Mines of Moria, march on Isengard, and finally reach Mordor. Avoid the temptations of the One Ring as you work together to complete challenges… or risk drawing Eye of Sauron Cards…
Only then can you ensure the One Ring is delivered to the fiery heart of Mount Doom and destroy it once and for all!
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is epic, so capturing it across eight chapters came as a challenge. Ravensburger Game Development Manager Shanon Lyon told Nerdist, “We started by having one of our designers, Jay Little, sketch out the beats of the book, looking for the moments fans would expect and want to see and the ones we’d need to make it feel cohesive so that players really feel like they’re playing through the story. Chapter 8 was one of the most difficult in terms of design. In the movies, there is so much going on. Our designer, Marcus Ross put a lot of hard work into making sure the chapter evokes the same feeling but also makes sense mechanically and narratively.”
Along with the eight-chapter game board, you’ll get seven character miniatures, a corruption track, 88 game cards, 52 counts, and four reference cards. The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game is for 1-4 players, ages 10 and up.
The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game will cost $34.99. It is officially on sale as of February 2023.
Originally published on January 23, 2023.