A new Lord of the Rings board game is available now at Amazon. Revealed earlier this year, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship certainly isn’t the first game based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel, but it is the only one that uses one of the best modern board games as its foundation. Fate of the Fellowship is based on Pandemic, the wildly popular cooperative strategy game that debuted in 2008. Pandemic creator Matt Leacock spent three years designing The Lord of the Rings version. Fate of the Fellowship is up for grabs for $80 at Amazon.
$80
As the name suggests, Fate of the Fellowship is based on the plot of Tolkien’s novel. Each round takes anywhere from 60 to 150 minutes, but no need to worry about getting multiple people to play a board game with you for two-plus hours:
Designed by Pandemic creator Matt Leacock, Fate of the Fellowship emphasizes that Fate of the Fellowship is fully playable solo–it’s explicitly called out on the back of the box.
The Fellowship’s job is to protect Frodo on his quest to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Each player picks two characters to control from a pool of 13. You’ll have to contend with Shadow Troops and the spectral beings known as Nazgul–represented as miniature figures–while being mindful of the searching Eye. Just like in the books and movies, Sauron’s Eye is perched atop Barad-dur. The constructible tower is 11 inches tall and serves as a thematically appropriate dice roller.
Designed as a replayable experience that introduces a few wrinkles to the Pandemic System loop, Fate of the Fellowship has 24 core objectives and 14 unique event cards. Each playable character has distinct abilities, too. Here’s a list of everything included in the box:
- 1 Game Board
- 1 Barad-dur Dice Tower
- 13 Character Figures
- 9 Nazgul Miniatures
- 48 Shadow Troops
- 35 Friendly Troops
- 48 Region Cards
- 14 Event Cards
- 12 Skies Darken Cards
- 24 Objective Cards
- 10 Reference Cards
- 13 Character Cards
- 50 Shadow Cards
- 3 Battle Dice
- 7 Search Dice
- 6 Haven Tokens
- 6 Stronghold Tokens
- 1 Eye of Sauron Token
- 1 Solo Token
- 1 Hope Marker
- 36 Symbol Tokens
- 1 Threat Rate Marker
Interestingly, Leacock has said his initial ideas for Pandemic were inspired by playing the The Lord of the Rings board game released in 2000 by prolific game designer Reiner Knizia.
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Z-Man Games has collaborated with multiple other big media franchises on Pandemic System games, including World of Warcraft and Star Wars. There’s also a popular variant based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Fate of the Fellowship is pricier than those games, but it’s also the most elaborate from a design perspective. The other Pandemic System titles more closely resemble Pandemic’s $50 base game, all the way down to box size.
The Lord of the Rings Board & Card Games
If you’re looking for more Lord of the Rings experiences to bring to your table, there are numerous board games and card games available based on the seminal fantasy universe. The two biggest games available is the epic The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and the miniature-based tabletop strategy game Journeys In Middle-earth. You can grab the core sets for both games at discounts via Amazon–the Lord of the Rings: The Card Game Core Set is down to $58.79 (was $75), while The Lord of the Rings: Journeys In Middle-earth is $100 (was $120). These sets come with everything you need to start playing either game. However, if you want to upgrade them with more rules and adventure options, we’ve also included links to a few official expansions in the list below.
For something less time-intensive, check out The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth board game or The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Book Game. There’s also the official Lord of the Rings Monopoly if you’re looking for something more traditional.
For a collectible card game, check out Magic: The Gathering’s Lord of the Rings sets. The trading card game has visited Middle-earth on multiple occasions in recent years. Unfortunately, Lord of the Rings MTG products are frequently sold out or sold for high prices on reseller marketplaces. But if you’re in luck right now, as Amazon recently restocked several Commander Decks and Scene Boxes.
If you don’t own 4K editions of Peter Jackson’s adaptation, take a look at the new Limited Edition Steelbooks for all three movies in the acclaimed trilogy. The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers Steelbook Editions are available now for $28 each, and The Return of the King is up for preorder for $30 ahead of its October 14 launch.
And if you’re interested in adding a stunning edition of The Lord of the Rings to your bookshelf, check out Amazon’s deal on The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set. The three-volume hardcover set retails for $325, but you can snag it for just $135.37 right now. For more, read our in-depth story on the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set. You’ll also find a list of deals on numerous other collectible Tolkien books.
