Lord of the Rings: The Duel boardgame review

 Released all the way back in 2002, I had this game in my cabinet for a long time.

 

 

And recently, we finally got to play it as I set down with Noshi and tried to cross the bridge of Khazad-Dum.

 

Hailing from the 999 Games stable, it was designed for 2 players exactly, and created by Peter Neugebauer.  The goal of the game is to rise to the top of the bridge, over the course of 3 rounds of duelling with cards, and a finale should both arrive there.  

 

You play the game by taking either the role of Gandalf or the Balrog, and each has a deck of 27 cards.  of these, you play 6 per round, while putting 3 aside for the final confrontation.  An energy bar tracks how well you are doing, and if you go in the negative you lose the round.

 

The duel is fought by laying down a card, then your opponent puts one next to it.  Then you compare icons to see if you hit your oppenent, every card having "openings" on different places.  You as such must weigh off the benefit of going for a big strike, but the risk of leaving yourself open for the next card.  Or if you want to save your heavy icon cards for the final round, when both players have more energy or "hit points".  Adding to the mix, every player also has a few special skill cards that can shake up the next card played.

 

 

This leads to a bit of thinking to gamble a good card, and wether you want to go low risk, or high risk, with their respective rewards to them.  And you of course have no idea what sort of special tricks your opponent has in hand, or which road to the final confrontation he is planning.  And the little board with the bridge gives it a nice little visual touch!

 

Not a bad game, and good for some tactical playing to see who will not pass in the end!