War of the Ring is a very special game. In fact, it is a very special work of art. Art has had a tricky time jumping between media. From interminable novelisations of rip roaring films and films ripping the guts out of much loved books. So often the gap between forms is so big that it’s impossible to leap. Then something special comes along. Something that is able to retain all of the magic of its former form while acquiring everything it needs to fulfil the needs of the new iteration. This is War of the Ring. A meticulously crafted paean to Tolkien and a relentlessly immersive ludological experience. It retains all of the wonder and tension of the story while achieving something that games do better than any other medium. Elucidating the needs and desires of all sides. Allowing the players to invest in their own victory regardless of the colour of the pieces they’re manipulating. Everything is here. The sprawling hordes consuming the ever dwindling lands of the free. The courageous final warriors, fighting to the last to save, not just lives, but a way of life, an ethos, a spirit and wandering through all of this tumult, a small band, so fragile, so vulnerable. The weakest part of the free forces is the key to its victory. Open this box and what leaps out is The Lord of the Rings.
A LONG-EXPECTED PARTY