Lord of the Rings (Children's Version) review by Jabberwock
You know, it comes to something when a thirty mumble adult looks forward to his six-year-old son’s birthday, because he likes all the presents. But when it gives you the chance to get a few new games and bring that son further under the mantle of ‘confirmed gamer’, then it is so much better. And when those games are playable by children and adults alike, it is a positive joy!
Most children’s games are of the dexterity or memory, or gimmicky ilk, some of which I have reviewed before now, and most probably will continue to review until my son is old enough to have his own little gamers in the making.
But Lord of the Rings is different. It is almost grown-up, but with simpler rules than most grown-up games. It is a ‘Young Person’s Primer for European Games’. And it does that very well indeed…
It was designed by Reiner Knizia, who you may have heard of as one of the most prolific games designers ever. He also created the very grown-up version of Lord of the Rings (which I have also reviewed along with all of its expansions). Just type his name on the ‘Geek for a list of his designs – some misses but mostly hits. His designs are generally known for lacking in theme, but being heavy with probability-type choices to make. In other words, while the theme might be hobbits struggling to reach Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, the mechanics might be “is it better for me to risk getting stuck on this encounter, or go the long way round to avoid it”.
The game is basically rife with these kinds of decisions, meaning that the players must be on the ball during the game. There is a dice and a spinner, making it fairly random, but it is still all about making choices between probabilities. All encounters in the game can be avoided by taking the longer route, but is it worth it? Encounters can be Friends or Foes, with friends helping you out later on, somewhat alleviating the randomness in the game. So again, do you take a detour to pick up more friends to help you out later, or do you sprint for the end to get there first, knowing you might not be able to defeat Sauron before everyone else catches up?
It is a very cool teaching tool for these kinds of games, wrapped up in simple rules that make it easy for even my four-year-old to understand. Knizia has done well here.
The game production is very good as well – shying away from the heavy, grown-up feel of John Howe (who illustrated the other Lord of the Rings version) in favour of cartoony child-like graphics from Ingrid and Dieter Schubert. The hobbits are very childlike, and the bad guys are caricatured, making them less-than scary. The bits and pieces are very tactile, with solid card tiles, and little card Dark Towers that are placed on the board. There is a red marble (the Palantir) that is used in a ‘guess which hand’ type of mini-game, and loads of little red wooden cubes to designate ‘hit points’ on foes. Nothing bland or boring here!
The game plays in about half an hour, and is always exciting and close, with everyone reaching Sauron, or getting delayed, and trying to get past the obstacles to be the one to land the killing blow. It’s a great adventure.
Summary
Presentation: There are lots of things to play with in the box, and my son enjoys setting it all up. From putting the encounters down, setting up the Dark Towers, and placing Sauron himself on the final space, it’s all very evocative, clear and durable. 8.3/10
Clarity of Rules: The rulebook is four pages long, and includes an Advanced Version of the game,a large setup picture to show you what goes where, and some clear examples alongside the rules. Saying that, though, I wouldn’t expect my son to understand how to play from reading it. I had to read it, understand it and explain it for him. The rules, while clear and unambiguous, are not for children. 6.8/10
Game Length: There is no time limit listed on the box or in the rules, but it runs to about half an hour. The Advanced Version can take longer than this, though, with the uncertainty of the Palantir possibly placing a hobbit in the Dark Tower over and over again. But even this doesn’t prolong the game for too long, and children rarely have time to become bored with the play (although my four-year-old regularly becomes very restless by the end…). 7.7/10
Value: The quality of the components, and the amount of gameplay we have had out of the box (since my son’s birthday two days ago, we’ve played it nearly ten times), mean this one was a definite hit, money-wise. It’s fairly inexpensive, and contains a lot for that money. 9.1/10
Overall: My son loves the way the story develops, and loves defeating Sauron (despite never having watched the movies or knowing the storyline). He understands the nuances of the game, taking into account the flow of the game, and how far ahead everyone else is (when he’s in front, he knows he has time to stop and recruit some friends, for example). I asked him, and he says to give it a nine, and I think that score is very much deserved of this ‘little gamers’ game…! 9.0/10 (not an average)
Most children’s games are of the dexterity or memory, or gimmicky ilk, some of which I have reviewed before now, and most probably will continue to review until my son is old enough to have his own little gamers in the making.
But Lord of the Rings is different. It is almost grown-up, but with simpler rules than most grown-up games. It is a ‘Young Person’s Primer for European Games’. And it does that very well indeed…
It was designed by Reiner Knizia, who you may have heard of as one of the most prolific games designers ever. He also created the very grown-up version of Lord of the Rings (which I have also reviewed along with all of its expansions). Just type his name on the ‘Geek for a list of his designs – some misses but mostly hits. His designs are generally known for lacking in theme, but being heavy with probability-type choices to make. In other words, while the theme might be hobbits struggling to reach Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, the mechanics might be “is it better for me to risk getting stuck on this encounter, or go the long way round to avoid it”.
The game is basically rife with these kinds of decisions, meaning that the players must be on the ball during the game. There is a dice and a spinner, making it fairly random, but it is still all about making choices between probabilities. All encounters in the game can be avoided by taking the longer route, but is it worth it? Encounters can be Friends or Foes, with friends helping you out later on, somewhat alleviating the randomness in the game. So again, do you take a detour to pick up more friends to help you out later, or do you sprint for the end to get there first, knowing you might not be able to defeat Sauron before everyone else catches up?
It is a very cool teaching tool for these kinds of games, wrapped up in simple rules that make it easy for even my four-year-old to understand. Knizia has done well here.
The game production is very good as well – shying away from the heavy, grown-up feel of John Howe (who illustrated the other Lord of the Rings version) in favour of cartoony child-like graphics from Ingrid and Dieter Schubert. The hobbits are very childlike, and the bad guys are caricatured, making them less-than scary. The bits and pieces are very tactile, with solid card tiles, and little card Dark Towers that are placed on the board. There is a red marble (the Palantir) that is used in a ‘guess which hand’ type of mini-game, and loads of little red wooden cubes to designate ‘hit points’ on foes. Nothing bland or boring here!
The game plays in about half an hour, and is always exciting and close, with everyone reaching Sauron, or getting delayed, and trying to get past the obstacles to be the one to land the killing blow. It’s a great adventure.
Summary
Presentation: There are lots of things to play with in the box, and my son enjoys setting it all up. From putting the encounters down, setting up the Dark Towers, and placing Sauron himself on the final space, it’s all very evocative, clear and durable. 8.3/10
Clarity of Rules: The rulebook is four pages long, and includes an Advanced Version of the game,a large setup picture to show you what goes where, and some clear examples alongside the rules. Saying that, though, I wouldn’t expect my son to understand how to play from reading it. I had to read it, understand it and explain it for him. The rules, while clear and unambiguous, are not for children. 6.8/10
Game Length: There is no time limit listed on the box or in the rules, but it runs to about half an hour. The Advanced Version can take longer than this, though, with the uncertainty of the Palantir possibly placing a hobbit in the Dark Tower over and over again. But even this doesn’t prolong the game for too long, and children rarely have time to become bored with the play (although my four-year-old regularly becomes very restless by the end…). 7.7/10
Value: The quality of the components, and the amount of gameplay we have had out of the box (since my son’s birthday two days ago, we’ve played it nearly ten times), mean this one was a definite hit, money-wise. It’s fairly inexpensive, and contains a lot for that money. 9.1/10
Overall: My son loves the way the story develops, and loves defeating Sauron (despite never having watched the movies or knowing the storyline). He understands the nuances of the game, taking into account the flow of the game, and how far ahead everyone else is (when he’s in front, he knows he has time to stop and recruit some friends, for example). I asked him, and he says to give it a nine, and I think that score is very much deserved of this ‘little gamers’ game…! 9.0/10 (not an average)
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