Lord of the Rings Duel: Battle for Middle Earth
gamesreviews.comEver want to play a card drafting game that mixes in some area control, and also has a bit of a racing element? Welcome to Lord of the Rings Duel: Battle for Middle Earth. This isn’t an “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of game, but it sure does feel that way sometimes as you balance the various ways to win in this easy to learn variation of 7 Wonders. But can a game with a major IP, backed by a strong board game franchise, work well? Let’s take a look!
In Lord of the Rings Duel, two players will battle it out to win the game in one of three ways – either one player will reach a point on the track (Fellowship reaching Mordor or the Nazgul reaching the Fellowship); or if one player is present in all the regions on the central board; or whoever is present in the most regions at the end of the game if no other victory conditions have been met. Moving along the tracks, deploying units and towers to the board, and gaining other bonuses are all tied to the game card drafting system.
Like in 7 Wonders Duel, cards are drafted from the centre of the table as opposed to being passed from player to player. Cards are laid out in a specific way on the table, with some cards overlaping other cards, and some cards appearing face down. The only available cards are those that are not being overlapped by other cards, and that are face-up. Players can draft these cards – take them if they are free with no cost, or pay the cost to take them – and place them into their own tableau they are building.
There are a number of different cards, and those familiar with 7 Wonders will understand better than most what they all might do. There are skill cards that will allow you to purchase other cards and landmarks as the game progresses. There are green cards representing the races of Middle Earth. Collecting these cards will allow players to gain powerful and often permanent boosts for the rest of the game. There are yellow cards that provide money, and money can be used to pay the cost of
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