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Frodo and friends are on it. The Fellowship is hotfooting it to Mordor to bin off the One Ring that rules them all. But, and such is life, sketchy Sauron is snapping at their heels. You wouldn’t think a single horsepower would present much of a threat. However, Sauron has victory on his mind and so he’s leaving little to chance. Will he succeed or will The Baggins Boys thwart his efforts and save Middle Earth? Well, ultimately that’s down to you and your skills. But I can tell you that you are going to have fun finding out!
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth is (as you would expect from the title) a game for 2 players (age 10+) which plays in around 30 minutes. It plays over 3 chapters which, although follow the same pattern, will have a different emphasis based on what is available to draft and where each player is on the Map, the Ring Track and what they have collected to date.
To win, you need to be first to have collected cards from all 6 Races, have a presence in all 7 areas on the Middle Earth Map, or have either reached Mordor (if you are the Fellowship), or caught up with Frodo and friends (fi you are Sauron).
Set up is super simple –
· the relevant Chapter deck is shuffled, and cards are arranged according to the pattern show in the rules. Each time, this will be a mixture of face up and face down with overlaps to “lock in” cards until the ones partially covering them have been taken.
· Landmark tiles are shuffled and three are chosen randomly,
· The Races bonus shields are shuffled and piled up face down according to their type.
· The Ring Track is also laid out – this has a cool plastic overlay where you’ll see Sauron sliding along to try and catch the super speedy Fellowship.
· Finally the mini map board is placed in proximity to the players, and each person is given their troops and fortresses, as well as 5 coins.
· There’s also a handy reference guide explaining the various icons which appear on tiles and cards during the game, so keep that handy for your first game.
Turn structure is also really straightforward. Each turn you can either –
· Take an unlocked card – the cost will be based on the Chapter number (1, 2 or 3 coins), or potentially free if you have icons on cards you have previously taken. The card you take will either push you along the Ring track, give you coins, allow you to place and/or move your troops around the Middle Earth Map, or gain you a Race.
If you collect 2 matching Races you can take one of the top two shields showing the matching icon, choose one and return the other. Furthermore, once per game, you can do the same if you collect 3 different Race cards.
· Discard the card for money; or
· Take a Landmark Tile – again the cost will be shown on the Tile and will be a combination of many icons (you have hopefully collected over the course of the Chapters!), but you can sub a coin for each one you haven’t got. Plus, if you already have a fortress on the Map at the time you take the Tile, it will cost you additional money. Landmark Tiles give you the ability to place Fortresses, troops, and move troops about, and there are only ever three per Chapter.
Players take it in turns and, once all the cards in a particular Chapter have been taken, so long as a winning condition hasn’t been met, the tableau is laid out for the next one to begin!
Final thoughts!
Duel for Middle Earth is brilliant! I know a lot of comparisons are being made to 7 Wonders Duel, but honestly it stands on its own. And, for me at least, I think it actually tops it on the fun factor because it feels more accessible. I like 7WD for sure, but it can confuse me. I find it hard to remember how the different conditions to building a wonder work, and the to and fro of the military track can be punishing if you never get a military hold. I also fail to leverage the yellow or purple cards to my advantage every time I play.
But Duel for Middle Earth uses those same set collection, area control, and pure race mechanics and somehow takes the pressure off whilst simultaneously keeping /the fun tension bubbling! The way icons chain together to allow combination turns, as well as the variety of ongoing and immediate bonuses you are rewarded with, injects a generosity and sense of satisfaction into the gameplay. And there are fewer icons to worry about which, we felt, became easily intuitive after just one play.
The variable pace is also exciting. First Chapter goes past in the blink of an eye. It is focussed on taking cards and building your skills icon engine. Then, in Chapters 2 and 3, the area control of the 7 Regions starts to intensify, as does the dash along the Ring Track. Seeing Sauron catching up is a thrill (and the plastic overlay track is very cool!). Knowing which Races are already claimed also gives an urgency to take green cards to stop your opponent gaining matches for bonuses and all 6 for victory! Smarties will likely calculate the odds of gaining a Race victory based on which cards are already claimed and how many are likely to be left hidden amongst the untapped pyramid. Similarly, stealing Landmark Tiles before your opponent can gain sufficient icons to snatch them becomes more urgent as the chapters pass. The availability of each will fortify or flip a strategy mid game.
The way the Races’ ongoing bonuses interact with the cards on offer creates wonderful decision dilemmas which intensify as you go into the final chapter. The cards that come out in every phase feel purposefully balanced to keep the tension high. The area control is also simple but clever. Taking away opposition troops equal to those you are allowed to place, but having semi-permanent presences via fortresses, keeps the battle for regions raging. And in a way this felt better for us than the linear to/fro of the 7WD military track. When purple cards start to emerge, the extra troop movements means that this element cannot be ignored even if it is not your personal primary tactic in the pursuit for victory.
The rules learn is light (even without knowledge of 7WD) and so we were comfortable within a few turns. The Vincent Dutrait artwork is also easily recognisable and spot on. And whilst we are big fans of the fantastical turn this game has taken, I’m so glad this isn’t just a LOTR re-skin of 7WD. The twists, tweaks, and streamlining make this a wonderful game in its own right.
If you like head to head battles with multiple paths to victory and a short play time, Duel for Middle Earth could just be your next great game!