FFG | Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth | Board Game

Albeit a bit expensive, it is a great game to play for fans of Tolkien's middle earth. I play with my wife and can envisage roping my kids into it when they're old enough. Seems to be enough playable characters and game variability (scenario maps randomness and story development based and success/failure of missions) for good replay value after while, and items acquisition and leveling up feel exciting. We've only played about 5 sessions,winning some and losing others, but already bought the expansion with extra minis and cards. We are playing the adventure mode, somewhat easier that allows exploring a lot more and gaining a lot more "experience" (lore for leveling up items), that's a better fit for friendly family gaming... We abandoned a "normal" mode campaign after getting upset because we failed 3 times in a row haha. Does require a decent computer/device to run the app all the while you're playing it, it CANNOT be played without the companion app.

The but is a minor one and I’ll get it out of the way first, the app while amazing requires an internet connection when starting, without it it’ll just crash out and close. I travel around a lot and so won’t always have a connection especially if abroad so this could be a pain. As I said it’s a minor issue and certainly not enough to drop a score. (Edit* if you’re on limited data, you only need to have the internet available on startup, once assets have been acquired you can kill the connection) Back to the game and if you’re familiar with FFGs way of rule making then you’ll fall into this game in no time at all recognising similar terminologies etc. The game is played via the aforementioned app which sets the scenario and map out with easy to understand descriptions for you to set up the table, then it describes encounters and points of interest that you’ll need to investigate to further the game. All of the in box items are lovingly designed and presented so it’s a joy to see the map expand in partnership with the app. Nothing is so buried in a series of manuals that it takes ages to make sense of and as said before it’s an FFG game so it’ll feel familiar at first glance. Top marks to the team behind this and I highly recommend it as an addition to your tabletop arsenal.

I have both Mansions of Madness and Akham Horror LCG and, from a gameplay POV, this bridges the gap - albeit with a LOTR theme. This needs time to be devoted to it as you play through a full campaign (stand-alone missions are -as yet- not available) and develop your character. I love this character and deck building aspect and the world building, which owes much to the app, is very atmospheric and appropriately Tolkien. There are a good variety of battle, exploration, and detective focussed missions throughout the campaign and, although my wife and I have played the campaign through several times with different characters, I'm looking forward to the upcoming dlc and expansions. Strong recommend.

To be able to play this boardgame you will first need to download the free app for either your iOS , Android or pc. It does not work on a Amazon Kindle. Components Map cards are I think quite detailed and varied enough to make the game look good as it starts to sprawl out across your table. The app says the fog area gives you a clue as to which way the map tiles will go in but you will need to leave space all around the tiles because all of a sudden 3 map tiles will be added where you have your other pieces to the game set up. The cardstock for map tiles is ok but they do feel a little bit on the flimsy cheapside compared to other fantasy flight games I own , like Descent 2. Figures The figures are sturdy enough with enough detail for you to paint should you wish to do so. They thankfully are not warped and bendy like some earlier FF games where you have to put them in hot water just so they don't look like they had too many beers. Game play The app tries to make out that each time you play you will have a different experience. In some way , yes and other ways ,no. Each time you play it will be excatly the same adventure but just with some random encounters along the way. I found this to be a little boring like playing monopoly but shifting the name of the places about and telling me it's a new experience. Yes, ok you do get random encounters but the game will punish you if you take too long to investigate them. This is the games way of making sure it doesn't run out of random encounters to fast. It's quite a heavy box and the artwork is good as is the artwork to the playing cards, though a fair bit has been reused from Lotr Lcg. I given it 4 stars but rate it as a 3.6 for playability. Less for value for money. It's not worth £75 , I would put it around £55. FF will use the app development cost as an excuse but really they already have the structure from other games for this and it does feel like a bolt on. I don't mind app driven games especially for solo gaming. It is an easy game to teach and learn I think. It's an ok game but I don't feel like I'm playing a hero from lord of the rings, it could be just Bob the barbarian of Sid the Hobbit. They could have been and should have been more epic in feel.

prepare for some learning curve, we are learning it with the wife. good concept, the (free) app is practically a DM so you can just play. only complaint, the cards are small with small font, ppl with not so good eyes, like me, will suffer. i have to use a magnifying glass..

Great game. Can be played solo. Or with the whole family

Fantasy Flight Games are just amazing, I was bought for my birthday last year the Fallout game made by fantasy flight and I simply could not stop playing it. (difficult to understand at first but once you understand its amazing). It is exactly the same with Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth. This game is actually much easier to get to grips with and the app along side makes it so immersive. Just a brilliant game and I hope for many more DLCs to come expanding the journeys more and more.

Our family are big fans of the books and films and have throughly enjoyed playing this game with the youngest 8 understanding it too. The Campaign mode is very good and is broken down into chapters and changes every time you play then so can ay the game over and over again with out the same maps.

My favorite game at the moment

Grande titolo per gli appassionati del Signore degli Anelli (a meno che vi dia fastidio che qualcuno mischi i vostri eroi e storie non canoniche). Si va ad esplorare, si combatte in una campagna lunga e rigiocabile. Miniature di buona qualità. Richiede l’uso di una app per giocare. Unico difetto: se perdi uno scenario devi rigiocare tutto da capo.

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Played with friends and had a blast. Would definitely recommend it for people into Ttrpgs who want to play with a new twist. Definitely looking forward to new sessions with my gang.

Overall, Lord of the Rings (LOTR): Journeys in Middle Earth is a must own for LOTR fans. I have always wanted to get into a table top role playing game (RPG) for years (>10 years), but I could never convince my wife until LOTR Journeys in Middle Earth. Both of us love the franchise so that probably helped convince her to try it out. First off, this app driven game is the game master so it doesn't require you to come up with a story or keep track of how much health enemies have; all of it is stored in the easy to use app (downloaded via Steam, Apple store, or Google store). The app tells you which map tiles to put down and where (including initial placement of enemies, various tokens, etc), and you simply place all of the physical pieces on your table to match the app. It is all interactive through your tablet or mouse (if you're using a computer) to select what you want to do. The app even saves your progress so if you can't finish a mission or adventure because it is getting late, you can save the game and come back to it (you'll just have to keep track of where your enemies are on the board). The app experience is so well done and it really facilitates the table top experience; however, I wish there was an "undo" function if you made a mistake after confirming an action. The quality of the heroes/enemies, tiles, and cards are great. Also, there are separate character packs that you can buy as well (I own both of them). The base campaign is made up of multiple adventures, and the game will tell you whether or not failing that particular adventure will cause you to fail the campaign. If you fail a mission that requires you to pass, you can just reset the adventure for that particular mission and replay it (didn't figure that out until 2nd playthrough). You can easily play some adventures (adventures make up the campaign) for 2-3 of hours whereas some are quicker than others. It really depends on how much you strategize. This is a role playing game, so you do upgrade your character/class and items throughout the campaign. Once again, the app stores all of this information for you and it is very easy to use. The large booklet of instructions is easy to follow, but we did run into some instances that required us to search online for a solution to our dilemma. I own both physical expansions and recently finished the Shadowed Paths expansion. I haven't played the Spreading War expansion yet, but I'd recommend getting Shadowed Paths for sure. I haven't purchased the digital expansions yet, but you can get them on Steam, apple store, or Google store. I will eventually purchase the digital expansions. I would have liked to have seen more story lines included in the base game (maybe they could have included the digital expansions with the base game). We absolutely love this game and hope more content will be developed for this game! Great family memories! ***We play a lot of different board games such as Betrayal at House on the Hill, Plunder: a pirates life, Castle Panic (with all expansions), Mansions of Madness (with expansions), Pandemic (with expansions), Ticket to Ride Europe, and many others.****