Oh the weather outside can be very frightful this time of year, but if you’re in the mood for a cozy, two-player cooperative card game with loads of replay value, and that packs a wonderful narrative, then Uncle GM Brev has just the suggestion for you.
Fantasy Flight Games’ The Lord of the Rings – The Living Card Game is a wonderful cooperative adventure through the lands of Middle Earth where each player uses up to 3 heroes and a deck of cards in order to quest through harsh environments, deadly enemies, and horrific treacheries, all to complete a seemingly impossible quest. It ain’t easy, but boy is it fun!
In order to play, players will select a quest for them to complete. Each quest has icons on it that match cards in the Threat Deck, which is the deck filled with the aforementioned environments (or “Locations”), Enemies, and Treachery cards. Nothing in the Threat Deck is good, it’s almost always bad, just degrees of bad. But you’re playing Heroes, so how bad can it be? (Smaug, anyone???)
After the Quest is chosen and the Threat Deck assembled and shuffled, players then select the Heroes they want to play during the game, up to three. Each Hero has a “sphere of influence” which is a type of card he can summon and use from the Hero Deck. Once heroes are decided, each player looks at the cards with the matching sphere of influence for his character and decides which cards work best together. They build a deck of no less than 50 cards, shuffle the cards together, draw their starting hand, pass out resource tokens and begin questing!
Players will have to decide to use their Heroes and Allies (typically cards played from the Hero Deck) to either quest, defend enemy attacks, or attack enemies. It is a tricky balance to maintain as more Locations and Enemies overwhelm the heroes and pushing through to the end seems to be further and further away. But fear not, because a well constructed deck (through a lot of practice!) has the “perfect” card near the top and can save the players when they need it most.
Just like the Fellowship from the story, you will be tested, sometimes beyond your abilities, Lord of the Rings – The Living Card Game is not an “easy” game. It takes planning, practice, understanding the cards and stacking potential, patience, and teamwork. It is not for the competitive gamer just interested in winning at all costs, but instead someone willing to listen and play together.
The core set comes with everything a couple needs to begin their adventures, including Hero Cards and decks, several Threat Decks, and three (3) Quests that form one epic adventure that starts in Mirkwood and ends in Dol Goldur. Something else to note, there are no dice in the game. Everything that happens is up to the randomness of the cards and how well you build the decks. So, if you fail or win, it’s all on you. I find that refreshing and nice.
If you enjoy the game after you try the Core Set, there are numerous expansions to explore including a 6 quest long hunt for Gollum, a trek through the Mines of Moria and surrounding areas, working with Saruman (yes, you read that correctly) against the wild men and beasts around Isengard, uncovering a plot deep inside Gondor, and many, many more. There are even expansions for players to experience events in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings stories.
This game is not for the faint of heart and can seem overwhelming at times, but luckily, there is a podcast to help with questions you might have. Cardboard of the Rings is a lighthearted and fun merry band of friends who discuss the game, their favorite cards and quests, as well as food, and the occasional Canadian wondermet for your entertainment and education. Great guys and cannot recommend the podcast enough.
In short (too late!), this is a fun game that provides hours of entertainment for two people looking to try something new and who want to work together, hand-in-hand, until the end. Just like our favorite Fellowship…
Until next time, this is GM Brev and I’ll roll with y’all again real soon!
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