Forum Overview :: Overboard!

Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth by Mischief Maker 02/07/2025, 6:05pm PST Really controversial game! It's heavily based off Seven Wonders: Duel, which I never played. The consensus between reviewers is that it's either dumbed down, or that it removes time-consuming bloat from the rules and replaces abstract math-y things (victory points) with concrete things (armies on a map). It's not a deckbuilder per se, but it's very similar as the players are taking turns buying cards from an interlocking pile (ala. the solitaire game Pyramid) to create an open-face tableau on the table that you use to advance toward one of three victory conditions. 1. You can win by collecting sufficient blue ring cards to move Sam and Frodo down the racetrack to Mount Doom, or if you're Sauron, to move your Ringwraith far enough to catch them. It's realized with the totally gimmicky yet super endearing and fun clear plastic overlay that you lay over a wide landscape starting at the shire and ending in Mordor. 2. You can win the allegience of the 6 major races of middle earth by buying one of the hero cards for all 6 races. Even if you aren't going to the full alliance victory it's worth your time to grab a few because they can unlock powerful abilities that are borderline game-breaking, like advancing down the ring track every time you recruit an army, or the sneaksy hobbitses giving you the secret 7th race, eagles, to count toward the six you need to win. 3. You can win by having armies and/or towers present on all 7 regions of the game map. Moving or placing armies onto an enemy occupied square cancels out one of each army. Towers can only be destroyed by rare special events (like angry Ents). In case none of the victory conditions are met, the side with military presence in the majority of the 7 regions on the map wins. This is probably the most complex game in my collection, but the rules gel so well with the LOTR setting you can totally teach a beginner and have them giving you a run for your money in a game or two. The card art is hand-drawn (based on the books) and absolutely gorgeous. But with all that's going on, games are a half-hour to an hour max. I think if you're first getting into board gaming and you've already used Ticket to Ride to get your hooks into someone, LOTR: Duel is a great sampler-platter of a little of several genres: racing, drafting, map control, and making moves to prevent your opponent from getting that perfect card they need to make your life miserable. My only complaints are tiny. Both players constantly need the reference sheet to explain what the race tokens and landmarks do, but they only included one copy. Also it's strange that the major fortress landmark for the region of Arnor (something represented in other regions by the likes of Minas Tirith, Helm's Deep, or Isengard) is the village of Bree, with its crappy wooden wall, and not Rivendell or the Shire. Easy recommend.

I'm designating this the boardgaming forum by Mischief Maker 02/03/2025, 4:34pm PST     Ticket to Ride by Mischief Maker 02/03/2025, 4:36pm PST     Mysterium Park by Mischief Maker 02/03/2025, 4:41pm PST     Codenames Duet by Mischief Maker 02/03/2025, 4:44pm PST         I HATE regular Codenames by fuk that 02/19/2025, 10:08pm PST         Ended up trading this one. by Mischief Maker 04/08/2025, 7:03am PDT     Lost Cities by Mischief Maker 02/03/2025, 5:10pm PST         This is why I got kicked out of law school, I guess. by Mysteriobama 02/04/2025, 7:09pm PST             Is my explanation confusing, or did you get overwhelmed trying it before? by Mischief Maker 02/04/2025, 8:18pm PST                 Re: Is my explanation confusing, or did you get overwhelmed trying it before? by Mysteriobama 02/06/2025, 5:47pm PST     Onitama by Mischief Maker 02/04/2025, 7:57pm PST     Azul by Mischief Maker 02/04/2025, 9:12pm PST         If you like Azul, Art Society is a variant on it with different strategy by Fullofkittens 02/05/2025, 11:40am PST             Thanks for the suggestion! NT by MM 02/05/2025, 2:31pm PST         Re: Azul by Mysterio 02/07/2025, 7:23pm PST     Patchwork by Mischief Maker 02/06/2025, 9:00pm PST     Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth by Mischief Maker 02/07/2025, 6:05pm PST     Dune: Imperium by Mysterio 02/07/2025, 7:39pm PST         Once you go Ix or Uprising by you never go back 02/08/2025, 10:13am PST             Wholehearted agree NT by Mysterio 02/08/2025, 1:53pm PST     Forbidden Desert by Mischief Maker 02/15/2025, 8:22pm PST     The Quest for El Dorado by Mischief Maker 02/19/2025, 4:38pm PST     Under Falling Skies by Mischief Maker 02/25/2025, 6:11pm PST     Compile by Mischief Maker 03/16/2025, 1:52pm PDT     Lost Ruins of Arnak by Mischief Maker 03/27/2025, 6:44pm PDT     Dominion by Mischief Maker 04/10/2025, 8:18pm PDT         Dominion always felt like playing a magic eye painting by Lord of the Dongs 04/11/2025, 6:58pm PDT             Nix to Dune. Nerdy and/or violent games have been preemptively vetoed here. by Mischief Maker 04/11/2025, 8:27pm PDT                 Come on, MM. Get the Dune app and we'll play asynchronously. by A sane, decent poster 04/12/2025, 8:23am PDT                 Dominion is THE most aspie game I can think of besides MTG by Lord of the Dongs 04/13/2025, 12:19am PDT                     I'm not playing tournament-level. We're just a pair of newbs having fun. NT by Mischief Maker 04/13/2025, 7:04am PDT                     So you're saying the problem is a fixed market instead of a shifting random one? NT by Mischief Maker 04/13/2025, 8:01am PDT                     You're right, pal! by Game recommendation 04/13/2025, 9:31am PDT                         Ooh! I'll take a look at that one. NT by Mischief Maker 04/13/2025, 2:08pm PDT                         I am! by a pal 04/20/2025, 12:32am PDT     Canvas by Game recommendation 04/12/2025, 8:56am PDT         Thanks, I'll check it out! NT by Mischief Maker 04/12/2025, 12:27pm PDT     I love this thread. That is all NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 04/12/2025, 1:41pm PDT         Love is all this thread needs. NT by Mischief Maker 05/30/2025, 3:42pm PDT     Spirit Island by Mischief Maker 04/21/2025, 8:42pm PDT     "Final Girl" is the shittiest, most overhyped game in all of boardgaming. by Mischief Maker 05/30/2025, 3:41pm PDT         Root & Terraforming Mars by Feris is a crying twat 05/30/2025, 8:30pm PDT     "Hardback" is Star Realms meets Scrabble. It's better than both. by Mischief Maker Today, 2:40pm PDT