Review of the Duel for Middle-Earth Board Game

Once upon a time, a card-drafting game called 7 Wonders took the gaming community by storm. However, its drafting mechanic—where you select a card to keep and pass the rest on—fell a bit flat when playing with just two players, as it became easy to predict what cards would come your way. To tackle this, a spin-off emerged: 7 Wonders Duel. Designed specifically for two players, it ingeniously recreated the drafting feel by offering a mix of face-up and face-down cards to choose from. This version was so successful that it has now been reimagined with a fresh Lord of the Rings theme, aptly named Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth.

Let’s take a peek inside the box. Since this is mainly a card game, you’ll find that the majority of its contents are indeed cards, beautifully adorned with stunning Middle-earth artwork. Some of the artwork even aligns to form panoramic scenes, although completing a whole set during gameplay might be quite the challenge. Each card is topped with a colored bar indicating its type, and many of them feature symbols detailing their abilities and the conditions for acquiring them.

For those new to this iteration, additional components help track game progress. A miniature map of Middle-earth comes complete with tiny wooden army and castle pieces. A particularly charming feature is the “hunt for the ring” track, where players move a plastic slider between hobbits on one end and a ringwraith on the other. This mechanic ensures that while the hobbits steadily advance toward Mount Doom, they can never distance themselves from the pursuing wraith.

Beyond the cards and map, you’ll find several punchable cardboard tokens. These include shield stacks, each representing a neutral Middle-earth faction players can ally with, decorated with icons on the back indicating the rewards for alliances, and plenty of gold coins. Each board region also comes with a tile denoting the fortress you can construct there, its cost, and the benefits of doing so.

Moving on to the rules. 7 Wonders: Duel cleverly simulated drafting for two-player games with its unique setup of cards, forming a layout where face-up cards overlap face-down ones. This same setup appears here, but instead of rival civilizations, one player is the dark lord Sauron and the other, the free peoples of Middle-earth. You must clear the cards beneath any given card in the pyramid setup before claiming it, making each turn a strategic choice aimed at maximizing your own potential while limiting options for your opponent.

The card pyramid isn’t the only familiar element carried over from the original game. The entire flow will feel known to fans of 7 Wonders: Duel. Initially, most cards are freely available, allowing players to enhance their tableau. As the game progresses, acquiring more potent cards requires specific skills or prerequisite symbols from existing cards. If short on requirements, you can substitute with gold or discard cards to earn coins.

In this game, the strategic question quickly arises: should you focus on a specialty, making it easier to acquire more of similar cards, or keep a generalist strategy? The answer isn’t clear cut; it depends on card availability and requires players to decide when to pivot. Flipping a face-down card can become thrilling, especially if it potentially completes a critical chain in your strategy. But there’s no worse feeling than inadvertently giving your opponent the chance to snag a key card because you revealed it seeking something else.

Apart from cards that bolster your economic tableau, there are ones that progress victory conditions. Here, Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth distinguishes itself from its predecessor. Some cards move you along the “quest for the ring” track. Reaching the end signifies an instant victory, with comparable bonuses along the path. Six different alliance symbols, represented by green cards, also secure a win, while duplicates offer bonus tokens from a specific stack for each faction. Lastly, red cards allow you to place armies on Middle-earth’s map, displacing foes. Conquering all seven regions results in a win, or the player with the majority when the card pool is depleted claims victory.

Each victory condition is intricately designed to climax during the third round. As players edge closer to winning, gameplay intensifies. Not only do you aim to complete your victory path, but you must also obstruct your opponent’s goal, creating a captivatingly thrilling endgame despite the game’s relatively simple rules and swift half-hour duration.

That being said, after several bouts, the balance between skill and luck might raise questions. As previously mentioned, revealing a critical card for either player can sway the game’s outcome, and there’s little you can do about it. Decisions certainly matter, yet the game’s design keeps things tight, compensating for your missed opportunities by offering them to your foe. This crescendo of excitement sometimes sews seeds of doubt about how much influence your strategy truly had on the final result. In fairness, creating genuinely exhilarating games without some degree of randomness is challenging, and this one conceals it effectively.

A significant new addition is fortresses, acting as a tactical ace. Three out of seven fortress tiles are available during gameplay, each linked to specific map spaces and demanding substantial skill symbols and gold. In return, they offer impactful rewards aligned with central game mechanics, such as free ring track movements if you capture Minas Tirith in Gondor. These fortresses become invulnerable presences on their spaces, turning the tide in battles for territories. Moreover, purchasing these tiles is the sole means to avoid immediately taking a card, possibly forcing your opponent into revealing them instead.

Even with the beautiful card art and references to iconic Middle-earth characters and locales, the game doesn’t fully evoke Tolkien’s epic saga. Collecting ring cards doesn’t capture the essence of the dark, desperate chase the books describe, and faction alliances feel mismatched with the perks they grant. Furthermore, unlikely alliances, like Sauron teaming with the Elves or free peoples seizing Mordor, often occur, trivializing the intricately crafted lore of Tolkien’s world.

This game is an interesting addition to the Lord of the Rings board game universe, offering strategic depth and engaging gameplay for fans.