The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game Review

Play your way through the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy with The Lord of the Rings Adventure Book Game. Styled like a book, each chapter of the Adventure Book game board gives players a different challenge to solve before they can move on. You can try to play through all eight chapters in one sitting or play one chapter at each game night. 

The game comes with seven character figures of all four hobbits, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli. But you’re not really playing as a specific character. Instead, this is a cooperative game where players work together to complete the challenges by moving the figures and discarding Story cards. Along with a variety of steps to complete on each turn, there are also a variety of cards. There are six types of Story cards, and you’ll need to discard the appropriate ones to complete a challenge. There are also Plot cards that initiate a specific move based on the number drawn. Then there are Special cards you might get to draw as a reward for completing a challenge. These cards have special effects, such as drawing two cards from the discard pile or moving a character up to three spaces.

When you use or discard a One Ring Story card, you have to move the Corruption marker, which looks like the One Ring, one space along the Corruption Track. When the Corruption marker hits a red eye space on the track, draw from the Eye of Sauron card deck and resolve it immediately. If the marker gets to the last space on the track, you lose the game. 

As you move and play, watch out for Black Riders, goblins, and orcs. To win the game, you must complete all chapters without letting the Corruption marker get to the end of the track. 

The game includes seven character miniatures, the Adventure Game Book, a corruption track, 88 game cards, 52 counters, four reference cards, and a rulebook. You can play it solo or with up to four players ages 10 and up.