Cryptozoic Details The Lord of the Rings Deck Building Game
Back in early October Cryptozoic announced that they’re working The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck Building Game. We got some minor details at that point, but now the developer is back with more information on the game, including some card previews. In the last post the game was slated to release during the end of this year, but now we’re seeing an early next year launch, which could mean that the company is adding more detail to the game. At least, I hope so anyway.
From the new post on Cryptozoic’s official blog we learn a bit more about how some of the mechanics work out in the game. Essentially, The Lord of the Rings Deck Building Game will play out much like other normal games of its kind. Players start off with a 10-card deck and use Power that their cards provide to purchase new cards from a middle row called the path. All of the purchased cards go directly to the discard pile, and once you’ve used most or all of your available Power your turn ends and you draw five new cards from your deck. When your deck runs out you shuffle your discard pile and it becomes your deck once more. It’s pretty simple.
What’s different about this game, though, is that there’s an Archenemy pile next to the main deck that creates the path. Players need to defeat enemies in this pile in order to win the game. Once all of the Archenemies in the pile are destroyed, or when the main deck runs out of cards to place in the path, the game is over. The player with the most Victory Points at this time will be the winner of the game.
Something else that’s different about this game is that players choose Hero cards at the beginning of the game. These cards will represent iconic characters from the story, and they will dictate some starting items that players will have when the game begins. It’s a pretty cool idea, and it adds a bit of strategy to the game.
As far as the art goes, it looks like Cryptozoic is pulling stills from the film to act as card art for the game. The actors we’re used to seeing in the films as characters like Frodo and Legolas will appear on the cards, making them recognizable. It also has potential to get fans of the films who aren’t exactly gamers into the gaming world through this game. My only issue lies here, as I feel some of the art looks great while others don’t fare so well. Either way, the game looks like it has potential to be a lot of fun. With its new projected release of early next year, we’ll have to wait for now. You can find out more about the game and see other preview cards on the Cryptozoic blog.
