Risk: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition
| File:Risk LOTRspecialedition.JPG | |
| Designers | Stephen Baker |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Hasbro |
| Players | 2–4 |
| Setup time | 5–15 minutes |
| Playing time | 2-4 hours |
| Chance | Medium (dice rolling, card drawing, luck) |
Risk: Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition is a board game based upon the game Risk, but set in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional land of Middle-earth rather than the actual Earth. The board is divided into nine regions of Middle-earth taken from the three films.
Equipment
The box contains: a rules manual; a map on a cardboard board, depicting the northwest area of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age; playing pieces--two light-colored sets containing Elven Archers, Riders of Rohan, and Eagles for light, and Trolls, orkish leader shields; and, finally, a pewter replica of the only One Ring.
Official rules
Gameplay is similar to the original Risk, but there are additional cards (earned by entering certain territories with a leader piece) that give missions for leader pieces to accomplish, provide special bonuses, or cause "special events" to occur. Also, strongholds and leader pieces modify combat rolls as well as the great use of ports which can quickly take you across the map.
One key difference is that the game itself is randomly time-limited by the Ring moving along the Fellowship's path at the end of each player's turn, its rate determined by dice rolls. The game ends when the Ring reaches the end of its path.
The winner is then determined by points being awarded to each player based on the territories, strongholds and regions they control, as well as what cards they have played during game. The player with the most points is the winner. However, many choose to not use the Ring Quest rules and simply play a standard global domination game. One reason for this is that the evil side can win at any point along the Ring's path, but the good side must get the Ring to the end of the path, and still may lose.
Many players find that the game suffers due to ambiguity introduced by the lack of clarity in the rules, and in particular regarding the special events specific to this version of Risk.
Criticism
Many fans were upset about the initial release of "Risk: Lord of the Rings edition" because it did not include the regions (continents) of Gondor and Mordor. This was odd because unlike normal Risk, in this game certain players use "Forces of Darkness" armies and others use "Forces of Light" armies: Gondor is the head "good" country and Mordor is the head "evil" country. It was thought that the "Trilogy Edition", to be released a year after the first, would be something of an add-on pack, including only Gondor and Mordor and intended to be lined up with existing Risk sets. However, the "Trilogy Edition" was actually a large super-map, containing all the original regions as well as Gondor and Mordor. As a result, fans that bought the original edition were left with "incomplete" Risk maps and would have to buy an entirely new game if they wanted the "full" version, although Hasbro did offer them an add on for a fee.[citation needed]
See also
External links
- Lord of the Rings Risk rules and strategy site