Tolkien published the first Lord of the Rings volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, in 1954 as a sequel to his 1937 novel The Hobbit. Over time, the book turned into an international phenomenon, spawning media like television specials and, most notably, films. Naturally, there have also been a plethora of video games based on the novel and its sequels.
Because of how massive the franchise is, some games, such as LEGO The Lord of the Rings, are based on the books’ film adaptations, rather than the original series. Certain games, like The Fellowship of the Ring: A Software Adventure, do clearly draw their inspiration from the novels though.
The Fellowship of the Ring Helped to Revolutionize Adventure Games
The Fellowship of the Ring: A Software Adventure, also known as Lord of the Rings: Game One, is an adventure game that released three years after 1982’s The Hobbit. Both games helped revolutionize adventure titles by allowing players to input complex sentences rather than simple commands. Given the novel’s epic scope, it makes sense for the game to be as expansive as possible.
Of course, The Fellowship of the Ring isn’t purely text, with the game providing visual accompaniment as well. This includes images of whatever location players are at any given time and avatars of each playable character. Here, players can choose to play as Frodo, Sam, Pippin, or Merry. As expected, their journey isn’t always smooth, with players having to dictate these characters’ strategy in combat.
For a game released all the way back in 1985, and even accounting for how much the adventure genre has evolved in the interim, The Fellowship of the Ring has hardly aged in its gameplay. Even if it’s not the most action-packed title, there is still fun to be had in using a text parser to navigate the in-game world.
LEGO The Lord of the Rings Is a Creative Adaptation of the Film Trilogy
LEGO The Lord of the Rings is based on the iconic film trilogy. Of course, with it being a LEGO game meant for casual and family audiences, the game is more humorous in tone compared to the original story. While it replicates plot points from the movies in particular, many of them have been modified to fit the LEGO video game design philosophy.
As with other LEGO games, LEGO The Lord of the Rings has players collecting stray parts, including bricks and bolts, in order to construct items and objects necessary to advance through the game. What sets this game apart from other LEGO games is its open-ended free-roaming mode. Whereas previous LEGO games were linear and focused on getting from point A to point B, LEGO The Lord of the Rings encourages players to explore its rendition of Middle-earth.
Every part of LEGO The Lord of the Rings comes together nicely, putting other LEGO video games to shame and doing The Lord of the Rings justice. For those who haven’t seen the movies or read the books, LEGO The Lord of the Rings serves as a neat gateway into their world, especially for younger audiences.
The Lord of the Rings Online Opens up Middle-earth to All
The Lord of the Rings Online is an MMORPG that has been active since its release in 2007. Even today, the game continues to receive expansion packs, most recently with Before the Shadow in 2022; the in-game world was last expanded in 2025 with the addition of the Ridge of Mûr Ghala in Southern Near Harad. The fact the game continues to be supported after nearly two decades is a testament to its cult player base, who enjoy exploring its bold rendition of Middle-earth.
The game does have a base episodic premise where players help the Lord of the Rings characters, including Frodo, among others, take on nefarious figures, including dragon lord Drugoth and the ghost Amdir. Players are free to explore Middle-earth for what it is and, given the aforementioned expansion of the in-game world over the years, there is no shortage of places to trek through and hang out in.
For long-time fans of the game, The Lord of the Rings Online isn’t as much of a standard MMORPG as it is a glorified social network of sorts. With how small yet devoted the game’s player base is, it feels tight-knit, with veteran players easily mingling with novices. What all these players have in common is their love for The Lord of the Rings mythos, which the game leverages for the benefit of its longevity.
The Two Towers Is One of the Best Movie-To-Game Adaptations
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is based on the 2002 film of the same name; unlike the movie, the game did not lift any plot elements from the novel the two are based on. Nevertheless, the game distracts from that fact by implementing surprisingly effective hack-and-slash elements, which is the last thing one may expect out of a game based on The Lord of the Rings.
The game deviates slightly from the movie to accommodate its gameplay, focusing more on the action-packed journeys of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Their pronounced presence here allows players to try out each character’s weapons and items.
The Two Towers is a fascinating and delightful anomaly among other games based on either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. The only other hack-and-slash game in the franchise is The Return of the King. Both games, but especially The Two Towers, are considerably more action-oriented than other games in the treasured media franchise, which is a fact that won’t put off more hardcore fans of The Lord of the Rings.
The Battle for Middle-earth is an Ambitious Masterpiece
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth takes the cake as the most ambitious game based on The Lord of the Rings in terms of scale. The game isn’t as expansive as The Lord of the Rings Online, nor is it as open-ended as LEGO The Lord of the Rings, but it makes up for this with its intricate gameplay, being a real-time strategy game that requires gamers’ full attention at all times.
Something else that makes The Battle for Middle-earth stand out from other The Lord of the Rings games is the ability to choose single-player campaigns from opposite sides. The “good” side has players controlling protagonists from the trilogy like Sam; the “bad” side has players controlling antagonists like Sauron. There are many possibilities for how each game will turn out, with players’ brains being given a lot to keep track of, and to process quickly.
The Battle for Middle-earth is best suited for anyone wanting to get into the world of The Lord of the Rings, along with fans of the strategy genre who are happy to group armies together and plan out every last detail of any given battle. The more players upgrade their armies, the more powerful said armies will end up being. It’s a goal typical of any strategy game, but given the IP power of The Lord of the Rings, it feels especially poignant.