The state of Lord of the Rings games got a bit of a shake-up late last year. Previously held by Middle-earth Enterprises, the tabletop gaming license for J.R.R. Tolkien’s immensely popular fantasy world was transferred to French publisher Asmodee. Asmodee has previously published licensed games for popular IPs like Marvel and Star Wars, as well as popular board games like Catan and Ticket to Ride.
As reported by BoardGameWire, there was initially some concern that Asmodee’s take-over of the Lord of the Rings tabletop license would mean that other gaming companies would not have a chance to release any licensed products. However, Asmodee has since cleared up these rumors, and even released a list of other publishers that they will be working with to release more Lord of the Rings products. From the looks of it, players don’t have to worry about there being a lack of games based in Middle-earth anytime soon.
One game that we know for sure is coming through Asmodee’s partnerships with other publishers is a Lord of the Rings version of the deck-building game Ascension, published by Stone Blade Entertainment. This fits a pattern that Asmodee has established so far with their own Lord of the Rings releases.
Asmodee has already released a Lord of the Rings version of 7 Wonders Duel titled Duel for Middle-earth. Additionally, they plan to release a re-worked version of Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit called The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit. While there are clearly more Lord of the Rings games coming, it may look as though the IP may be entering an era where it is used to reskin existing games rather than develop original ones.
Looking at another of Asmodee’s announced partners, Play to Z, it’s easy to see how their game, King’s Coalition, could simply be reskinned into a Lord of the Rings version where the game’s unique subject cards are replaced by Middle-earth characters. Hopefully this isn’t the case, and Play to Z as well as the third announced partner, Grand Gamers Guild, are developing unique games.
In addition to working on new games, Asmodee is also working with accessory companies Sirius Dice and Game Toppers. In their post about the partnership, Game Toppers announced that they would be creating both tables and mats based on Lord of the Rings.
As of now, there is no official word on what Sirius Dice plans to release in relation to Lord of the Rings. Personally, I hope they avoid the strategy they used for their Baldur’s Gate 3 collaboration. These were $12 “Treasure Packs” that came with a single D20, a collectible coin, and a dice bag, all of which were randomized with no way of knowing what you’d be getting. While some may enjoy loot box products like this, I’d prefer to know what I was getting.
On paper, a slew of new Lord of the Rings games from established board game publishers should be something to get excited about. That said, I can’t help but worry that Asmodee’s current strategy seems to be more focused on branding existing games with the IP than creating something new. Hopefully, this is just the beginning, and new adventures in Middle-earth are around the corner.
- Cast
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Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt
- Created by
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J.R.R. Tolkien