Once I heard that Repos Prod was making a spin-off of the incredible 7 Wonders: Duel with a Lord of the Rings theme, I used to be instantly intrigued. I used to be curious to see how designers Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala would use this theme. Each are glorious at their craft and I by no means anticipated this to be a pasted-on theme. After which once I received a glimpse of the incredible Vincent Dutrait artwork, it moved to the highest of my “should attempt” listing.
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Center Earth, is a 2-player spin-off of the unique 7 Wonders: Duel. This time dropping gamers into Center Earth as they battle for the destiny of the free folks.
Gameplay Overview:
Whereas the core mechanics of The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Center Earth (hereafter known as Lord of the Rings: Duel) are pretty much like 7 Wonders: Duel (evaluation right here). One participant controls the free folks whereas the opposite takes on the mantle of Sauron and the forces of darkness. That being mentioned, there’s virtually no distinction in enjoying both aspect, wanting the colour of your military, so choose your favourite.
The principle crux of the sport is that in your flip, you should select a card from the show and add one to your tableau. They arrive in numerous differing types:
- Gray playing cards are abilities that provide you with sources to play different playing cards
- Blue playing cards transfer the ring bearer or the Nazgul
- Crimson playing cards allow you to put armies on the map
- Inexperienced playing cards get you the alliances of the totally different races of Center Earth and potential bonuses
- Yellow playing cards provide you with cash
Within the first age, most playing cards are free to play, nevertheless, in later ages, playing cards will value totally different abilities and cash to play. In case you are missing a talent icon, you possibly can substitute it with cash.
Alternatively, as an alternative of grabbing a card, you possibly can select to purchase a Fortress card when you have the required abilities and cash. These provide you with a everlasting presence on a map area. That’s vital as a result of there are 3 methods to win:
- Have a presence in all 7 areas on a map (be aware, two gamers’ items can by no means share a area apart from with a Fortress).
- Have the ring make it to Mount Doom, or the Nazgûl catch Frodo.
- Have 6 totally different inexperienced symbols, representing that sufficient races in Center Earth help your aspect.
The primary participant to do a type of three wins.
Recreation Expertise:
Lord of the Rings: Duel jogs my memory a little bit of the Pandemic offshoots: Iberia, Reign of Cthulhu, The Clone Wars, and many others… These are “powered by Pandemic”, however they didn’t simply paste a brand new theme on the sport and name it a day. A lot is identical right here in you could see the core 7 Wonders Duel mechanics at work, but the gameplay has additionally shifted to make use of its Center Earth theme.
What’s attention-grabbing is that victory factors aren’t a part of the sport in any respect. Within the unique, Blue playing cards merely gave you factors, however right here, they transfer your ring tracker. The hunt for the ring is a core a part of The Lord of the Rings and I actually like how they built-in it. Frodo and Sam try to race to Mount Doom earlier than they get caught, however the Nazgûl is at all times sizzling on their trial. What’s attention-grabbing is how the tracker works: the gap from the fellowship to the Nazgûl by no means will get farther aside. So as soon as your Ringwraith begins to shut that distance, you possibly can’t get that buffer again. It makes the later ages much more tense as each get nearer to their goal.
The summary army monitor within the unique sport has been changed with a extra thematic map of Center Earth. Right here, space management is the secret. You’ll be putting items on the board trying to manage areas. Battles are very fast, with either side eliminating one unit till just one aspect stays. Get a unit in every area and also you win. If, by the tip of the sport, nobody has received but, the participant that controls probably the most areas wins.
Each of these had been nice concepts nevertheless I really feel just like the inexperienced victory is the least thematic. It’s worthwhile to get 6 totally different playing cards and also you win. It says it represents the races supporting you, but it surely doesn’t actually really feel that means. You might be amassing summary symbols which often provides you with a bonus. The six races: Elves, Ents, Hobbits, People, Dwarves, and Wizards, characterize your potential allies, however I’ve a tough time seeing the Elves or Ents, or most of them actually, siding with Sauron.
The sport additional loses its thematic integration by the shortage of titles on any of the playing cards. Whereas the art work is incredible as anticipated from fan favourite Vincent Dutrait, most of what you might be enjoying doesn’t really stand for something and there’s a lot of duplicate artwork. I get why they went this route, it can make localization so much cheaper to not should print distinctive card names for every language. However it additionally makes already summary playing cards really feel much more nebulous.
For these questioning the way it compares to 7 Wonders Duel with each expansions (Pantheon and Agora), it does incorporate components of each, however in a extra streamlined method. That is achieved through Fortresses, which change the Wonders from the unique. Constructing a Fortress permits you to skip drafting a card from the pyramid (ala Pantheon) and the price will increase by 1 coin for one another Fortress you could have (ala Agora). So it loosely incorporates mechanics from each expansions, however in a lighter means.
The most important change might be with the economic system. Yellow playing cards present a set variety of cash now and don’t have the scaling that the unique sport had. You can also’t purchase sources out of your opponent anymore, which thematically is sensible as Frodo will not be going to promote Sauron some braveness. On the whole, the economic system in Lord of the Rings Duel has been simplified a bit from the unique since now you possibly can simply change lacking sources at a 1:1 ratio with gold.
Ultimate Ideas:
I’ve performed The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Center Earth fairly a number of occasions since receiving it and assume it’s a fairly nice sport. Whereas it’s not excellent, the designers did an excellent job of taking their system and dropping it into Center Earth with out this sense like an inexpensive money seize. From the hunt for the ring to the realm management of the map, the theme shines via in lots of areas. It’s a strong adaptation that I believe lots of people are going to take pleasure in. Simply remember that this sport is much more confrontational than the unique 7 Wonders:
Duel. So long as you might be OK with that, it is a strong offshoot of an already nice sport.
Ultimate Rating: 4 Stars – The good gameplay from 7 Wonders: Duel is dropped into Center Earth with some good thematic touches.
Hits:
• New targets really feel on level with the theme
• Nice art work and strong manufacturing values
• Hunt for the Ring is a pleasant addition
Misses:
• Inexperienced playing cards really feel shoehorned in
• Gold playing cards and economic system really feel much more fundamental
