The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth Review

October 31, 2024

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7 Wonders was a pivotal game for many people, their first introduction to modern games proper. From there came the two-player version, which happens to be one of my favourite games – 7 Wonders Duel. Now we have The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth which builds on the duelling version of the game, adding a couple of new things to the gameplay, but most importantly alloys itself with JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world, like a shiny coat of mithril, bringing the game up-to-date for an eager new audience and protecting its place in the upper echelons of BGG’s ranks.

You cool with Nazgûl?

One player is the Fellowship, trying to get The One Ring to Mount Doom to destroy it, while the other is Sauron, commanding his dark forces to stop them in their tracks. In practice the game wouldn’t feel like that at all, were it not for the funky little plastic ‘Quest of the ring’ track that comes in the box. Collecting blue cards with their ring emblems pushes Sam and Frodo along the track towards Mordor if you’re the Fellowship, or the Black Riders in hot pursuit if you’re Sauron.

quest of the ring tracker with nazgul and fellowship close — This game ended with the black riders a single step behind the hobbits. Tense!

The Quest of the ring track is one of three different ways to end the game immediately, which means you’ve got to keep your head on a swivel. The closest comparator is the military track in 7W:D, the biggest difference being that whenever the Fellowship advances, they drag the Nazgûl with them, meaning the gap only ever gets smaller. The green cards represent the different races in Middle-earth. Collect six of them, thematically getting their support, and the game ends immediately too. The third and final instant win condition is something entirely new and very different feeling for this series of games.

There and back again

Duel for Middle-earth has a little board representing the world. There are seven interlinked spaces representing everywhere from Rohan to Mordor, and some cards and actions allow you to add units to the board and move them from pillar to post. When opposing units come together, there’s a big ol’ scrap and each loses one at the same time until somebody has nothing left in the space, thereby losing control of it.

Another big difference is the absence of the titular Wonders from the previous games. Instead, we have Fortresses now. Building them is largely the same as in the previous game, but this time completing one lets you pop one of your little wooden fortress pieces on the matching map space, permanently giving you presence there. If either player manages to have a presence on all seven spaces on the map, they instantly win.

overhead view of the map board — The little area control board and wooden pieces are great fun.

I really like the map. It adds a bit more spice to the game which I never realised was missing in 7W:D until I played this game. It’s not just the quasi-area control it adds, either. I like that fortresses are never removed, meaning there’s a good reason to devote your resources and coins towards building them early. It’s a real exercise in plate-spinning, trying to work towards dominating at least one of the three routes to victory while not neglecting something your opponent is working towards. Having three to keep an eye on is great, it’s really reminiscent of something you’d expect in a Reiner Knizia game, like Lost Cities. Not having an even split per player means there’s always a bit of a tussle over at least one of them, which is great.

“The wise speak only of what they know”

If you’ve played 7 Wonders Duel, most of the rest of the game will be immediately familiar to you. The game is split into three rounds, each seeing its cards arranged in patterns on the table. You either take a card and add it to your tableau, paying any due costs, or discard it for coins. Gone are resources on collected cards, instead we’re dealing with skills. Functionally it’s exactly the same thing though. If your played cards provide enough symbols to play a card, you can play it, making up any difference in coins.

You can still chain cards too. If a card from a previous round provides a symbol seen on a later card, you get to play it for free. It’s a really easy game to teach from this perspective. Any time you’re asked “Can I play this card?” you can answer with “Do you have those symbols visible on those cards in front of you?”, and the concept takes root very quickly.

an overhead view of the game duel for middle-earth setup on a table — The game takes up a little more room than before, but it’ll still comfortably fit on a normal table.

In short, if you’ve played the previous 7 Wonders games then you’ll immediately understand the mechanisms that drive the game. Taking a turn feels the same. Growing your tableau feels the same. Planning for the future feels the same. The biggest diversion is what you do with the things your gameplay creates. It’s not a case of swinging the military in your favour. The Wonders are replaced with fortresses which don’t feel as important, even though they play an important role. There’s no competition between players between rounds based on military strength. It’s about keeping an eye on three different dials and making sure the needles don’t top out in the red unless you’re the one pushing it there.

Final thoughts

In my opinion, Duel for Middle-earth is the high point in the 7 Wonders line. I like some of the expansions for the original games, but those games are better once the expansions are included. In terms of a game, sans expansions, in a small box, The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth is the best. I’m surprised to find myself writing that because when someone takes an existing game and forces it into a spandex fancy dress costume from a popular franchise, it’s an immediate turn-off for me. You can keep your Marvel and Cthulhu cash-ins, it does nothing for me. Yet here I am singing the praises of a game I love that’s wearing Tolkien’s fantasy garb.

The artwork and illustrations are gorgeous throughout, and the rulebook makes things very clear. It’s entirely possible for two non-gamers to buy this hobbity box and learn the game without watching a video. The drama of seeing what cards are revealed when you uncover them is just as exciting as it was in 7W:D, but the variations on a theme of the original game lift it and make it feel fresh and new. As well as the things I’ve mentioned above, there’s a nice little set-collection bonus built-in with the green cards, letting you collect shield tokens with different one-time bonuses.

The Quest of the Ring plastic track is extremely gimmicky, but you know what? I like it. It’s silly and fun and surprisingly dramatic. Sliding a piece of plastic with a horse drawn on it shouldn’t feel as dramatic as it does. It boils down to this. If you’ve never played the 7 Wonders games and want a quick, easy-to-learn, two-player game, get this. If you’ve already got 7 Wonders Duel and don’t know whether to get this too, it’s a little trickier, but I’d still say yes. It’s about 20 quid, it’s got a bit more going on, and obviously it’s Lord of the Rings. If you like LOTR, then yeah, get this. If you don’t then maaaaybe you could skip this, but it’s still the best of the bunch. This game, along with Watergate (review here) are my favourite small box two-player duelling games right now.

You can buy this game from my retail partner, Kienda. Remember to sign-up for your account at kienda.co.uk/punchboard for a 5% discount on your first order of £60 or more.