With thanks to the folks at Kosmos Games, we’ve been checking out their board game release with Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom. This co-operative title follows one of our all-time favourite franchises (if you can’t tell what that it, that one’s on you) and has been one we’ve looked forward to for some time. We’ve spent the last few weeks playing it here in Pixel Towers, as well as with family and friends elsewhere, to get a good feel for it.
As ever we’re bringing you our full review for Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom, alongside our common-sense parent’s guide and accessibility analysis. Read along just below, and don’t forget to let us know if you have any questions or comments.
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The Basics – What is Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom About?
Players: 1 – 4
Age: 10+
Play Time: 50 minutes
Style: Co-operative Dice-rolling Fantasy
In Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom your adventuring party is tasked with transporting the One Ring up to the fires of Mount Doom. Accompanied by the fellowship, Frodo and Sam will make the journey from the last homely house, and through seven well known areas of Middle Earth.
Players will work together to control the fellowship, rolling the dice and discussing which characters to move and which actions to take. This title works quite differently to those you may be used to, with each die representing the characters within the fellowship, as well as two friend and foe dice.
Players will choose which dice to roll, judging the best characters by their location on the board, to ensure they are able to support Sam and Frodo along their journey. After selecting their actions as a team, the individual player will make their moves, and read selected cards.
As well as getting the Ring Bearers up to Mount Doom, players will also have to gauge their actions based on the hope tracker. This can rise and fall along your journey, but players must ensure it never reaches the bottom, as despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt.
The title does recommend 1 – 4 players, however as this is an entirely communal game, we’ve found that you can really have as many players as you like. The only requirement here is that everybody can discuss things and have their opinion heard, and if you can do that with a larger group, it doesn’t provide any advantage or disadvantage for gameplay.
Is Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom Safe for Children?
Rating: Family Friendly
There are battles within the title, but with these being based on dice rolls it’s only as bad as each person’s imagination. The rules can be a little tricky to follow for younger players, which is our only hesitation, however the group nature does temper this massively.
As younger players can be guided during the communal discussions (depending on the child, of course!) this does open it up to go under the 10+ recommendation. We’ve not found any troubling content, with the biggest thing to watch out for being some scary looking enemies within the foe cards.
Is Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom Accessible?
Rating: No Barrier
Kosmos really shine through again, with another incredibly accessible title. As well as having a good rule book here, the title delivers easy to understand mechanics which make it very accessible. In addition, the Kosmos helper app means that you can sit and play along with guidance, without ever having to read the rule book itself.
On top of this, the communal nature of the title does mean that (much like the fellowship itself) players can provide guidance and support for others. As long as you can roll some dice, you can get into this one with friends.
The Run Down – Our Five-Point Rating for Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom
Gameplay – 4: The rules here are pretty simplistic and it’s easy to think that this is simply role dice, move character, get to the end eventually. However, it really is possible to lose the game here. While it never feels intense pressure, Adventure to Mount Doom throws up enough challenges which will require an element of chance and risk for players. Straightforward, yes, but it’s easy to catch yourself having made a mistake and it does make for some great lightweight hijinx.
Visuals – 5: Artwork within the title is exceptionally strong. There may be some who point out (as the creators themselves do) that this is not a topographically accurate Middle Earth, but it does look beautiful. Especially considering the challenge of coming up with new visuals for an incredibly well-known property, the team have done really well here.
Build – 4:The board itself is good and sturdy (we well as beautiful) and pieces are made of good, thick card. Dice are nice to hold, if a little lightweight, but intricately designed. All together, the typical solid Kosmos quality, without costing a fortune.
Storage – 3:It’s a decent square shape which will be fairly easy to store. It does feel like the box could be smaller than it is, however it does provide a three-section separated internal storage for cards, counters and other bits and bobs.
Replay – 3: There’s not a great deal of variation here, though there is the option to keep things fresh as each area will have a card put back into the box. This does mean that there will be slight variation between the area’s friend and foe encounters between games, but we’d have liked to see a little more variety here.
The Verdict – Is Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom Worth It?
Pixel Bandits You Shall Not Pass Level for Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom is a good 8/10. This one provides a set of straightforward rules, backed by a story which we all know and love. Adventure to Mount Doom is an accessible experience, and a fun co-operative title to gather around and play with friends.
While Frodo and Sam are making their journey through the wilderness of Middle Earth, it feels quite a cosy title, there’s enough chance and risk here to mean that players’ decisions really do count, and we’ve had our share of wins and losses. More than once, this has come down to a “do or die” final attempt to get the ring to the fires of Mount Doom, and it does make for an exciting experience.
As ever, to provide this review and common-sense parent’s guide, we received one free copy of Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom from the folks at Kosmos.
