Hey everyone!
I'm kind of new to the strategy game world, but my boyfriend really enjoys this genre of game. I was thinking of getting him the LoTR card game to play with him since he is also into the Hobbit and LoTR. I was wondering what everyone's opinion was about the LoTR LLC game. What are good and bad things about it? People who aren't really into strategy games--was it easy to get used to?
This was my first "strategy game," and I found it was pretty fair as far as an entry game goes. It has it's difficult parts, and if you're just planning on getting him the core set it will be challenging, but as long as he likes deck building it shouldn't be too bad. If he's a Lord of the Rings fan, I'd go for it. I didn't get this game because of any reviews I'd read or anything, simply the fact that you could pick your favorite heroes from the books and make a deck with them. The good: it's got a lot of content, it presents a lot of different challenges with different quests, play as the heroes you like, a lot of creativity involved. The bad: it's got a lot of content to BUY. Some people find it too harsh without a large card pool, so while it's possible to play with just the core set, it obviously encourages you to buy the adventure packs. I dunno, I picked it up on a whim and it's become my favorite game, so it's got my vote!
Ok, so the shortest answer I can come up with is this: This is an LCG, which means that unlike Magic and other CCG's, the LCG's are not distributed in randomized packs. You first have to get a core set with fixed cards and there are expansions and smaller packs that are also fixed. So that basically means that ypu know what you're getting when you buy it. Secondly, this is a cooperative card game, the first of its kind IIRC. Third, it can be pretty frustating at first, since the game is HARD, especially when you don't have every pack available. With that said, if you enjoy the theme and the story and like strategic games, this is a pretty good game with lots of interesting card combinations and mechanics. I personally recommend it a lot, as long as you're up to the challenge.
When I first bought the core set I tried it out with my girlfriend, who often says she's bad at strategy games. There is a rather steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of how the game round progresses it starts to flow better. The rulebook recommends that you give the pre-constructed decks a try first, and save your own deckbuilding for later.
I have found it to be a very enjoyable, if also difficult, game. Don't lose heart if you get beaten up by the game - it takes time to learn the cards and figure out the right strategies. I've played this for almost two years now with my girlfriend and two other friends (and we're all playing different cultures/factions, which is fun), and the danger I can see is that you'll sink quite a bit of money into it. You don't have to buy everything - the game is split into expansions with accompanying cycles of smaller packs, so you don't, for instance, have to buy Moria to play the Gondor cycle - but if you want to try different kinds of decks, you may very well still want to.
On the other hand, the core set will last you quite a while - especially as the final quest is quite difficult even with a larger card pool. I say, definitely go for it and see how you like it!
My wife and I bought this game because I used to play a lot of CCGs back in the day, and I missed deckbuilding. Plus, we both love cooperative games and Lord of the Rings, so it seemed like a perfect fit.
So we went out to our Friendly Local Game Store and picked up the core set. After playing around with it a bit we both concluded that it was way too hard... So the next day we went back to the store and bought four more packs of cards. I think it's a testament to how good the game is that even after getting beat up by the core set, we still wanted to play more.
It didn't take long after that for us to get the hang of the game, and with the exception of one deluxe expansion (I'm looking at you, Heirs of Numenor) it hasn't felt so difficult as it used to. I'd say it's well worth giving it a try.
Steep learning curve the main problem. You do need patience with the game. Enormous replayability. Plays fast once you know the game well. Great mechanics and theme (quite rare imho)
the one place I would disagree with the praise for the game...deckbuild from game one. save yourself the headache of realizing the tactics deck is a giant hole of suctitude on its own...build a couple 2-sphere decks, tweak them...I found it much more fun starting off from there.
shortly intoruduced my brothers to it and also my wife, universal love for it...had they started with the pre-built 30 card crimes against humanity, that may not have lasted.
other than that glitch, it is as others have said eminently replayable and exceptionally enjoyable.
My wife and I bought this game because I used to play a lot of CCGs back in the day, and I missed deckbuilding. Plus, we both love cooperative games and Lord of the Rings, so it seemed like a perfect fit.
So we went out to our Friendly Local Game Store and picked up the core set. After playing around with it a bit we both concluded that it was way too hard... So the next day we went back to the store and bought four more packs of cards. I think it's a testament to how good the game is that even after getting beat up by the core set, we still wanted to play more.
It didn't take long after that for us to get the hang of the game, and with the exception of one deluxe expansion (I'm looking at you, Heirs of Numenor) it hasn't felt so difficult as it used to. I'd say it's well worth giving it a try.
This is a very accurate story of what most people go through when getting into the game. I would recommend getting this game but make sure you stick with it at the beginning!