Looking back over the last year I have to say I’m surprised, because I haven’t even been tempted to play this game again since reviewing it. Surprised, because the LOTR IP is one of my favourites and this game spins a really good tale within Tolkien’s world. However, there are reasons why I haven’t been back.
For me, the game lacks the ‘Wow’ factor, or to put it another way, whilst being a good game it doesn’t do anything well enough to make it stand out from the crowd. There are a few interesting mechanisms, such as the way the cards are used for skill checks and combat, but they don’t make the game unique enough to draw you into wanting to play it again. The story and its depth of flavour are the biggest appeal, but is that enough? Apparently not, at least for this budding adventurer.
The fact that there’s only a campaign available to play rather than individual scenarios is also a deciding factor on why it’s stayed on the shelf – I haven’t the time, and maybe the will, to add another campaign game to the current mix; I reach for Gloomhaven when that fix needs scratching.
If combat was more strategic, or the character advancement a little more free and engaging, then I might feel the need to explore the game once again, but as it is I’ve not given Lord of The Rings a second thought, well, other than thinking about painting the miniatures, which are rather nice, that is.
I know many have been enjoying the game, and to be honest, it is a good, solid game, and with the many expansions that have appeared over the last year I’m sure replayability has increased no end, but would I buy an expansion just to make me want to play again, and then feel that another one is needed to make me return yet again?
It’s one of those games that will either grab you, or it won’t, I think it would depend on what else its competing with in your collection. It’s certainly good for one campaign and that would be enough for some to say they’d got their monies worth. Talking with my daughter, with whom I shared the last campaign, she more or less seconds what I’ve put here. She’d be happy to play again if we got an expansion, but she can remember what happened in the last campaign and feels more content needs to be added in the way of campaigns and individual scenarios.
Knowing what I know now, would I still have bought it? The jury is currently out on this one. We had an enjoyable time playing through the campaign, and there is another to buy without having to add a physical expansion, so it’s possible we’ll revisit it again at some point. On the other hand, I have games that I’d reach for first If I wanted to commit to a time-thirsty campaign, so…
Will it still remain in my collection? At the moment, yes. I’ll see if I return to it in the near future and then see how I feel.
One Year On โ A good solid game, but one that doesn’t stand out in any specific way against its competitors, other than it uses an app. It will depend on what other games you have in your collect as to whether it will see repeat play, and the limitation of only a campaign to play will put many off.
Read My original review HERE
The Solo Meeple 
Interesting thoughts Justin, and can understand your reasonings, with so many other titles in this genre buying for attention.
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Cheers Dave. Yes, it’s certainly a packed genre.
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Thank you for the review.
Have you thought about adding some homebrew-scenarios?
Although I digress, you could as well play dnd or something simliar at that point. lol
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Thanks Anthony.
As it’s an App driven game it isn’t so easy to create your own scenarios and, yes, at that point it is time to drag out the RPGs!
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I didn’t think about something like that. I’m very oldschool, I have to admit, I have a smartphone for years, but I only use it as a glorified mp3-player.
But speaking of app, campfire comes to mind a bit.
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Well, Justin, it’s made enough of an impact on you to get a mention one year down the line, so that’s a good thing! Maybe another year down the line you’ll come back to it! ๐
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I wouldn’t say it has made an impact, I just keep tabs on my reviews and revisit them a year after writing, for good or bad!
Next up will be the five year mark, which will give some idea of a games longevity๐
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Well look at that, you’re back in the swing of things already, me ol’ mucker! ๐ I’m as big of an LOTR as you’ll find but I’ve been a little cautious with this game as I was worried that it didn’t deliver enough story and atmosphere for my tastes. Its a shame to hear it hasn’t hooked you even with the campaign. Truthfully, I felt the same way about Mansions of Madness needing new content pretty frequently to keep my interest in it up though there is no lack of narrative in that game to be fair. I guess that is why FFG makes so many expansions! ๐
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I can see what you mean Jeff, though the strongest part of LOTRJIME (that’s a mouthful!) is the story and atmosphere it creates, but everything else I found a bit run of the mill – other games do it better.
For me, MoM does it much better. They are only single scenarios, though it would be interesting if a campaign were developed.
Also, Valkyrie adds lots of fan made scenarios to the game – some really good, others not so – and so there’s plenty of content out there now.
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I think I would like JIME better if I hadn’t started with MoM because that game really sets the bar high for narrative and immersion. I think I had basically quit MoM before Valkyrie came out. Either that or I just didn’t know about it and never used it which is a shame.
I’m sure I’ve said it before that while I can grumble about MoM’s replay value, especially as a solo gamer, the bigger issue was that I committed to painting up the minis as well as I could at the time and did all this special custom basing and as new minis came out, but I grew tired of the low quality sculpts and started painting Games Workshop stuff instead and there was no looking back from there! That’s the real reason I didn’t stick with MoM even though I really enjoyed the game itself and have fond memories of playing it. This conversation is making me wish I could play it again through ๐
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*though. If only there was an edit button!
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