34 replies to this topic

[4wallz]

Ok, I've definitely played a lot of LCGs (Netrunner, Star Wars, AGOT) and I currently play AGOT 2nd edition.  The problem is I don't get to play it very often.  So I am taking a look at the LOTR game because of the fact it has solo play.  

 

But I have a few questions before I drop the money.  Is it a good solo play experience? Is it worth getting into this late into it's life?  The game has been out quite a while.  Does FFG plan on keeping the license for a long time?  I'd hate to invest in the game and then it get discontinued 6 months later.

 

Also, if I do buy into is 2 core sets worth owning?  

 

Thanks in advance guys.

[MightyToenail]

Ok, I've definitely played a lot of LCGs (Netrunner, Star Wars, AGOT) and I currently play AGOT 2nd edition.  The problem is I don't get to play it very often.  So I am taking a look at the LOTR game because of the fact it has solo play.  

 

But I have a few questions before I drop the money.  Is it a good solo play experience? Is it worth getting into this late into it's life?  The game has been out quite a while.  Does FFG plan on keeping the license for a long time?  I'd hate to invest in the game and then it get discontinued 6 months later.

 

Also, if I do buy into is 2 core sets worth owning?  

 

Thanks in advance guys.

Only buy one core. Pick up the Mirkwood cycle first, because it has a lot of basic cards that are necessary for awhile.

 

The game will last at least a year, probably more, because there is a cycle about to start, and they have never said that it would be the last.

 

Solo is pretty good, especially since you can play "two-handed", where you control two decks instead of one.

 

You can find pretty much anything about the game here.

[MagisDragonis]

Ok, I've definitely played a lot of LCGs (Netrunner, Star Wars, AGOT) and I currently play AGOT 2nd edition.  The problem is I don't get to play it very often.  So I am taking a look at the LOTR game because of the fact it has solo play.  

 

But I have a few questions before I drop the money.  Is it a good solo play experience? Is it worth getting into this late into it's life?  The game has been out quite a while.  Does FFG plan on keeping the license for a long time?  I'd hate to invest in the game and then it get discontinued 6 months later.

 

Also, if I do buy into is 2 core sets worth owning?  

 

Thanks in advance guys.

 

We're kind of a biased source for this opinion ;-) Buy 1 core set, try it and see if you enjoy. Then purchase by cycle, as Mighty says.

[4wallz]

Only buy one core. Pick up the Mirkwood cycle first, because it has a lot of basic cards that are necessary for awhile.

 

The game will last at least a year, probably more, because there is a cycle about to start, and they have never said that it would be the last.

 

Solo is pretty good, especially since you can play "two-handed", where you control two decks instead of one.

 

You can find pretty much anything about the game here.

Thanks for the advice.  And the link!  I will definitely check it out.  Excited to try it out!

[alexbobspoons]

Just to add, its a fantastic fantastic solo game, but the core set quests are skewed on difficulty so don't let that put you off as the cycle quests are better balanced
Core 1 passage through Mirkwood is easy but great for learning.
Core 2 journey along Anduin is very hard and unforgiving on a new player but beatable in time.
Core 3 escape from dol guldur still stands as one of the hardest quests of the entire game.

So don't let core difficulty put you off

[MightyToenail]

Just to add, its a fantastic fantastic solo game, but the core set quests are skewed on difficulty so don't let that put you off as the cycle quests are better balanced
Core 1 passage through Mirkwood is easy but great for learning.
Core 2 journey along Anduin is very hard and unforgiving on a new player but beatable in time.
Core 3 escape from dol guldur still stands as one of the hardest quests of the entire game.

So don't let core difficulty put you off

You know, it is funny. When I had a small cardpool I beat Dol Guldur all of the time and thought that Anduin was the harder one.

Now that I have more cards, it has gotten harder.

I have no clue why.

[theamazingmrg]

My problem with Dol Guldur is the starter troll...

 

But, to answer the OPs question: Yes, it's a great game!

[jasonpanella]

The game has a great solo experience (and, it's easy to play "two-handed," as in two decks solo). And the game has been out for five years, so it's not brand new it's also not ancient! That said, there's a ton of player cards and great quests available, so lots to dig into. 

 

As others said, you only really need one core set. And while the early adventure packs have some very important player cards, the more recent quests have been unbelievably good compared to the early ones. 

[Libor]

Don´t bother with the licence and eventual discontinuin of this LCG, It´s not competitive so if they stop this game tomorrow (there´s no sign it will happen), there is a lot of expansion (and eventually nightmare decks) for years of fun. It doen´t matter that you are in the beginning, the game is still the same for new players as it were before few years for veteran. It´s great upside against other LCGs. 5 cycles, 4 deluxes, 8 sagas and POD is a lot of fun!!!! 

Is it worth getting into this late into it's life?  The game has been out quite a while.  Does FFG plan on keeping the license for a long time?  I'd hate to invest in the game and then it get discontinued 6 months later.

 

Also, if I do buy into is 2 core sets worth owning?  

 

 

[4wallz]

Don´t bother with the licence and eventual discontinuin of this LCG, It´s not competitive so if they stop this game tomorrow (there´s no sign it will happen), there is a lot of expansion (and eventually nightmare decks) for years of fun. It doen´t matter that you are in the beginning, the game is still the same for new players as it were before few years for veteran. It´s great upside against other LCGs. 5 cycles, 4 deluxes, 8 sagas and POD is a lot of fun!!!!

That's a really good point! I'll just have to buy it all before it goes out of print and gets pricy. Lol

[jjohnson111]

One thing to add is if you enjoy the story of LoTR, the Saga deluxe boxes provide for a "campaign" style of play, as a difference to the quests that you play out of the normal deluxe and adventure packs.  Not that the normal deluxe and adventure packs are not thematic, but the Saga deluxe specifically trace the major events from the books.  

[Mixxathon]

You will not find anyone that will tell you No around here.
This game is great, is loved, has great art, beautiful mechanics, seriously high replayability, plays equally good with 1 up to 4 players, has no banlist, is not competitive, has some serious lore, is very thematic, and is challenging.

Quests have variable difficuly. It is harder to storm Carn Dum or beat Smaug than it is to take a stroll in Mirkwood. And down the road, when your collection has swollen and the earlier quests seems like a cakewalk, there is Nightmare mode. There are campaigns to play. You can play any constellation of three heroes you can think of, they are all there with some unknowns spliced into the mix.

You get to fight the orcs, hillmen, uruks, corsairs, nameless that gnaws on the roots of the world, dragons, wargs, and nefarious people plotting against the Steward of Gondor. You get to save an eagle, help Arwen cross Caradhras, fight the Balrog in Moria, fight the slithering nightmare that is the Watcher in the Water, find a nefarious murderer in the Prancing Pony, search the barrows in Barrow Downs for artifacts. You will unite the hillmen tribes against Isengard, battle Saruman, escort Grima Wormtounge, find Gollum in Goblin Town, flee across the plains of Eriador hunted by an army of wolves, fight the undead, help a boy that is threatened by the oathbreakers. You will get lost in the jungle on an island outside the Grey Havens, sail majestic ships out of Mithlond and battle pirates on the way. All this and much much more.... from one single card game you can play solo or co op with up to three other players. And the quests will very rarely play the same way two times in a row, and you get a new experience by just trying a new player deck.

TL;DR Yeah, it is worth it. No other game have given us in the club a richer experience. The harder we lose, the harder we try the next time. And lose you will, be ready for that. No quest is impossible with a bit of planning and learning from past mkstakes. Have fun.

[slothgodfather]

@Mixxathon - I'd give you extra likes if I could.

[4wallz]

@Mixxathon  Well put!  

 

 

I bought the core set and the first Adventure pack.  And I already plan on getting a second core set and more packs.  Thanks for all the good advice everyone!

[mattbook]

@Mixxathon  Well put!  

 

 

I bought the core set and the first Adventure pack.  And I already plan on getting a second core set and more packs.  Thanks for all the good advice everyone!

I just bought the core set and ordered the first adventure pack. It's waiting in my mailbox right now for when I get home. I'm in the same boat as you and I'm excited to start playing, collecting, deck building, and questing.

[Libor]

Once again - I don´t recommend buying another core set. The number of wasted cards is enourmous (all quest cards, heroes, a lot of player cards). For the same money you´ll get few adventure packs which means more quests and a much more player cards to increase your options and more fun and there´s really a lot of expansions to look for! You´ll really need only a few cards from the whole box and around 10 proxies can solve this but I understand that some players don´t want to use proxies.

[hanotsri]

Just traded half my AGOT collection to get into this game. I now have three cores, the first Hobbit deluxe and the first adventure cycle. Insanely addictive

[4wallz]

Once again - I don´t recommend buying another core set. The number of wasted cards is enourmous (all quest cards, heroes, a lot of player cards). For the same money you´ll get few adventure packs which means more quests and a much more player cards to increase your options and more fun and there´s really a lot of expansions to look for! You´ll really need only a few cards from the whole box and around 10 proxies can solve this but I understand that some players don´t want to use proxies.

I understand. I'm a completionist though. So I will get a playset of every card. Lol. Got 3 cores and the mirkwood cycle too.

[jaredamylee]

I have a question as a follow on to a few people saying that you don't need more than one core. I play other LCGs and multiple cores are almost compulsory as they contain only one copy of some very good cards. Is that not the case here? Are the ones without 3 copies in the core not good or just not necessary in a non-competitive game? I'm a completionist so this makes me twitchy

[alexbobspoons]

I have a question as a follow on to a few people saying that you don't need more than one core. I play other LCGs and multiple cores are almost compulsory as they contain only one copy of some very good cards. Is that not the case here? Are the ones without 3 copies in the core not good or just not necessary in a non-competitive game? I'm a completionist so this makes me twitchy

The core set contains some cards x2 and some x3 so for completionists you need 3 sets ( with LOTS of wasted/spare cards).
As to if its necessary, no its not, as you buy other adventure packs your card pool grows and you have so many more cards to choose from......BUT.... the x2 and x1 cards in the core set are very very good cards and to be honest it certainly does help some scenarios having more of them.
I have 2 cores and it was really worth it for the x1 cards increase. Im now contemplating my third core. A third celebrians stone would be awrsome sometimes.