Can Cards Alone Capture the Magic? The War of the Ring: The Card Game Review

Peter reviews War of the Ring: The Card Game by Ares Games.
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Intro music by Peter Miller (www.scribbletronics.com). Used with permission.

[@CJUzziel]

Love your resources and now your videos too!

[@5olas]

I'd love to see a playthrough of this game. Thank you for the review.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I spend my weekend making and editing a review video and someone always immediately says "great - but now can I have a playthrough?" Sigh ... 🤣🤣🤣 Well, I'll put it on the list ...!

[@Sponkulusnodge]

Seconded!

[@PMMagro]

YES!

[@SteveHill3D]

Had to smile when you instantly knew where Dol Amroth was. Prince Imrahil would be proud.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Oh the number of times I've had to besiege bloody Don Amroth!! 🤣

[@mylor1066]

Excellent review! Thanks for rules and how it plays. I want this now 😂

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Enjoy!

[@battlemind]

An excellent review Peter - very thorough. I'm going to pick this up for sure.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I really think you'll enjoy it.

[@ilqrd.6608]

Very good review

[@mysticmouse7983]

I've got a collectors edition too. My most loved game ❤️ Good review...tempting.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

If you've got a Collector's Edition you're a fan - so get it!

[@mrtruth5192]

The kings of middle earth expansion for Wotr is out! Does this mean we may see an unboxing and a potential battle report in the near future? 👀

[@twirth8906]

Your channel should have 200k subscribers at least! Excellent as always!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I agree. It's crazy isn't it? 🤣

[@fullasagoog]

Never played the big version, but did have the opportunity to play a team game of the card incarnation -- surprisingly good card game. The sort of thing you immediately start talking about afterwards... how much better you could have handled things, combos you missed and so on! Definitely has some depth to it, and the sort of game that is rewarded by repeat plays.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

It is indeed. Now get thee hence and play the board game too, it's epic! 😆

[@Mortikar]

Great review, Peter. What are you thoughts about the solo experience? I would probably play this solo only, if I were to purchase it.

[@LovewarpstainIV]

Ares is releasing an expansion this Fall which will make solo games possible, in addition to an option to play co-op against the Shadow.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

@LovewarpstainIV Yep, as mentioned in the video. You'll need that to play solo. In the base game they'd be no game at all if you new what the other player was going to do!

[@RalfSchemmann]

Good look at the game! I really like it as well, they did an awesome job at capturing the theme.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

And coming from a WOTR veteran like you, that is high praise!

[@Grantux]

I Played the two player version but thought it lacked something. But the 4 player seems to be the inteded way to play. I was dreading reading the rules again so thank you so much for the rules reference! I will make a donation when possible for me. Thank you for the work

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

That's very thoughtful and much appreciated, thankyou!

[@tiredguy2753]

Yup 4 player def feels better than 2 to me. Though there is a intro like 2 player game that is pretty good- at the end of the instruction manual. And for the solo players the next expansion will have a solo and co-op mode against the AI- looking forward to that one.

[@Grantux]

@@tiredguy2753 Has the expension already been announced?

[@tiredguy2753]

@@Grantux Yup, coming this September I believe. If you already made a pre-order (I pre-ordered quite some time ago) you do have an option to pick up in person ag Gen Con if you don't want to wait for the mail. So I am assuming there must be some copies for the general public at Gen Con even if you did not put in a pre-order.

[@rafaelmarrero8374]

This game is awesome ❤. Can’t have enough of it :) . Love the artwork, the mechanics and yes it’s definitely more accessible than the big massive board game . I can’t wait for the expansion called fire and swords . Coming out this spring . Hopefully the developers keep adding content and more expansions in the future

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

They're two completely different games with the same theme really, but they're both excellent. Looking forward to that expansion as well!

[@goldengriffon]

This sounds amazing, but as with most games the main problem is finding someone to play them with! I suppose the first expansion can help, as it has a very well developed solo mode (or so they say). But I can't imagine it would quite be the same.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yeah, you really need other players to experience the real fun of playing tabletop games, in my opinion; I've never quite understood the appeal of solo play. There are ways of finding players though - ask on social media or relevant discord groups if there are people in your area, or send out feelers on Boardgamegeek, for example. And if all that fails, get a friend and teach them, you might convert a new person to the fun of boardgaming!

[@henryrodriguez6260]

Excellent review, which has bumped up my desire to pick up this iteration from Ares. However, did you ever get a chance to play ICE's Middle Earth CCG ("MECCG") from 1995? As much as I love Ares' WotR, sometimes one wants to explore Tolkien's world and not just recreate the story of LotR. Middle Earth Quest helps scratch this itch, but MECCG is such a deep, immersive experience that I like to recommend it to die-hard Tolkien gamers. FYI, despite being a CCG, it plays more like a boardgame.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Nope never did. Interesting to hear that was a good one.

[@henryrodriguez6260]

​@@EsotericOrderGamers It was more than a good one, until I played the super tense Netrunner LCG it had stood far above all other CCG/LCG. As for LotR games, it is the equal of War of the Ring. Check it out when you have some spare time.

[@tonybowers9490]

Thanks for sharing. I sitting on the fence about this one. Some reviewers really enjoy the 'tough' decisions that a player has to make. But, on the flip side, quite a few have 'complained' about how restrictive the game can be. i.e. a location has passed and you just now draw a character that can be used there. I've listened to 6 reviews (one being yours) and 4 of those reviewers didn't like the aspect I just mentioned. But, it is a game of randomness, so that means sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes not. I guess it depends on how frustrating aspects like that are for a player? If I got the game it would be for the coop and solo mode, so I'd get the base game AND preorder the expansion. Again, thank you for your insight. You really like the game and that speaks volumes to me.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

It depends whether you want a game that has total freedom or not. This is a game, like War of the Ring, that has certain restrictions based on the fact that it recreates the Lord of the rings experience. That's part of the gameplay and the strategy, as it is in War of the Ring. If you had total freedom both games would be very different beasts. IMHO the restrictions aren't a failing, they're part of the design.

[@tonybowers9490]

@@EsotericOrderGamers yes, I agree that it’s designed to be that way.

[@PMMagro]

I like this one. Off course there are no rule changes for the Mordor track, strongholds or re-rolls of potential redraws. Might get confused if I acutally knows the rules durting the entire game? I can't wait to play the full team game. When will we see you and Will burn frustration through this one :)

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Not if you remember it's a completely different game with different rules. 🤣 I make no promises about battle reports, they happen when they happen!

[@GGdeTOURS37]

YESSS! Great! We even prefer it to WOTR the board game that we sold back!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Errr … why would you do that? They're completely different game experiences, and WOTR is a stone-cold classic!

[@wicked8576]

not sure if I should watch this video because I already ordered and paid for this game.. :D I am a fellow war of the ring collector's edition owner and lover.. sadly only played it twice so far, but both games were epic (I won both, awesome! ^^).. and, I do not own the second edition upgrade pack, nor do I own the battle of the five armies (didn't have the money to order/back it when it was live a few years ago).. but I'd play the big game any time again, recently sleeved all my cards and got two nice card boxes.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I do recommend Lords of Middle-Earth to expand WOTR in interesting ways (I include it every time I play now). Warriors of Middle-Earth I rarely add to the base game.

[@renato123wenzel]

Maybe for some LoTR fanboys that will buy everything with the theme tacked on. For me this feel like a Smash Up version of LoTR with some things more complicated.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Well, I don't agree with you, I think the theme and mechanics are integral to each other here - but each to their own!

[@paxgamer3003]

Unfortunately, this was the worst game I played in the last five or so years. Granted, I select for highly rated games, so I am not running into things like Exploding Kittens or Munchkin. But for a highly rated game - this was by far the worst.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Strange - did you really give it a good go? We all have different tastes of course, but this is a well made, engaging, interesting and fun game in my book. And 'worst game you've played in the last 5 years'? I really can't imagine why.

[@paxgamer3003]

@@EsotericOrderGamers I dislike how extremely narrow your options are. All the attachments only work on one specific character. All the characters only work on a select few specific paths. All attackers automatically die in combat regardless of the battle's outcome. Don't have the right character for your attachment in hand? Tough. The path for your character has already passed? Tough. The game is incredibly scripted! In my games, myself and my opponents honestly just played a character to our back row or passed at least 50% of the time. WTF. I prefer a game where the options are wide open, with combos waiting to be discovered. Pass on this one. The only good thing is the art, but a good game that does not make.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

@paxgamer3003 Yeah, sorry, don't agree with you there - everything you mention is part of the strategy of the game. If you could do anything at any time it would be a completely different kind of game, as you say. Don't say it's objectively not a good game - say instead it just isn't for you. Each to their own! (Though really if you played it the way you describe, I tend to suspect you weren't playing it properly, or at least approaching it with very different expectations). 😆

[@paxgamer3003]

@@EsotericOrderGamers Every claim is subjective unless noted by the speaker. I never said the game is objectively bad. I said why I dislike it. Prescriptive strategy, limited combos, limited options. Don't take personal offense to my opinion about a game you happen to like, man.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Woah there mate, I'm not, don't worry. If you look at all my reviews one of my main things is 'each to their own' - as I just said again in my last comment. My last sentence was only made because you describe your gameplay experience and it doesn't sound right in my experience of the game. Let's just end this chat now before there's any more misinterpretation. Good gaming to you.