The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth Review: The One Ring for Two

[@doggosplosion]

Yes we have original 7 Wonders Duel, but what about 2nd 7 wonders Duel.

[@thedspenguin]

haha brilliant

[@BasiCitizen]

Honestly, I'd buy the game just so I could use that joke.

[@rawkyle9385]

I don’t think he knows about 2nd 7 wonders duel Pippen

[@JoeyjojoShabadoo7]

​@@rawkyle9385elevensies?

[@davidsimpson4046]

Love it. Top comment

[@draheim90]

Given how busy y’all have been and everything happening in Florida right now, really appreciate the timely review of this!

[@GleasonE]

My husband and I like games, have a decent collection, but never been to a convention, have toddlers and not enough bandwidth to play much, and are on a budget. But when this was announced and preorders available, my husband was like “you preordered it right?” Legit excitement from both of us when it arrived. We opened it and looked at everything, the rules… and decided that I’d better run to the FLGS to sleeve it before first play. My husband put on the LoTR soundtrack and we had so much fun Friday night, both exhausted from the week. We have 7WD, not sure how much it will ever get played again, take a great game, give it a fun epic theme in a quick weeknight game? 10/10. Go ahead and flex, game designers and artist and company. Put your names all over the box. Yall game us some epic fun in 30 min. Make it 60 min because one play won’t ever be enough.

[@PMMagro]

I really like 7 Wonders Duel with expansions (with the Pantheon espcially it is great). A very strong two player game. War of the Ring, both the board/map game for two and cardgame (2 vs 2) are also some of my favorite games. Will for sure try this one out!

[@jartree]

The earliest win I have seen so far was right at the beginning of the third era. I had the dwarven powers that made landmarks have no gold cost and let me take another turn after buying a landmark, which is a crazy powerful combo. I bought all the landmarks right at the beginning of the third age and won on the board before even taking a third age card.

[@Mark-jagger]

Fantastic game. It’s absolutely stellar. I love 7 Wonders Duel but this improves on it. Nail biting tension. Usually come down to the wire. My 21 year old son will actually play with me, and usually win, and that’s saying a lot. Highly highly recommended.

[@4757joshua2]

Good to see some reviews going up again.

[@MoriMemento117]

As a huge fan of LotR, and a moderate fan of 7 Wonders Duel... this was a delight. Frankly, the subtle differences between this and duel elevate it to a 9/10 for me. Maybe even higher. The art is stunning. The tension is real, even in the earlier rounds. Sure a player with 4 alliances in the second age isn't going to win right away, but what do you think your odds are that you can keep the wizards, ents AND eagles from them in the third? Beautiful design.

[@chrisarney8265]

I didn't know that 7W:D needed improvement, but this pulls it off. It's fantastic. 10/10.

[@Aermada777]

Loving this game so far but all of our playthroughs so far have come down to the tiebreaker at the end of the game, including one where we even tied with the area control, so I was surprised to hear none of their plays have ended that way. Then again my wife and I are highly competitive at the original 7 Wonders Duel (+expansions) and play that at least once a week for years now, so maybe we’re especially adept at cutting off those instant win chances for each other.

[@boleslawkowalski2198]

At the moment, 7 wonders duel with Panteon expansion is better for me. I just have a feeling that in 7W, you have more options. You need to think more about what cards are placed on the Panteon and what wonders to build first. When to use wonders powers. You build your engine on yellow cards or simply on resource cards. In lotr duel, everything is simplified. I played 7 wonders duel way over 100 times. I played lotr duel only 3 at this moment. But I'm missing something in lotr. Maybe when they release expansion (100% they will), then game will be better for me. I still enjoy Lord of the Rings duel for the middle earth. It is solid 8/10 for me. 7 wonders duel with Panteon, definitely 10/10 Thank you 😊

[@andyreynolds6473]

Really enjoyed my first play. It feels like they stapled 7 Wonders Duel onto Star Wars Risk/Queen’s Gambit with the three arenas and win conditions.

[@Peng-444]

I also felt that comparison when playing it. It's a brilliant reimagining of 7WD but also justifies itself by being a brilliant use of the license.

[@bibleboardgames]

Thank you, my family game me this for Christmas so I hopped on to learn how to play!

[@TheSludgeMan]

Surprised you didn't go with "7 wonders to duel them all"!

[@OrmyGaming]

Got it, played it several times with my daughter and absolutely love it! There are so many great improvements that makes it flow much better, the board is a great addition and theme is top notch! LOTR soundtrack is a must when you play :D

[@otokbarleyfoot]

Good review - the green tokens sound pretty similar to the original, but the other win conditions have changes, sounds cool

[@izzet513]

I've definitely been calling it 7 Wonders Duel 2.0, it totally feels like a full sequel to me.

[@CaptainCrockpot]

Lol. Tom saying, “You shall not pass!” at the end… would’ve been so much better if it got 5s and 6s 😂 Awesome looking game! Excited for it!

[@Clappincardboard]

10/10 amazing game. Only minor gripe is I wish there were 4 of the race bonuses. Some of them are crazy strong and you have a 66 percent chance of always getting a particular one from any certain race when you draw the 2.

[@Christian_from_Copenhagen]

Nice review, I'm definitely interested in this one. Would you sleeve a game like this? It only seems necessary to me if they add expansions later on.

[@meeloshke]

I LOOOve Lord of the rings franchise. But there are so many board games based on LotR. Can you make video ranking all those games? 😁

[@bushibayushi]

It's way better than base 7 Wonders: Duel. The tension in this one is OUTSTANDING.

[@joeferreti9442]

No, it's not better.

[@carlosmarquez2725]

@@joeferreti9442 I also don't think it's better, but neither worse. Different but seems just as good, at least as good as base 7WD.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@bushibayushi it's different but also more rules involved. The original was already great and still the best, this one is mainly Asmodee making use of their new LOTR license.

[@bushibayushi]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I don't think it has more rules. The old one had wonder drafting phase, rules regarding who starts each age, rules regarding the pricing of resources, more fiddly setup with how the guild cards are shuffled. This version is more streamlined in this regard, but I don't think it loses anything. Getting rid of boring VPs in order to introduce an area control element was brilliant Now EVERY card matters.

[@mikintosh6111]

Quest for the ring track is so good.

[@johnbrown6230]

Played it this morning and loved it!

[@thereal4579]

How does this compare to 7 WD + expansion?

[@marcosseven8872]

Watch the Board games Ramblings KZbin channel review on this.

[@FestaNoYoutubiu]

Thank you

[@samanrahemi2199]

You've used the old seal logo in the past two reviews. is there any particular reason?

[@darinherrick9224]

I hate 7 Wonders Duel but I am absolutely going to buy this to give it a try. It looks like a MUCH better fit theme-wise than that game. I'm not usually fond of "chase" games but this actually seems extremely thematic for that, and I much prefer that to the stupid tug-of-war of 7 Wonders Duel. Interestingly Bruna is my absolute favorite game designer and the only game he ever made that I hated was 7 Wonder Duel.

[@saintsalieri]

Spoken like someone who got defeated on the war track their first play.

[@GamesOffTheShelf]

Is this available at retail already?

[@DiegoDeschain]

It's about to come out here in Brazil, but I don't know if it's a world launch, or if it's already out in the States or other places.

[@branboom3342]

Yes

[@Peng-444]

It's certainly at retail in the UK as I got mine last week.

[@Riotskunk89]

Yes. Try miniature market

[@jameskirk4692]

Thanks for the video

[@ZeedePlus]

Eliminating victory points, adding the area control and the inclusion of the LotE theme really elevates this, IMO.

[@JoeyjojoShabadoo7]

Is that Megaplex in the background?

[@Calistake047]

How does this compare to 7 Wonders Duel + expansions? Personally I thought those really enhanced the experience, particularly Pantheon.

[@MabusCRO88]

This is great!

[@GleasonE]

Lol both of our plays - one of us won in the 2nd chapter. We have not even set up the third chapter… but we might not have the skills you gents have!

[@FinchyFinchFinchFinch]

I’d give this game elevenses out of ten

[@gabrieldomocos7570]

Technically, the military conflict in 7WD is even more simple

[@BBI_Strange_Agent]

I love 7 Wonders Duel (with both expansions) and Splendor Duel is better than the original imo. But now King of Tokyo Duel (silly. King of Tokyo Dark fixed the 2 player issues) and this? I won't buy it immediately, but if my FNGS has a demo copy, I'll check it out before buying.

[@Noel_Maymes]

Played it twice at Essen. It’s the only game I really wanted to go back in the waiting line for. I might get hate for this, but 7W: Duel is a game that kind of left me indifferent. I like LOTR but not enough to make me jump on every LOTR game ( don’t care for war of the ring, or any other LOTR game). But here? I feel like the theme and the original game complement each other PERFECTLY. The game is snappy, the tension is great. Every single card your opponent takes matters to you. I know that in Duel, there were many moments where I didn’t really care what my opponent grabbed unless it was the card I wanted to pick. In LOTR: Duel every victory condition is a real threat at any moment. Amazing and very well paced game. My favourite game of Essen with Station to Station.

[@ethanarlt250]

I love this game!

[@jayf4859]

I still prefer 7 Wonders Duel + Pantheon Exp. over this one, even tho I really love LOTR stuff.

[@tomlikeabomb6706]

How does it compare to duel + pantheon?

[@joshyaks]

The combination of the landmarks plus the powerful faction tokens makes the game feel like a very stripped down/streamlined Duel + Pantheon. (I've owned/loved Duel + Pantheon for years and although my ratings of both version would be pretty much equal, I will now be selling the older version after playing this one because it's so simple/snappy and I can play it with my kids!)

[@stephencarver5082]

Agree completely with @joshyaks. The faction tokens feel ALOT like pantheon, but more streamlined and integrated. I'd say they feel pretty equal in terms of complexity, but the new one is just a bit more balanced

[@TheRASDEL83]

I really want to like this one... I love LOTR, Cathala and Dutrait, but it just feels a little underwhelming. I cannot pinpoint what it is, maybe the hype played against me :( I feel it is an expasion away to be an amazing game. I kind of would like for the map to be area majority instead. I get that would require more meeples, but the map is so important and the tie breaker that I believe it needs to have more presence.

[@liammcfarlane2777]

I own both and I feel the same. I think this issue is the resource system has been gutted so much that resources now feel hollow. What was a interesting resource management game has been shifted into a basic area control or race. They have done a great job of marrying lotr and 7 wonders, but I will be sticking with the orignal.

[@KkKk-xh8em]

This just reminded me how I miss LOTR : The confrontation.

[@Exozik]

A new version is coming to kickstarter soon.

[@wizo656]

​@@ExozikGamefound actually. Preview is already there.

[@Exozik]

@@wizo656 Yeah I have a tendency of calling all crowfunding kickstarter because it was the original but you are right.

[@KkKk-xh8em]

@@Exozik oh wow thats such a great news, thanks for the info!!

[@samirjafri191]

​@@ExozikIndieGoGo predates KS by a year. ArtiShare predates both by about 5 years, but IndieGoGo is more of a parallel to KS.

[@ajlynch123]

So is this game better than 7 Wonders Duel WITH the expansions??? I love playing 7 Wonders Duel with both expansions, but would love know how this game stacks up against all that

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@ajlynch123 Original with Pantheon I still find better. But honestly they're basically the same.

[@cursivecurses]

This will very clearly have an expansion. The edge of the board is jagged on purpose, like how the 7WD boards hooked together.

[@ajlynch123]

@@TheBrokenMeeple What about playing with Agora, too? Does Base+Pantheon+Agora play better?

[@taylormorgan9785]

Must…have….

[@DiegoDeschain]

I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone with this one. Never have I been so blindsided, so utterly disappointed in a game, as I am by this. It's crazy how disconnected I'm feeling from what seems to be a consensus. To me this is almost a strict downgrade (it would be, if not for a few visual stuff about the game, which does look amazing), mechanics wise, it's baffling to me. I don't get people praising how this solves some supposed "bureaucratic" rules from the original. Apparently trading was too hard? Really? The game is not 7 Wonders Duel 1.5, it's "My Little 7 Wonders Duel", or "My First 7 Wonders Duel", it's dumbed down beyond recognition. I've played the game 8 times in 2 days, and it's already boring beyond belief. I used the opportunity to play 7WD again a few times, since it had been a while since I had done it, and I instantly confirmed my suspicions: there's a reason 7WD has been on top 100s and top 10s of so many people even after almost 10 years of its release, the game is elegant, "simple" but not "dumb", extremely replayable. Between the wonders, the guild cards, and different paths to score points (while having the military and science victory as a side thing), you can revisit again and again. People may call me crazy right now, but if I had to bet my life on this, I would: Mark my words, people will flock to this, and in the next top 100s of a lot of people, they will have replaced 7wd with this. But in time, people will realize how insanely weak this game actually is, and go back to the OG.

[@yrq_]

Today I lost the game in the 2nd Era. So it happens :)

[@markbeaulieu411]

I really liked my okay of this. It’s definitely more tension filled. I find I’d play 7WD if I want a relaxing game and this one when I want tension. The chase is my favorite part

[@peltspencer32]

Legit fixes the economy and the tug of war combat from 7 wonders duel. Almost perfect sequel game

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@peltspencer32 what do you mean fixes it? They didn't need fixing.

[@cursivecurses]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Many of my 100s of plays of 7WD I ended the game with like 20-30 coins and coiuld buy anything I wanted. The economy has much more tension to it in this one - you're on a razor's edge on whether you can afford things and whether to take resources early over other opportunities.

[@bensgoogle]

I may end up owning this, but one thing at a glance that I don’t like is that the cards have no titles.

[@marks6928]

These cards have no titles. These cards need no titles.

[@Rubberglass]

“ I’ll never play 7 Wonders Duel again.” 😮

[@stepanstocek5111]

Definitely a good game. But I think the blue cards are too weak compared to green ones. And it´s not very thematic.

[@thegillettefive]

Are you not doing week in review anymore.

[@marks6928]

Just a little tip, when you ask a question, put a question mark at the end of the question. It'll help people recognise your question as a question and you're more likely to get a reply.

[@12345gerrard]

And I am john lol 😆

[@dansioui9819]

This game is incredible. The wife and I both love it!

[@MattD007]

I just wonder how many, "it felt like the game was playing itself" will be scored over time. Sorry, but if you can notice how the game pushes you to the third era it's bound to be a complaint. You should be able to have a balanced game and also have a superior player win quickly.

[@arielzao150]

The thing I dislike about this game is the lack of names in cards. I feel like this game can only be played by 2 people that know LotR, if only 1 or neither knows then the games lacks any punch. I think I'm going to stick to the original 7WD.

[@amunt3r]

It's "symbolism" not "symbology" x(

[@xshadowscreamx]

Would love to see a multiplayer version

[@alexanderpopov3587]

Similar hype was about Ares Expedition and statements were thrown like “Never play that again” but it quickly died off and Terraforming Mars is still the way better game not going anywhere.

[@thedicetower]

Well, I still like Ares Expedition better, myself. I can't help that Earth and Ark Nova came out and were even better.

[@ganAlexander]

@@thedicetowertime will tell… … i have seen a few games hyped up with great reviews that disappeared

[@marks6928]

"Ares Expedition... quickly died off" I sold my copy of TM when Ares came out. Much prefer it. No regrets.

[@MrTravolta7]

If this game was worse than 7 Wonders Duel it would be very awkward. Is like: Standing on the shoulders of giants…. and still be worse 😅

[@baumazut]

I'm still not convinced. This feels like an entry level game compared to 7wd. Will see when i get it.

[@marks6928]

“Feels like an entry level game” 🙄

[@joeferreti9442]

I like the original more. To discard the original - like Tom - would be mistake!

[@MyStranger10]

I know this is a very unpopular opinion, which is fine. I never loved seven wonders duel due to the card drafting mechanism. For example if you can see that your opponent only needs two more green cards to win, it’s in your best interest to deny them any additional green cards. The cards they need will often be visible in one of the later rows and even if you play perfectly you might not be able to avoid that they get them. You just watch helplessly as they march towards victory, it’s a forgone conclusion at that point. Same goes for red or purple cards. So it basically comes down to turn order which I find extremely annoying and unfortunately it seems like that’s the only part they did not improve. I would have loved to get this if they had resolved that issue, seems like this is unfortunately a pass for me.

[@1235q]

I'm not sure if the game having more tension than 7 Wonders Duel is a good thing, doesn't it make the game more stressful?

[@Noel_Maymes]

That depends. A game that lasts anywhere between 15-30min is fine if tension is high for that entire duration. If the game would take 1h, I could see this getting exhausting. The tension imo is really great, you care about any progress your opponent makes, whether it’s the race, progressing board presence or even getting more alliances going. Same goes for your own moves. You don’t have a turn where you grab a card and think “man what a bad/useless turn”. Everything you grab feels like you’re making progress. It’s great! But that is my opinion. I’m sure you’ll get a chance to play someone’s copy and try it once before making a decision.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Its a solid game, but 7WD didnt need any improvment. That game with Pantheon was top tier, even base game is just a silky smooth experience. This game is perfectly good ,but its the same game with a couple tweaks and a pasted theme and honestly i prefer straight up points to the area control system. The science tiles also seem a bit more swingy in power level , some effects can be pretty impactful. Pick and choose your art style basically really.

[@Urutsini]

While Pantheon made the base game fun, I felt that the Extra Turn abilities somewhat broke some of the tension in the base game. Manoeuvring the card drawing to lead your opponent into taking certain cards is a big part of the tactics of the game.

[@MattD007]

Remember Dice Tower also liked Archeos Society better than Ethnos. They're just opinions, as are the scores on BGG. Ethnos is a 7.5 while Archeos is likely to skip below that dreaded 7.0 line soon enough.

[@MattD007]

​@@Urutsinibut over more plays is the tension going to feel artificial? The visual component is nice, but again, if they already can tell the design made it so the game lasts til the third era, how much of the game is playing itself?

[@Urutsini]

@MattD007 Before Pantheon, roughly a quarter of my "scored" games finished within a 1 point difference. Not a single "scored" Pantheon game had that distinction. To me that is evidence of the inherent tension of the base game. I found that respect more exciting. But I definitely agree that Pantheon adds a refreshing level of fun.

[@benlauson555]

My wife and I thought 7WD was a snore fest. Wish i could get excited about this with everyone else.

[@marcosseven8872]

You can’t compare LOTR Duel straight up to 7W Duel. Because the newest version incorporates the nice parts of the 2 expansions of the previous version. In that way. Of course you are packing a better game. Board Gaming Rambles did a more faire review/ comparison with theses games that is worth watching

[@thedicetower]

It is fair to compare because that's what people who buy the game are going to do. The goal was to do a review of the new game, not a deep comparison of the two side by side.

[@TachiUk]

I want to like this, but I absolutely hate the art and this really puts me off.

[@GGdeTOURS37]

I would really like to like this game but unfortunately I have watched a lot of videos about it > I find it less attractive than "The War of the Ring the Card Game" which is very deep, only using cards with no need of board and other things! Plus this one seems less thematic : The players are only looking for symboles etc and not living the themes! The all cards are for anybody who buy them with no different decks etc. This game looks more like a kind of 7W with the LOTR only being a starting theme quickly forgotten! 🤔

[@marks6928]

"This game looks more like a kind of 7W with the LOTR only being a starting theme quickly forgotten! " So, you haven't played it, then? "The players are only looking for symboles etc and not living the themes!" Are there a lot of games where the players are "living the theme"?

[@MaxClarence-p7l]

Beer Views

[@joeferreti9442]

It really isn't 7WD 2.0 or 1.5. It's just a LotR spinoff version of 7WD. Nothing more, nothing less.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@joeferreti9442 EXACTLY!!

[@KristoVaher]

Well, it is clearly more if you watched the review.

[@marks6928]

"It's just a LotR spinoff version of 7WD" With completely different mechanics like the Nazgul chasing, the map and the towers. But yep "'it's just a LotR spinoff". 🙄

[@GlennDeBlock]

those transparent plastic bits look CHEAPPP

[@steveweber7142]

man, if only this had a better theme...sigh. i know this will sell like hot cakes, but not everyone likes lord of the rings. oh well...

[@marks6928]

If you don't like Lord of the Rings, and are looking for another game that is similar, I have good news for you... There's a game called 7 Wonders Duel

[@steveweber7142]

@marks6928 aw chucks, cheers mate. i already have that, not what my comment was aiming for...

[@johncullen9436]

What did Tom say? “If they throw the ring into Mt. Doom, then the Fellowship player will win.” Well, I guess the Fellowship player can’t win. No one is throwing the ring into the Crack of Doom, no one. That’s a main theme in the book. Frodo himself, standing on the edge of the Crack, puts on the ring and claims the power for himself. He’s not throwing it in. It’s only when Gollum freaks out and bites off Frodo’s finger, ring and all, and in so doing trips and falls into the Crack with the ring, that the ring is destroyed. Evil is self destructive; that’s another main theme. I’m not saying that it’s a bad game. It seems like a pretty good game. I may buy it. Nor am I disparaging the LotR. I love it and all things Tolkien. But all the games I’ve seen and played using this IP seem to lead in the direction that the Fellowship player can destroy the ring. Destroy the ring. Win the game. Sometimes explicitly stated as such. Nope. Can’t be done. No one is going to willfully destroy the ring. No one is going to willfully give up such power. But the games seem to think that we can. Just the opposite of what LotR is getting at. You should walk away from LotR understanding that to act noble, honorable, and just with compassion, humility, and self-sacrifice, might, just might, set the stage for evil to destroy itself. But you are not going to destroy it yourself. After all, it was Frodo’s empathy and compassion for Gollum that, in some part, allowed Gollum to make it to the Crack of Doom and inadvertently destroy the ring himself. I’m not sure how you gamify that. What was the game where Frodo could use the ring to escape danger; but if he did, he risked becoming corrupted by the ring? That’s a step in the right direction. Anyway, I would have preferred if it was an abstract or generic themed game. Otherwise, I suppose I would prefer to play the Dark Lord. No real thematic issues with a straight up grab for power.

[@cgrice1971]

Wow

[@marks6928]

You sound like a maniac.

[@UnimatrixOne]

Good point!