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Though it's a franchise known for its books and subsequent film adaptations, there are the legions upon legions of Lord of the Rings games, particularly in the tabletop gaming world. At PAX Unplugged 2024, Popverse got the chance to play the upcoming Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, which will be available to buy in the US in 2025. And since you probably love Tolkien (and hate waiting) just as much as we do, we thought we'd tell you all about it.

What is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game?

The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game is a card game designed by Office Dog Games. It is for one to four players and was created by Bryan Bornmueller. To play the game, each participant is given a character card which represents one Middle-Earth resident plucked directly from J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, and beautifully portrayed in a stained-glass style of art. Besides their characters, players are also dealt a handful of of suite cards, similar to an average player's deck. But instead of suites like hearts and spades, the numbered cards fit into more lore-appropriate categories such as The Shire Suite, The Shadow Suite, and of course, the Ring Suite.

And in case you're wondering - yes, The Ring Suite can make a full hand, unlike poor Frodo's experience in the same field.

How is The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game played?

Trick-Taking Games are all about laying down the cards in your hand to build a small pile called a "trick" in the middle of the table. Sometimes, the objective of these games is simply for you as the player to win the most tricks that you can, however, The Fellowship of the Ring works a little differently.

This is a cooperative trick-taking game, meaning that your objective as the collective players is to accomplish one goal. Each player is given different goals based on their character, and to win the overall game (which means, of course, destroying the One Ring), the characters must accomplish all of their goals. For example, in the round that I played, I was given the character of Frodo. My first goal was to win tricks to collect four cards of the Ring Suite, which the other people playing the game helped me do. Likewise, I helped other characters like Bilbo and Gandalf accomplish their goals.

Well, I tried to, anyway. I fear I wasn't exactly Fellowship material during this first playthrough.

When is is The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game slated for release?

The bad news is that The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game won't actually start shipping in the US until January 17, 2025. The good news, however, is that as of this writing (the first weekend of December), that's not a terribly long wait. And the even better news? You can preorder the game on Asmodee just by clicking this link. As you wait, check out a few images from our own time playing the game below:

Special thanks to Jon and Craig, who sat down and played this game with me. Sorry we didn't save Middle-Earth, guys, but I had fun anyway.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.