Fantasy Flight Games has announced the upcoming release of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, a cooperative card game that puts 1-2 players (or up to 4 with two Core Sets) in control of the most powerful characters and artifacts of Middle Earth.  LOTR: The Card Game is an LCG (Living Card Game), which means that the Core Set includes everything needed to play the game.  LCGs also offer a wealth of customization and innovation with the release of monthly 60-card expansions containing new heroes, allies, events, and artifacts.  There is no blind packaging--the 60-card Adventure Packs all contain the same mixture of new cards and offer players the same opportunities.

 

Unlike most card games in which players compete against each other, in LOTR: The Card Game players cooperate and work together competing against a scenario that is run automatically by the game.  Players have to overcome the particular encounters, enemies, and challenges of the scenario, against which they either win or lose together.

 

Players in the game take on the role of heroes attempting to complete dangerous quests.  These quests are set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth during a broad span of time that starts near the end of The Hobbit and ends near the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring.  So instead of just reworking the classic Tolkien adventures, the game allows players to share new adventures with these beloved characters during an ominous period of Middle Earth history.

 

The Core Set includes 216 cards that can be used to assemble a wide variety of decks right out of the box.  Included in the Core Set are four perilous scenarios, which along with countless combinations of settings and enemies, provide near limitless re-playability.  Players can build a party from a set of 16 hero cards and focus their decks on four distinct spheres of influence: Leadership, Lore, Spirit, and Tactics, each of which offers unique advantages to the party of heroes.