Fantasy Flight Games has announced the December release of The Hobbit (MSRP $35.00), a new board game by Reiner Knizia.  This is a new game from the designer of the hugely popular Lord of the Rings game, and has no relation to a board game with the same name that was released in 2001.

Designed for 2-5 players ages 10 and above, The Hobbit takes between 45 and 60 minutes to play.  On his quest to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo Baggins will need assistance and guidance from his stoic dwarf companions. As one of these dwarves, it is the player’s responsibility to aid Bilbo on his journey and secure the recovery of the treasure that is destined for them.

The Hobbit features elegant gameplay, combining strategic card play with the unpredictability of dice rolling. The objective of the game is to be the player who accumulates the most treasure by the end of the adventure. Treasure is won through “Adventure Cards,” which are drawn when Bilbo enters an “Adventure Space.” “Adventure Cards” present players with a challenge that can be overcome by using the game’s custom dice.

Peter Jackson is currently in the process of making a two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit, which, if MGM’s financial woes can ever be straightened out, should get made in the near future (see “The Hobbit Inches Towards the Screen”) and could easily stimulate the kind of sales of The Hobbit board game that Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy did with Knizia’s LOTR board game.