Playing with morality

Looking for ways to while away those long winter evenings? Don't bother with TV. Sample one of the lesser-known phenomena of recent recreational publishing: the flourishing market in Tolkien games.

Suitable for all ages, based on one of the great moral fables of our time and generally beautifully crafted, they are prime candidates for any extra pocket money you may have accumulated in your Christmas stocking.

Many of them come from Germany, where families will often set up a board game at the point in the evening when many UK families will reach for the TV remote. It's our loss. German games are the industry leaders at present, with titles like Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan becoming rivals of Monopoly and the like (and far better than Monopoly in every way).

Board games

From Germany (but, like all the games in this article, translated into English) comes Reiner Knizia's Lord of the Rings series (2-5 players, ages 12 to adult), a basic game with several expansions. It may seem expensive at around £29 for the basic game, but the production is superb, you get a lot of bits and pieces for your money and the game will last you for generations. Players join forces as the Fellowship to defeat Sauron and his minions: you win or lose as a team, which is an appealing factor. Knowledge of the books or films is a definite help. The artwork is by John Howe and is a major element in the game's appeal.

The Hobbit (2-5 players), from the same source, is a game I've played with a family group ranging from young children to grown-ups. Played on a board with a treasure-loaded mountain in the centre, it involves a quest for treasure which on the way calls for some strategy decisions and skills such as the ability to answer riddles and memorise brief jingles. The components are intriguing and the whole feel of the game oozes quality. Again, what seems a high price (around £25) is amply justified by the amount of fun the game will provide.

Also from Germany come two smaller games. Lord of the Rings: The Search (2 players) will cost you around £15 and while an entertaining game, has only a superficial connection with the Tolkien saga. You could just as well call it Conan the Barbarian - the Search. However, John Howe once again provides the artwork and the game is produced to such high standards, it's a pleasure just to handle the components. Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (2 players) is the same price as The Search. It has more than a passing resemblance to the popular board game Stratego, but has considerable depth when the basic rules have been mastered. This game is by Reiner Knizia, who devised the larger game series, and it shows. John Howe's wonderful artwork is again a feature.

Card games

At the time that 'Magic: The Gathering' - a collectible card game heavily orientated to the occult and frightening - was causing a lot of concern to Christian parents, the card game Middle Earth: the Wizards by Iron Crown Enterprises provided a welcome alternative. Intelligent, with fine artwork and rich opportunities for subtle play, it drew on Tolkien's creation to provide a challenging game that competed on equal terms with its better-known rival. Sadly, Iron Crown Enter-prises is no more, and the game-playing fraternity is much the poorer (if you see any of ICE's Tolkien products going second-hand, snap them up).

However, the Tolkien licence-holders Decipher have filled the gap admirably with their The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game (2 players). Often strongly reminiscent of ICE's product, this game - illustrated with scenes from the films - has many opportunities for sophisticated play and can be enjoyed by quite young children, though for all ages there is something of a learning curve involved. As with Magic and others, you begin by purchasing starter packs which you augment with booster packs to build the kind of card deck that suits your style of play. You can equip two new players for under £20.

Miniature models

An astonishing bargain is the part-work magazine published by De Agostini and Games Workshop, The Lord of the Rings: Battle Games. With each issue (fortnightly, at a remarkable £3.99, available from newsagents or by subscription), you get free miniature figures and other accessories (paints, scenery, etc.), and ample guidance on painting the figures and playing simple scenarios with them. Games Workshop have excelled themselves in the quality of the figures, and the prices in their own shops for similar products is much higher than the magazine price. Some back issues are available, but if you or your family are interested in miniatures, even a single issue is a considerable bargain. It's fair to say that real miniatures buffs regard the Games Workshops rules as being rather simplistic, but half the fun of the hobby is making up your own rules.

I have only mentioned a few of my favourites: for example, a Lord of the Rings Risk from Hasbro is well spoken of by games players. But the games mentioned above will all provide lasting pleasure and hours of entertainment, all based on the moral framework of Tolkien's great novel. It's not so very long ago that Tolkien games were hard to find, had thick rule-books and took five hours to play. To have such a wealth of first-rate games available for ages from children to adults is a wonderful gift to this generation of Christians and to all who love The Lord of the Rings.

Notes:
Knizia's Lord of the Rings, Friends and Foes expansion and Sauron Expansion, and his Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation are all published by Hasbro, Ezdevium and Sophisticated Games, as is Peter Neugebauer's Lord of the Rings: The Search. Other publishers are mentioned in the article. Prices can vary: check with a specialist games retailer, a good bookshop, or on the internet (where you can sometimes find old Iron Crown Enterprises games for sale, e.g. on www.ebay.co.uk).

David Porter

© Evangelicals Now - January 2004
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