Fantasy Flight Games | Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-5 Players | 60-120 Minute Playing Time

Albeit a bit expensive, it is a great game to play for fans of Tolkien's middle earth. I play with my wife and can envisage roping my kids into it when they're old enough.Seems to be enough playable characters and game variability (scenario maps randomness and story development based and success/failure of missions) for good replay value after while, and items acquisition and leveling up feel exciting. We've only played about 5 sessions,winning some and losing others, but already bought the expansion with extra minis and cards. We are playing the adventure mode, somewhat easier that allows exploring a lot more and gaining a lot more "experience" (lore for leveling up items), that's a better fit for friendly family gaming... We abandoned a "normal" mode campaign after getting upset because we failed 3 times in a row haha.Does require a decent computer/device to run the app all the while you're playing it, it CANNOT be played without the companion app.

The but is a minor one and I’ll get it out of the way first, the app while amazing requires an internet connection when starting, without it it’ll just crash out and close.I travel around a lot and so won’t always have a connection especially if abroad so this could be a pain. As I said it’s a minor issue and certainly not enough to drop a score. (Edit* if you’re on limited data, you only need to have the internet available on startup, once assets have been acquired you can kill the connection)Back to the game and if you’re familiar with FFGs way of rule making then you’ll fall into this game in no time at all recognising similar terminologies etc.The game is played via the aforementioned app which sets the scenario and map out with easy to understand descriptions for you to set up the table, then it describes encounters and points of interest that you’ll need to investigate to further the game. All of the in box items are lovingly designed and presented so it’s a joy to see the map expand in partnership with the app.Nothing is so buried in a series of manuals that it takes ages to make sense of and as said before it’s an FFG game so it’ll feel familiar at first glance.Top marks to the team behind this and I highly recommend it as an addition to your tabletop arsenal.

prepare for some learning curve, we are learning it with the wife. good concept, the (free) app is practically a DM so you can just play.only complaint, the cards are small with small font, ppl with not so good eyes, like me, will suffer. i have to use a magnifying glass..

excellent dungeon crawler style game easy to learn and great with computer / tablet

To be able to play this boardgame you will first need to download the free app for either your iOS , Android or pc. It does not work on a Amazon Kindle.ComponentsMap cards are I think quite detailed and varied enough to make the game look good as it starts to sprawl out across your table.The app says the fog area gives you a clue as to which way the map tiles will go in but you will need to leave space all around the tiles because all of a sudden 3 map tiles will be added where you have your other pieces to the game set up.The cardstock for map tiles is ok but they do feel a little bit on the flimsy cheapside compared to other fantasy flight games I own , like Descent 2.FiguresThe figures are sturdy enough with enough detail for you to paint should you wish to do so.They thankfully are not warped and bendy like some earlier FF games where you have to put them in hot water just so they don't look like they had too many beers.Game playThe app tries to make out that each time you play you will have a different experience.In some way , yes and other ways ,no.Each time you play it will be excatly the same adventure but just with some random encounters along the way.I found this to be a little boring like playing monopoly but shifting the name of the places about and telling me it's a new experience.Yes, ok you do get random encounters but the game will punish you if you take too long to investigate them.This is the games way of making sure it doesn't run out of random encounters to fast.It's quite a heavy box and the artwork is good as is the artwork to the playing cards, though a fair bit has been reused from Lotr Lcg.I given it 4 stars but rate it as a 3.6 for playability.Less for value for money.It's not worth £75 , I would put it around £55.FF will use the app development cost as an excuse but really they already have the structure from other games for this and it does feel like a bolt on.I don't mind app driven games especially for solo gaming.It is an easy game to teach and learn I think.It's an ok game but I don't feel like I'm playing a hero from lord of the rings, it could be just Bob the barbarian of Sid the Hobbit.They could have been and should have been more epic in feel.

Best bord game ever I got all the expansion as well

Fantasy Flight Games are just amazing, I was bought for my birthday last year the Fallout game made by fantasy flight and I simply could not stop playing it. (difficult to understand at first but once you understand its amazing). It is exactly the same with Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth. This game is actually much easier to get to grips with and the app along side makes it so immersive. Just a brilliant game and I hope for many more DLCs to come expanding the journeys more and more.

If fantasy board games have been missing from your games cupboard then buy this. Its quite complicated at first but thats part of the fun. the app makes the game even more immersive. A great family game.