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Late last year, Asmodee released The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game – and I adored it.
This cooperative experience followed Frodo and his allies through the events of The Fellowship of the Ring via 18 different scenarios. Obviously, Fellowship of the Ring is just the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so it felt inevitable that a game based on The Two Towers would be released. At Gen Con 2025, Asmodee confirmed the next game in the series was on the way, with pre-orders indicating a late November release. Because the first entry was so good, I can’t wait to see how it shakes up an already fun and challenging style of gameplay.
If you want to try The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game yourself (we'd certainly recommend it, as we think it's one of the best card games), you can grab it for $26.99 at Amazon or £19.69 at Zatu instead of £25 if you're based in the UK.
At its heart, these Lord of the Rings trick-taking games are simple affairs. At the start of the game, players are given a hand of cards consisting of five suits (most suits contain 8 cards, but the Rings suit contains 5) and then take turns picking a character from a pool decided by the scenario they’re trying to achieve. Each character has their own victory condition. Frodo needs to win a certain number of Rings cards, while Sam needs to win a certain card from the Hills suit. Boromir has to win the last trick, but can never win the One Ring card, while Aragorn declares how many tricks he plans on winning and can win no more or less.
Once characters are chosen, players may trade cards based on the limitations written on their character card (typically certain characters can only trade with each other). Trading is an understated but critical part of the game, as it’s the only chance that a player has to manipulate their hand. While all players know each other’s goals, they’re forbidden from actually saying what’s in their hand. So, trading often comes down to a matter of trust.
After cards are traded, the game itself begins in earnest. In most scenarios, there’s no trump card save for the One Ring card, which can optionally win the trick in which it’s played. However, Ring cards in general can’t be led until the suit is “broken” by a player throwing a Ring card as an off suit.
There’s two major bits of strategy to the Lord of the Rings: Trick-Taking Game. The first is understanding when to throw cards away. Legolas, Gimli, and Samwise Gamgee all must win specific cards of a certain suit for their win condition, so a player with a high card in that suit may need to toss their card in an early trick in order to pave the way for another player to secure their victory condition. The other major bit of strategy is understanding when to take control of the game and when to relinquish it. The lead player has a ton of power in dictating the game, especially in the later rounds, and being able to pass that control to a player so they can accomplish their victory condition is critical.
While we don’t know all the details of the new Two Towers: Trick-Taking Game, we do know that it will introduce several more popular characters. In addition to Faramir, Eomer, and Eowyn (all of whom first appeared in the Two Towers book), the new game will also introduce Smeagol to the game as a playable character. Smeagol only made a cameo appearance on the Threat cards that are used to determine some characters’ victory conditions in the first game. I’m interested to see how the game handles a character with dual personalities and conflicting goals. My guess is that these cards will prove to be additional obstacles instead of boons for players, given that the Two Towers are controlled by the villains of the books.
This isn't the only major Middle-earth game to hit shelves over the last year; the highly-anticipated Fate of the Fellowship just dropped, and we think it lives up to the hype.
The new game is also set to introduce a new mechanic in the form of the Black Tower and White Tower cards. These cards serve as additional trump cards that can win any trick, unless both cards are played into the trick and thus cancel each other out. The concept of trump cards were largely left unexplored in The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, so I’m really curious how the designers craft compelling scenarios that use non-optional trump cards.
I played through the entirety of the Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game and absolutely loved it. For a game that’s so simple, it was obvious that there was a lot more meat on the proverbial bone and I can’t wait to see how the game balances a simple and elegant core premise with increasingly complex scenarios and characters. Even if you’re not a Lord of the Rings fan, this game is a must-play for anyone who loves cooperative games or fun card games. To be blunt, the first game is addicting and you’ll rapidly want to gather your own Fellowship to catch up in time for the next installment in this game series.
Looking for something new to play ahead of this game arriving? Don't miss the best board games, or the best family board games.
