When it comes to J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, I like to think of myself as something of an expert. I first read The Hobbit
in first grade, and my dad had already read it to me before that. By
the time I was in high school, Sam Gamgee had replaced Bilbo Baggins as
my favorite hobbit, though I'll always identify myself more with Bilbo.
It was in eighth grade that my English class did a unit on The Hobbit
and I was deemed so well-versed in the book that I was given an
alternate assignment so I'd have a bit of a challenge. Of course, when
Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy hit the theaters, those movies were highlights of my year three years in a row.
It's no surprise that the past decade has included many Lord of the Rings-related gifts, as merchandise inspired by the movies became readily available. One of these presents was Trivial Pursuit: The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Collector's Edition.
Shortly after I received this for Christmas, my parents, brother and I
sat down for a game in which I expected to emerge the victor. As I
recall, I did, but I found the questions more challenging than I had
anticipated. I was anxious to give it a go in different company last
month when I went to visit my friends Erica and Art. They, too, own the
board game, and I'm pretty sure they've both played the game and watched
the movies more often than I have. Still, I thought we were fairly
evenly matched. Then the game began, and after Erica and I each missed a
question, Art managed a flawless run of correct answers that left him
the undisputed champion in a mere turn. Clearly, I am not the biggest
Tolkien expert out there...
This edition of Trivial Pursuit
comes in an attractive brown box featuring the Ring on the cover and
ornate designs in the corners. The board, which features a map of
Middle-earth in the background, has the Ring in the center, with six
straight paths leading out toward the circle. Each path has five regular
spaces and an oversized space the connects with the circle; these are
the spaces that allow a player to receive a wedge of the corresponding
color. On the circle, there are six spaces between each of these
mega-spaces. In order to win the game, a player must collect one wedge
of each color, for which there are spaces inside the bases of the game
pieces. There is no purple wedge, but there are purple spaces; these
direct the player to roll again.
Orange spaces have a tree
symbol, which represents Things. Green has a leaf, for Good Characters.
Blue has a curious brown symbol that represents Evil Characters; I can't
figure out what it's supposed to be, but it certainly looks sinister.
The red spaces have the Ring, denoting Place & History. Yellow
spaces have a dagger for Warfare, and the brown spaces have a movie reel
for Making Movies. This last category concentrates on details about the
production of the films and might include such queries as "Which actor
portrayed Aragorn?" or "In what country were the movies filmed?" If you
were a Tolkien fan completely unfamiliar with the films, some of the
questions in the other categories would trip you up, but this would be
the only one to consistently cause a problem. To even things out, it
might have been nice if the folks at Hasbro had lumped Good Characters
and Evil Characters into one category and added a category specifically
pertaining to the books.
This game is designed for up to four
players, with pewter figurines of four of the main characters: Frodo,
Gandalf, Aragorn and Galadriel. While Elf queen Galadriel is actually a
rather minor character compared to the others, I have no objection to
her inclusion, though I would have preferred that everyone in the
Fellowship be included as well, giving players plenty of characters from
which to choose. But I suppose that would have made the game quite a
bit pricier!
Also included in the game are one die and a box
full of trivia questions, and that's all you really need to play the
game. If you land on one of the mega-spaces, you can decide whether you
want to proceed in the circle or up the designated path. On any given
turn, you're free to move to the left or the right as you choose. The
main objective is to collect those wedges. Once you've done that, all
that's left is to get to the Ring, which you must land on by exact
count. At this point, you're at the mercy of the other players, and they
get to decide which category is your weakest and hope that a question
from that category will be enough to thwart you. If not, you'll be
declared the winner.
The game can be more complicated than this
if you wish. While the rules include suggestions for a shorter game,
it's the Expert Fan Rules that require explanation. I'll do my best,
though I prefer to play the simpler version. There's a Ring piece and a
Ringwraith piece, and taken together, they add another dimension to the
game. The One Ring belongs to whoever last correctly answered a question
on a mega-space, even if that person already had the wedge for that
space. The main purpose of possessing the Ring is to get you out of
answering especially tough questions. However, if you elect to use this
option, you must answer the new question correctly or you'll lose a
wedge, and if you have no wedges to lose, you're out of the game. The
Ringwraith moves with a roll of the die each time a player guesses a
question incorrectly. Once it is out on the circle, it doesn't move
along the spokes. If it lands on a space with a player, that player
loses a wedge (or, as above, if he has no wedges, he is out of the
game). If there are two or more players on the same space, the player
with the most wedges loses a wedge.
Whether or not you incorporate these advanced rules, Trivial Pursuit: The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Collector's Edition
is a fun game for Tolkien fanatics - though if at least one of you has
an especially extensive knowledge of the trilogy, I would recommend
amending the rules so that a turn is over after a player answers a
question, whether or not the response is correct. That way, everybody
gets equal play time - though it also makes winning more luck-based.
However you decide to play, this is a great board game for those who are
eager to show off their knowledge of all things Lord of the Rings.
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