The Lord of The Rings... those five words mean something to millions of people all over the world. They mean fantasy, magic, battles, monsters, adventure and much much more. The book is a massive success and is even hailed as the greatest book of all time by many readers of all ages, something I’m sure not even Tolkien could have hoped for. The film was a potentially risky venture right from the start. You only have to look at the size of the book to know that making a film, which fans and newcomers alike could enjoy, was going to be harder than Conan The Barbarian in a pair of granite underpants. But Peter Jackson succeeded and the films not only tell the story, they are riveting to watch as well.

With the rise of Card Game popularity it's unsurprising to find a Trading Card Game based on The Lord of The Rings. But who was willing to take on such a monumental task? This was a franchise which had it's own language, a plethora of material already created and millions of fans waiting... expecting... wanting... only the best.

The choice was as obvious as a giraffe in a field full of sheep, and this giraffe was called Decipher. This is a company who have already had to deal with all the potential pitfalls I mentioned above when they worked on the Star Trek Card Game. This was a company with experienced staff, an excellent track record and free access to hours and hours of quality movie clips.

The Trading Card Game is based on the films rather than the book. This however is not a problem in my opinion as I feel the films only really lost the parts of the story which were worth losing. The Card game has been released (so far) to coincide with the films and each film has been split into three story blocks. Each story block consists of 2 new Starter Decks (based around 2 different main characters) and a Booster Pack series to increase the range of cards.

So, did the Fellowship falter, fail, flag and end up as orc dung in a hole somewhere? Or did Frodo and his chums romp home to the Shire after a job well done? Well, this is for you to decide really. In my opinion they have succeeded in making a game that is original and fun to play, without losing sight of the story or setting The Lord of The Rings is so famous for.

Happy Gaming Amigos,

Jon Simpson jon@kmant.com