The Hobbit: There and Back Again – A Roll and Write Journey
One of my most anticipated games of 2025 was The Hobbit: There and Back Again, a roll and write adventure that takes players through various moments of J.R.R. Tolkien’s popular novel, The Hobbit. The game does an excellent job showcasing key moments of the book in board game form, which I think is actually a tougher task than many might think. What started out as a negative experience quickly became something positive for me, and while I’m not 100% positive where I’ll fall on this one, my first time through the book was enjoyable.
Honestly, this is a difficult roll and write to explain in writing as each page of the book is so different. It’s actually what makes this game so enjoyable, but also so frustrating. I love the idea of changing scenarios, rules, and interactions from page to page, but that means you might find it to be an uneven experience where some games are more fun than others.
Watch this How to Play from Canada’s own, Rodney Smith!
My first experience with The Hobbit: There and Back Again was incredibly frustrating, and had I not been reviewing this game for the site, I might have up an quit then. The first scenario is pretty basic – roll and draft dice to draw paths on your board, brining all the dwarves to Bag End to begin the journey. The experience is pretty basic, as are most first scenarios in games. What frustrated me about this one is how abruptly the scenario ends; once a player has connected all the dwarves back to Bag End, it’s over, and if you aren’t paying attention to other players VERY closely, it’s going to sneak up on you and you are likely going to be super frustrating.
Most of the scenarios in this book end when someone finishes something, but unlike the first scenario, the others are a lot more linear and defined. Get from A to B. That’s easy to track, and because of that the experience became better the more I played it. But that first scenario was almost the death blow for this entire game simply because it was too hard to track how close other players were to getting their dwarves connected. I’m glad I pushed past this, though, as each scenario seems tog et better and better as the book progresses.
What I love about this experience is that there are so many different experiences within one book, and how the components included in the box are used in different ways, in different situations. I was a bit worried this would feel like a mishmash of ideas that were half baked and wouldn’t work well, but I found all of the scenarios (after the first) to be quite enjoyable, and they all work well as one-off games as well.
What really pulls this together, though, is the theming. I won’t spoil a lot here, but hardcore Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit fans are going to enjoy how each scenario is thought out, and focuses on a specific moment of the book. Whether you are escaping the elves in barrels, finding gems as you tiptoe around Smaug, or trying to trick Gollum, each and every page is dripping with theme. Again, I wondered how effective the design team would be with this, and it turns out they were going to knock it out of the park!
This is a game that will stick around for at least a little while as I grapple with whether I like it or love it. I think this has a limiting audience though; if you are not a fan of the Lord of the Rings, I’m not sure the roll and write puzzles found on each page will be enough to make you pick this up again and again. Half of the joy here is the theming, and even that I feel will wear away over time. For me, this is a game that will stick around for a little while, but probably has a limited shelf life a year or two down the road.
Article By Adam
