The Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking Game – Components Overview

When I wrote how a theme could change my opinion on a genre of board games, I was specifically talking about the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Trick Taking Game. I’m not a huge trick taking game fan, and even though I’ve had good games of The Crew, I find them way too stressful to be fun long term. I knew, however, that the Lord of the Rings Trick Taking Game was going to arrive on my doorstep, and despite my reservations about the mechanics, I have to say I LOVE Lord of the Rings.

But this isn’t about the game itself, that will come in a future article. Instead, we are talking about the fantastic production here by Office Dog games. Office Dogs is all over the place in terms of the board games they are designing and releasing, and I say that in a good way. In my opinion, three of the games we have reviewed (or will review) are all wildly different experiences. Word Travelers is a light, party-esque game of words and places. Rivers of Gold is a beautiful light, entry Eurogame experience with fantastic production and compelling gameplay. And then there is the Lord of the Rings, a trick taking campaign game that lets you travel through the highs and lows of the Fellowship of the Ring.

There is one consistency across all of these games, however – a fantastic production. This trick taking game is no exception, and it all begins with a (oddly) shaped box using nice thick cardboard. I know it seems odd to talk about a box when reviewing components of a game, but there isn’t really much here so I gotta talk about something! It’s the inside of the box that is so great, though. There are three little card sized compartments to store the games various cards, and each compartment comes with a little velvet “bookmark” that allows you to easily extract the cards simply by pulling up!

The card quality here is great, and even though this is a trick taking game, I don’t feel the need to sleeve these cards. In fact, I question whether sleeved cards would even fit back into the box! The artwork on the cards is phenomenal as well. The design team has taken a stained glass picture approach, which is a medium I haven’t seen Lord of the Rings portrayed in before. There has been a ton of great Lord of the Rings art in recent years, and this entirely new approach is just as appealing as all the others. This art sets the game apart and gives it a unique look, and I appreciate that approach.

The game also includes a few wooden token components which are nice. Honestly, they are not really anything to write home about, but when you think that the design team could have easily just used cardboard, you quickly appreciate the small upgrade here to wood.

Overall, this game from Office Dog presents itself well, and I’m excited to get it played in the near future. As far as card game productions go, it’s one of the more impressive boxes!