An evolution of 7 Wonders Duel?

💍Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth was definitely one of the most anticipated new games at #SPIEL24 . The booth of @asmodee_germany was the first one we lined up at, to get ahold of the game. It is basically a reimplementation of 7 Wonder Duel, but of course there are some changes that make it somewhat different. 😉

As any good duel game, Duel for Middle-Earth has 3 distinct victory conditions, so as you play you constantly have to watch out for multiple things:

⚔️You can win by being present in every region of the map.

🛡️If you ally yourself with the people of Middle-Earth by gathering 6 faction symbols, you also win.

🌋If you get the ring to Mount Doom you also win, or alternatively as the evil player if you catch Frodo and Sam.

(Finally, if the cards run out, then the player with the most controlled regions on the map wins.)

The game is just simple card drafting. 🧐 During the 3 chapters the cards are set out into a shape - some cards cover others, so you start picking from the bottom. Also, some cards are set aside and some are facedown, so there is imperfect information. Every decision is seemingly simple: each card pushes you forward towards one of the victory conditions, but you have to watch out what cards your opponent gets access to. You also have to be able to pay for cards - either by having the skill symbols or the money for it.

🟥Red cards let you put troops into specific regions, possibly removing enemy units if present.

🟩Green cards give you the aforementioned faction symbols, but there is also a set-collection element here: if you have 2 of the same or 3 different symbols you get to choose an ongoing bonus from their special tokens!

🟦Blue cards move you forward on the Ring track. This is interesting as there are 2 acrylic overlays on a track. If Frodo and Sam move forward, so does the Nazgul, so as you play the distance between them only shrinks.

💬The game is very quick, but really tactical. Each card taken feels significant and you really have to be on your A-game to come out on top - just like in 7 Wonders Duel. The illustrations from Vincent Dutrait are also magnificent as expected, so all-in-all this is a superb duel game.