Unually when a game is made around a liscence product it is nothing more than a slick design to hide a shoddy product. Usually these end up on the shelf of shame in short order and at most we suffer through them once.
This is different!
Lord of the Ring Confrontation is a simple straight forward game with a huge amount of strategy. It lends itself to puzzles and often games can break down into analysis.
Each player has 9 pieces, which represent different characters, and 9 nine cards at their disposal to start the game. Like Stratego the identity of the characters is unknown to the opponent but opposing pieces are in the same space on the board each player chooses a card which modifies the pieces number to determine the winners. There are other cards which have different game affects, and each piece has some special ability to throw a few curves into the game. Perhaps the best part is the varied victory conditions. This creates a game of infinite strategic opportunities and lots of second guessing.
Confrontation plays in about 20 minutes and though only a 2 person game perhaps the best one available at the moment. It could be played with children 10 and up. The only minus of the game is the poor quality of the cards. They must be sleeved to protect them. Otherwise the board and pieces have some great art by John Howe, and the piece are pleasing and functional.
Presently I have played it almost 100 times and thus I have to give Lord of the Rings: Confrontation a 10 out of 10.
