I also joined The Omnigamers Club on their podcast to talk about The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth. Available on all podcatchers and on YouTube!
I love 7 Wonders Duel, much more than the full 7 player game. In fact, it’s one of my most played games due to the fact that my partner and I played it over and over when it first came out, and it was one of my very first board game reviews on this site! Then we got the Pantheon expansion, and played it even more, falling in love with the new dynamics the expansion brought to the game. I think in total, I have something like 50 plays of the game, making it one of my most played games of all time.
Suffice to say, I was at the very least intrigued with The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth was announced. It’s a retheme and redevelopment of 7 Wonders Duel, and this new game folds in elements from both of the expansions while simplifying and streamlining the whole experience.
For those that haven’t played 7 Wonders Duel, The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth was designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala. It’s a two player card drafting game where one player takes on the role of the Fellowship while the other controls the forces of Sauron, and are competing to be the first player to achieve one of the three victory conditions, which include getting the ring into Mount Doom/catch the nasty Hobbitses, have control of every region of Middle Earth, or, gather the support of all 6 races.
Players take turns drafting from a tableau of cards in the middle of the table. You can only take cards that are uncovered, and around half the cards are face down, which only get revealed once they’re fully uncovered. Most of the cards have costs, and if you’re ever lacking in resources, you can substitute a gold coin for one resource at any time. The cards you’re drafting have various benefits. The grey cards offer persistent resources to pay for cards down the road, yellow cards offer money, which is spent for resources you’re missing. Blue cards which advance the ring track, red cards which allow you to deploy troops around middle earth, and green cards which represent the support of a specific race.
There is also a shared display of landmark tiles which either player can purchase. If they do so, they gain the benefits listed on that landmark tile, but do not take a card from the tableau, which is very important if you’re trying to force your opponent to reveal a specific card for you. The game is played over 3 ages, and should the 3rd age come to an end and neither player has satisfied any of the victory conditions, then the player who controls the majority of regions in middle earth is declared the winner.
The theme here is more of a window dressing than anything else. While it’s difficult to imbue theme in a game where you’re just drafting cards, the theme in Duel for Middle Earth falls away really quickly, especially when drafting the red cards, and you just magically air drop soldiers into various regions across the board. That said, the ring track is a clever and thematic way to track 10 steps. That track could have just been a series of steps with each player moving their cube up the steps, but the plastic overlay showing the Hobbits making a break for Mount Doom, and the black rider nipping at their heels feels a lot more exciting.
There’s lots of decision-making in choosing which card to take so you can further your own goals, and which cards to leave for your opponent. A lot of the game can boil down to “I want this specific card” so you count backwards all the turns it’ll take until your opponent reveals that card for you. Or, if the order is off, you have to consider buying a landmark to offset the order of taking cards from the pyramid so you can get the card you need.
Each of the 3 victory conditions are very easy to parse, which helps build tension when one player starts to go a bit heavier into one of those conditions. And part of that tension comes from trying to goad your opponent into overcommitting into one of the victory conditions, but not enough for them to actually win. If you can get your opponent to make sub-optimal moves just to deny you a card, you’ll likely come away with the victory.
Comparing it to 7 Wonders Duel, Duel for Middle Earth has been smoothed to a polished stone. All the wonky rules have been shaved off, everything is easier, and you’re able to calculate anything at a glance. Duel for Middle Earth is fascinating in that it managed to fold in the core aspect of both expansions into a package that feels lighter and easier to play than it’s predecessor. But because the game is smoother, it feels flatter. There’s less texture to grab onto. All of my games really felt largely the same, and I’m much less keen to replay Duel for Middle Earth, unlike 7 Wonders Duel, especially when playing with the expansions.
Because it’s simpler, a single game took me and my partner, like, 15 minutes. We set up, learned how to play, and played it twice within an hour. Not drafting wonders gets players playing quickly, and because the landmark tiles are available to both players, it doesn’t feel like someone has an unfair advantage and you’re just biding your time until they’ve triggered their wonders. There’s also less ‘remove a card from your opponent’ actions, meaning there’s less feel bad moments, but there’s much less ‘take another turn’ options, meaning there are less big, exciting turns
It feels like you’re unable to build an engine, unlike in 7 Wonder Duel. One of my favourite things was to take as many of the yellow cards as possible, so I could trash a card and get, like, 8 coins in one go. It feels like some depth has been lost, there’s less space to play and explore, especially when you include those expansions. The Pantheon expansion specifically, the whole first age is vying for the privilege of drafting which Gods are available to you, and slotting them into spots for you and your opponent to buy them next age. Drafting a God that does nothing for your opponent, and using it to fill their cheapest slot, is really lost.
All that being said, Going back to 7 Wonders Duel feels super clunky now. Trying to calculate how much you and your opponent would have to pay for every one of the cards gets tedious, real fast. It really highlights just how streamlined Duel for Middle Earth is. While I don’t think Duel for Middle Earth as it stands now will replace 7 Wonders Duel plus it’s expansions for me, I would absolutely use Duel for Middle Earth for anyone who hasn’t played 7 Wonders Duel before. It’s light and easy to play, the perfect game to play on a weekday night, or as a warm-up to a much larger game. Be sure you leave extra time when you pull it off the shelf, however. It’s the kind of game that begs you to play it two or three times in a row. And at the end of the day, the best game is the one that gets played, so that’s one of the highest compliments I can give.
