Why the Lord of the Rings Edition of Risk Is a Great Present For LOTR Fans

As a huge Tolkien fan I love all Lord of the Rings inspired merchandise, but some of the items I have received over the years are used more than others.

I've recently gotten back into playing boardgames with a group of friends. During a gaming session we all started reminiscing about Risk and recalled how we'd all spent many late nights during our teenage years playing this oldchool strategy tabletop game.

As my birthday was coming up, I promptly added Risk to my wishlist and I was not disappointed.

Not only did my partner get me a Risk game, he got me the Lord of the Rings edition of Risk and it is fantastic.

Here are 3 reasons why you should get this game for a Tolkien fan that loves boardgames.

During the course of the game the Ring travels the road of the Fellowship and once it reaches Mordor the game ends. If you want it to. With house rules you could as such make it a 18 turn game or you could forget about the Ring and just play until last man standing. Of course you can decide on a certain amount of turns in traditional Risk as well, but the ring just adds a convenient reason for this.

Co-Op or Free for All

Since the units are already neatly divided into good and evil forces, it is easy to opt for a Co-Op game if you have 3 or 4 players. This is particularly nice if you are playing with someone who is not all that used to boardgames.

On the other hand if you want to play a free for all game, then it is completely possible as well giving this version of Risk a good flexibility in gameplay.

Normal Risk is fun, but the Lord of the Rings version has a lot of extra elements that gives it depth. Like the leaders and the adventure cards that adds another level of strategy to the gameplay.

Even if you are not that into Lord of the Rings, it is worth buying this version of Risk as Hasbro did not just slap a LOTR theme over the original Risk like a bad coat of paint. They actually developed a neat and balanced game with extra rules that deepens the strategy of the original.

What does the Lord of the Rings Risk box contain?

You get a game board designed as a map of Middle Earth. 5 Dice. Units in 4 different colors, 2 with minions of the evil and 2 with soldiers of the good. Each side has 4 different looking pieces. The units looks nice and are surprisingly detailed for instance on the Riders of Rohan (I assume this is what the horsebackriding unit of good is) you can see the hooves of the horses and the helmets of the men. Additionally there is a cardboard piece with a picture of the one ring and a holder for it.

Also included is of course the game manual and then you get Territory cards and the Adventure cards that adds an extra level of depth to the traditional Risk game.

All in all everything seems to be of nice quality and it has the right look and air about it to make it a really neat piece of LOTR merchandise.

Very Important: Please note that several versions of this game has been released and some of them does not include Gondor and Mordor on the map because it was released before the third movie and was only covering what the Fellowship had travelled. The version linked in this article should be the full one, but please double check before you order as Amazon may change things on their side.

In short this is a great, high quality version of a traditionally boardgame that goes out of fashion. It is sprinkled with Tolkien lore and makes a great gift for any nerd or geek that is into the fantasy universe of Middle Earth.

If you have any questions about Risk, the Lord of the Rings edition, then please post them below and I will do my best to answer.

Should you be uncertain whether or not this would make a great gift for a LOTR geek you know, then having a couple of answers might be a good way to decide either for or against.