Pandemic will come to Middle-earth when The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, the next tabletop game from celebrated designer Matt Leacock and publisher Z-Man Games, drops this June.
“The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship will feature thematically rich cooperative gameplay,” Leacock wrote, explaining the crux of the game on his official blog. “Players take on the role of heroes to defend the havens of Middle-earth from advancing shadow troops while helping Frodo evade the hunting Nazgûl as he travels to Mount Doom to destroy The One Ring.”
Designed for 1-5 players, Fate of the Fellowship features 13 playable characters, 14 event cards, and 24 objectives, tied together with all-new art of beloved franchise heroes. The centerpiece of the project is a 11-inch die tower replica of Barad-dûr, the menacing spire that acts as Lord of the Rings antagonist Sauron’s personal stronghold.
The system Leacock developed for his popular Pandemic board game has been adapted to several different settings since 2016, including the Cthulhu mythos, World of Warcraft, and Star Wars, but Fate of the Fellowship is perhaps the most meaningful.
“This feels like things coming full circle for me,” Leacock wrote. “I started my cooperative games journey after playing Reiner Knizia’s The Lord of the Rings game in 2000 and that game was a major influence on the design of Pandemic. Now, 25 years later, I’m honored to be able to offer my own take on Tolkien’s masterpiece of fantasy literature.”
Leacock plans to provide more design diary-style updates on Fate of the Fellowship between now and its summer launch. He will also be in attendance at the U.K. Games Expo to sign early copies of the game on May 30.
Source：https://www.polygon.com/news/512197/lord-of-the-rings-tabletop-pandemic
