The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set

2022 · Fantasy

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set

This repackaged core box provides a complete, 1–4 player cooperative card game experience compatible with all previously released cards for the system. Players build decks from hero and player cards, manage resources, and send their characters on linked scenarios that form a short narrative campaign. Play resolves through questing, engaging enemy encounters, and card-driven tactics as players balance quest progress, combat, and damaging effects. The edition includes full sets of player cards for deck construction, updated tokens and components for ease of use, and a revised learn-to-play guide with starter and intermediate decklists to help new players begin.

Players
1–4 best 2
Playing time
30–120 min
Age
14+
Complexity
3.6 / 5
8.2 on Ludoyafrom $57.94Collectible ComponentsNovel-basedHand ManagementVariable Player PowersAutomatic Resource Growth

About the game

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill2012The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Hobbit: On the Doorstep2013The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Dark of Mirkwood2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Fellowship of the Ring: Saga Expansion2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core – Elves of Lórien Starter Deck2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Angmar Awakened Campaign Expansion2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core: Dwarves of Durin Starter Deck2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Angmar Awakened Hero Expansion2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core: Defenders of Gondor Starter Deck2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core: Riders of Rohan Starter Deck2022The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Two Towers: Saga Expansion2023The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Dream-chaser Campaign Expansion2023The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Dream-chaser Hero Expansion2023The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Return of the King: Saga Expansion2024The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Ered Mithrin Campaign Expansion2024The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Ered Mithrin Hero Expansion2024The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Nightmare Decks: Over Hill and Under Hill2014The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Nightmare Decks: On the Doorstep2014The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Game Night Kit 2014 Season One2014The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Game Night Kit 2014 Fall Season2014

Photos from Ludoya tables

All photos in Ludoya
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set on the table, photo by Txus Salinas

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
1,771
Plays logged
164
Players
53m 18s
Average play
124
In collections
9
On wishlists

8.2/10

from 52 Ludoya reviews

  • Fun8.0
  • Interaction10.0
  • Replayability8.0
  • Uniqueness10.0
  • Looks10.0
  • Accessibility4.0
  • Paige Forrest8.0

    Such a fun game with a lot of depth to explore. The fact that there is great fan content available for free makes it even more likely to stay on my table longer.

  • Mestremuten8.0

    Rating: 4/5 Production value: 3/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Do I have to engage every enemy in the staging area, or can I choose not to?

Each player has one option to engage a single enemy from the staging area during the Optional Engagement step; after that, engagement checks may cause remaining enemies to engage players based on engagement cost versus player threat (p. 24).

If I commit characters to the quest and we succeed, do they ready immediately or stay exhausted?

Characters committed to a quest remain exhausted through the end of the quest phase and do not ready at quest resolution; cards are readied only during the Refresh step (p. 23, p. 25).

How do I calculate damage for enemy and player attacks — does defense subtract from attack, and what about undefended attacks?

Damage is attack minus defense (if defense ≥ attack, no damage is dealt); if an attack is undefended all damage is assigned to a single hero and a character’s defense value does not absorb damage from undefended attacks (p. 25–26).

When can I play ally and attachment cards from my hand?

Ally and attachment cards may be played during the Planning phase’s special action window (the active player may play as many as they can afford while the window remains open), and action windows also occur at many steps throughout the round for other actions (p. 23, p. 21).

What does “ranged” let me do — can I attack enemies engaged with other players or have others join my attack?

If every attacking character has ranged, you may declare the attack against any enemy engaged with any player, and any number of ranged characters controlled by other players may exhaust to be declared as attackers (p. 26).

Two triggered abilities trigger at the same time — how do I know which resolves first?

Triggered abilities resolve in this order: constant abilities, then forced abilities, then response abilities; within categories, “when” effects resolve before “after,” and if effects still occur simultaneously the first player chooses the order (p. 18).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Score sheets and play helpers

  • LOTR LCG
  • Full Game Kit
Use them at your next game

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.