Game Closet: Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation

...and Deluxe

In Regular...

As someone who continues to explore the niche hobby of specialty board games, there is one name that constantly comes up – Kinizia, Kinizia, Kinizia. Apparently, Dr. Reiner Kinizia is one of the most prolific and successful board game designers ever, having one multiple “Game of the Year” awards.

Kinizia took on the “Lord of the Rings” license in 2000 and put out several games with great acclaim. “Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation” is a take on the two-player, deduction strategy games as seen in the classic “Stratego.” Playing as either the characters from the Fellowship of the Ring, or the minons of Mordor, players attempt to either infiltrate the other player’s “base” – here, either the Shire or Mordor; or try to destroy/defend Frodo.



Each character has a special offensive or defensive ability, combined with a level of attack, and special modifier cards that allows for a surprising amount of strategy in a game that’s footprint takes up such a tiny amount of space. Trying to deduce which enemy pawn is which in order to maneuver your side to the swiftest victory is both addictive and deep enough to make this a mid-level thinker that can be played in less than a half hour.

The “Deluxe Version” of this game is more widely available than the smaller, original version and adds more characters from the books for a variety of play. But even with the original version, the replayability for such an affordable and travel-friendly game makes it a must-have two-player experience.