Looney Labs Educators Mailing list Archive

[miyu <xmiyux@xxxxxxxxx>]

I will also mention again the Lord of the Rings game.  In the game the players are all hobbits progressing from one board to another on the journey to Mount Doom to destroy the ring.  One player begins as the ring bearer but that can switch after each board depending on who is the least corrupt.  At the end of each board every player must have collected one of each of the 3 set items or they take a step on the corruption scale (from light to dark) so the characters work together to keep one from becoming too corrupt.  If one player becomes too corrupt they will meet the Sauron figure on the scale and then that player is eliminated from the game (which then makes the success of the other players that much harder).  The game truly is an example of very difficult decisions to make and everyone working together to try to win.  As long as one player makes it to the end to destroy the ring then all the good guys win.  If everyone falls to the dark then all players lose together.

It is actually a pretty difficult game to win and we made house rules to make it a little easier.  Even then we probably win 1 out of every 7 times we play and we love it every time.  Victory feels well earned.  Several of the times we have one the game it has come through one player saying "I will make this play but it will cause me to fall to the dark side and be out of the game but it will allow you to make this move and give us all a chance at winning." Not only does this play into the vibe of the books but I have never played another game that would encourage self-sacrifice for the good of the group like that.

                          -Ryan