Are you a Lord of the Rings fan? Is your lore and understanding of Middle-earth top of the range? Well, I think I have found a game that will make you forget the names of key characters and places from The Lord of the Rings. I am not joking.
Asmodee has released The Lord of the Rings Dobble (also known as Dobble Quest for the One Ring), and I have been playing it obsessively. Despite this, I keep forgetting the names of the Balrog, Gimli, Gandalf, and other important icons. It is all part of the frantic fun.
How to Play Dobble
If you do not know, let me explain what Dobble is. The game consists of 55 round cards, and there are eight symbols on each card. If you pick any two of these round cards, there will be exactly one symbol in common between both. That is the simple, brilliant foundation.
The game includes rules for several mini-games, such as ‘Towering Inferno’, ‘The Well’, ‘Hot Potato’, ‘Got to Catch Them All’, and ‘The Poison Gift’.
I will not go through them all, as they are all fast-paced variations on the same theme, but here is how you play ‘The Well’. A central card is placed in the middle of the table, and the rest are dealt out to the players. Everyone then flips up their entire stack of cards. The first person to spot the matching symbol between their top card and the card in the middle of the table calls it out.
And if you are me, you will certainly forget what Gollum is and say something like, “Oh, that grey guy… precious!” You then try and place your card down. Hopefully, everyone agrees you successfully identified Gollum, and your card now becomes the new ‘Well’ card. Everybody else is now trying to match their symbol with your card. The person who spots the new match gets to do the same. The winner is whoever gets rid of their cards first.
If you are good at spotting matches, you are good at Dobble.
A Versatile and Frantic Game
It is really easy to learn, but it can be surprisingly hard to play, especially when you are up against friends who are lightning fast. It can become frantic and fun.
However, I have also played it after some wine and cheese and a movie at a more leisurely pace. You can have an entire conversation around the game and play the cards at a far more sedate pace. It really is that versatile.
Production and Portability
My favourite thing about this edition of Dobble is the production values. It comes in a lovely round tin. It is not a huge game; it is just a bit too big to fit in the back pockets of my jeans, but it is very easy to pop in a bag.
The game I just described? You only need about a beer-coaster’s worth of space to play. You can play Dobble in the pub (if you do not make too much of a racket) or on the train. It is a fantastic travel game.
Final Thoughts
This is a game that people can join midway through, depending on the mini-game. It is also a game that people can watch once and totally master.
I think this is going to be a really popular Christmas present this year. I am properly spoiling friends if they read this review, but I think I will buy a couple more and hand them out.
Highly recommended.
