Last week, the France-based Repos Production teased they were working on a new Lord of the Rings board game. Now, the Asmodee Group subsidiary has officially announced Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth, a competitive card game that has two notable tabletop talents as designers.
The Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth announcement
Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth was announced via Facebook post on Repos Production’s official page. The announcement post was written in French, but does contain some additional tales.
As the name implies, the board game is a competitive experience between two players. One assumes the roles of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. The elves, the dwarves, and the armies of man. The other commands the armies of Mordor. Both go head to head to determine the fate of Middle-earth.
Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth is being developed Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, Both Bauza and Cathala have worked before on the award-winning 7 Wonders Duel, a two-player spin-off of the strategy board game. Given this history, it can be speculated the game is a rework of Duel’s fundamental systems with the license of Lord of the Rings.
The announcement of Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth coincides with major restructuring happening within Embracer Group. Recently, the company has announced it will split into three different companies over the next year.
One of those companies, Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends would be dedicated to making high-profile videogames based on Lord of the Rings such as the upcoming Tales of the Shire. The other, Asmodee Group, will focus on tabletop game publishing and distribution.
With Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth, it hints at the possibility of an ongoing collaboration between these two companies going into the future. Given Asmodee’s indelible place in the industry and the cultural cache of the property, it would be a partnership with a great potential return on investment.
Lord of the Rings Duel for Middle-earth is set to release October 2024.
