The Hobbit Adventure Boardgame (1994)

Overview

Each player is a hobbit who is attempting to gather the experience, equipment, and information that will enable him to defeat (outwit) the Dragon at Carn Dûm. A player wins when he defeats the Dragon.

Released almost simultaneously by Queen in Europe and ICE in North America. The game looks good but is maybe a little too light—strategy is rather minimal as you simply run around trying to get stuff. I mostly wish the player interaction were greater.

Similar to Flying Turtle's Kalahen.

From the back of English edition game box: "It only takes about 15 minutes to master the The Hobbit Adventure Boardgame rulebook. Then you just unfold the full-color, mounted mapboard, select a plastic Hobbit, deal out the coins and life points, and start your journey across Middle-earth. Along the way, you'll explore sites, battle monsters, discover treasure, acquire artifacts, and challenge your opponents with tricky riddles. Once you're strong enough, you'll journey north to Angmar (at Carn Dûm) to battle with a foul Dragon, hoping to be the first halfling to secure his great hoard."

Game Box Contents:

A beautifully-rendered, mounted mapboard, painted by the award-winning German artist Jo Hartwig and detailing northwestern Middle-earth One Rules leaflet (4 pages) One Special cards sheet (front and back) 4 plastic Hobbits, each a different color and standing over an inch tall 5 Dice (3 red custom combat dice, an illustrated blue movement die, and a standard green D6) 16 Talisman rings (4 each in 4 different colors - blue, red, green, yellow) 35 yellow plastic Money Markers (10 large, 25 small) 24 black plastic Life Markers (8 large, 16 small) 142 full color playing cards divided into eight categories: 6 Danger, 12 Peril, 20 Rest, 36 Adventure, 14 Magic, 8 Money, 15 Riddle, and 31 Equipment