Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Game description from the publisher: In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Deck-Building Game, each player takes on the role of a member of The Company as they set out on the long and treacherous path to Lonely Mountain.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Game description from the publisher: In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Deck-Building Game, each player takes on the role of a member of The Company as they set out on the long and treacherous path to Lonely Mountain. Play as Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, Thorin Oakenshield, or others. Your Hero card will guide your strategy throughout the game, or you can break away with a plan of your own. Each player starts with his own basic ten-card deck and draws a hand of five cards each turn. Power is the currency you will use to buy new, stronger cards to add to your deck. The goal of a deck-building game is to craft your personal deck into a well-oiled machine, and five types of cards can be acquired: Enemies, Allies, Artifacts, Maneuvers, and Locations. A large, central stack of cards supplies a five-card "Path" from which players make their purchases. Each player always has five face-up cards from which to choose each turn, so new options and surprises await each turn. When you have amassed enough Power, you can take on an Archenemy! Each Archenemy has Loot cards you can acquire. Defeat a Troll and you might find Sting, Orcrist, or Glamdring! Take on The Goblin King and you might find the maneuvers you need to escape from the Misty Mountains. Azog is the final Archenemy, and he has unfinished business... In the end, the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points from the cards in his deck wins. Cryptozoic's The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit deck-builder series: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Deck-Building Game The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Deck-Building Game The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Deck-Building Game The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Deck-Building Game Expansion Pack