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I love cooperative games, and Lord of the Rings seems to be fairly high on the list. (I have Pandemic, Forbidden Island, and Shadows over Camelot. I'm considering Space Alert and Space Hulk Death Angel).

I love the Lord of the Rings series, but how deep does the game get into the story line? If people who don't really know the Lord of The Rings books (however few of them there may be) can't play it I'll probably go with something else. How will having little familiarity with the books affect the other players' enjoyment?

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Just curious: how can you think they would make a game which somehow required you to know the book to play it? What could possibly cause that? Either it's a quiz game (and it patently isn't), or there's no sane way to have that requirement. – Lohoris Jan 23 '11 at 22:57
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@Lo'oris Sure there are sane ways. Imagine an LOTR game with event cards that affect particular characters in specific ways, such that players who know the books make better choices. For example, a "Boromir delays the party if he possesses the ring" card. A player who knew the books would know that Boromir is easily tempted by the ring's power and so would never put the ring in Boromir's possession. A player who didn't know the story could make that mistake and feel screwed when it comes up. I wouldn't design a game that way, but it's perfectly sane. – Matthew Frederick Jan 24 '11 at 7:24

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It's absolutely not necessary for game play. Players that don't know the book will not get many of the story line references, but I don't think it means they can't enjoy the game.

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+1 Knowing the story will make the game more involving, but you need no knowledge of it whatsoever. – Matthew Frederick Jan 23 '11 at 9:23

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