Of course, it helps that I'm a Lord of the Rings fan. In my opinion, one of the greatest things about the game (and its expansions) is the way it conveys the right feeling for the quest to destroy the Ring while at the same time abstracting it enough to offer strategic choices and compelling gameplay. To summarize it as succinctly as possible, the players take the role of the hobbits, each with their own distinct powers (more on that later), as they attempt to destroy the One Ring before being corrupted by Sauron. In order to reach Mordor, they have to pass through many of the locations mentioned in the trilogy, including Moria, Helm's Deep and Shelob's Lair. Other important characters and items are treated as cards which can be played to help the hobbits on their journey. Needless to say, the Gimli card is much in demand. As could be expected, translating much of the magic in the series into board game form has led to some interesting and amusing results. My favorite of which is the inspiration for this quote, The Belt. It's not even magical, and yet it has the ability to save a character from Sauron's corrupting influence. The ring-bearer can protect himself from one of Sauron's attacks just by ensuring that his pants stay up. It makes me wonder why they bothered to form the fellowship at all; Frodo would have been safer if they'd just loaded him up with belts instead. It would apparently provide more protection than, like, glamdring.
The belt isn't the only thing holding up the humour in the Lord of the Rings game. Because the designers wanted to allow up to five players per game, they had to include Fatty Bolger as one of the playable hobbits. Connoiseurs of the series are probably well aware of the minimal (and cowardly) role Fatty fills in the real plot of events. Yet in this game, you can make him the ring-bearer! Frodo doesn't get all the credit this time! Although I have a feeling Fatty would probably just give the ring to Sauron in order to appease him. Incidently, I'm sure that's also what Neville Chamberlain would have done had he been the international leader forced to deal with Sauron's dark shadow. He would probably also offer up Roihan as part of the bargain, because that would surely be enough to satisfy the Lord of Darkness. A more effective means of defiance would have been to put on a belt or two. They're way more useful than you might think.
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