There are already countless board games that seek to replicate the adventures of Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf and the rest of the J. R. R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Nine, but relatively few expand the narrative outside of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth from Fantasy Flight Games looks to address that by mixing up favourite characters from both of Tolkien’s most famous pieces of writing (and a couple of new ones) and placing them in randomised scenarios across Middle Earth.

Journey’s in Middle Earth is based upon the same sort of application driven system that was first trialled in Star Wars: Imperial Assault and then perfected by Mansions of Madness: Second Edition. Where the first of these titles merely dabbled with the idea of an app driven, narrative campaign, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition removed the...