It would not be an exaggeration to say that people have been absolutely entranced by the world of Middle-earth since the mid '30s. Inaugurated with a short fantasy novel called The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien created literary gold with 1954's The Lord of the Rings. Split into three volumes and published over the course of a year, Frodo's journey to Mordor feels timeless.

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Over the years, and after plenty of well-released movie adaptations, many video game developers have attempted to enter Mordor, but the road is littered with the defeated and broken. Amidst a sea of half-baked cash-ins and cheap mobile strategy titles, a handful of truly fantastic games have graced our presence.

Updated June 9, 2023 by Hilton Webster: When it comes to Lord of the Rings, there's always something more to be said, another layer of the detailed world to unravel. As such, we've added a few extra games that might have slipped under the radar before, as well as some new releases.

35 The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies – Fight For Middle Earth

Published In

2014

Published By

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre

Action Strategy

Platforms

Android, Apple iOS

Fueled by Peter Jackson's return to Middle-earth, The Hobbit birthed a slew of free-to-play mobile games. Developed and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies – Fight for Middle-earth failed to improve on any of the series' previous iterations, delivering a thoroughly barebones and frustrating experience that is not worth the data.

Despite looking like a strategy game, Fight for Middle-earth barely allows players to exert any control over the proceedings. Besides the hideous visuals and clunky animation, this free-to-play shovelware has some of the ugliest environments on the Android store.

34 The Lord Of The Rings: Legends Of Middle-Earth

Published In

2014

Published By

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre

Turn-Based Role-Playing

Platforms

Android, Apple iOS

If a license is popular enough, the mobile scene will be blessed with a turn-based RPG that presents fans with an opportunity to collect their favorite characters as cards. While this genre is rather overstuffed, titles like One Piece Treasure Cruise offer enough thrills to be worth checking out.

Unfortunately, Kabam's The Lord Of The Rings: Legends Of Middle-Earth sits among the more forgettable entries. Grinding is the genre's cornerstone. If done right, picking up new characters and leveling up old ones can be entertaining. Legends Of Middle-Earth does the opposite of that.

33 Lord Of The Rings: Conquest

Published In

2009

Published By

Electronic Arts

Genre

Action

Platforms

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows, Nintendo DS

Stepping away from the mobile scene, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest took a page from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, granting the option to follow the path of good or evil. Split into two campaigns, The Final War for Middle-earth sees the Dark Lord reclaiming the ring on route to conquering Middle-earth. As an added bonus, Hugo Weaving narrates both storylines.

Alas, battles are not won on paper, so Conquest's interesting ideas are completely wasted in a game devoid of any real redeemable factors. The sub-par graphics, poor writing, and terrible combat make this among the worst titles to carry the franchise's name.

32 Lords Of The Rings Software Adventure

Published In

The Fellowship of the Ring Software Adventure

1985

Published By

Beam Software

Genre

Text Adventure

The Shadows of Mordor Software Adventure

1987

The Crack of Doom Software Adventure

1989

Platforms

The Fellowship of the Ring Software Adventure

Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, BBC, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, IBM PC, Mac, ZX Spectrum

The Shadows of Mordor Software Adventure

Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Mac, ZX Spectrum

The Crack of Doom Software Adventure

Apple II, Commodore 64, Mac, IBM PC

After making a name for itself with 1982's The Hobbit, Beam Software opted to take a crack at The Lord of the Rings. Split into three oddly titled entries, the studio was unable to recapture lightning in a bottle. Whether Beam Software felt overwhelmed by Tolkien's trilogy or just could not get its act together, these entries sustained a noticeable downgrade from their predecessor.

The Hobbit's simple storyline works better as a text adventure, as the plot allows for far greater room to experiment with interesting puzzles. LOTR requires complete focus to effectively adapt the narrative.

31 The Hobbit: Armies Of The Third Age

Published In

2013

Published By

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre

Real-Time Strategy

Platforms

Facebook

Building on The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth's solid foundations, Kabam returned with another real-time strategy outing that harbors only small improvement over its predecessor. With three available factions and a solid multiplayer system, The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age delivers a perfectly serviceable experience capable of scratching anyone's Tolkien itch.

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Due to being a free-to-play mobile game, any actions require an absurd amount of time to reach completion, allowing Kabam to constantly push its premium currency. Is it terrible? No, but there are better ways to spend an hour.

30 The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies – Orc Attack

Published In

2013

Published By

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre

Browser

Platforms

Browser

Developed by Google and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies – Orc Attack is a browser game that served as an advertisement for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Among its peers, this 2013 title benefits from some absolutely gorgeous backgrounds and character models, but the gameplay gets old rather quickly.

Besides Middle-earth's Superman, gamers can also play through the levels with Tauriel or Bard, although the combat remains the same regardless of the character. If nothing else, there are a couple of decent paintings hidden inside this mediocre point-and-click shooter.

29 J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders Of Rohan

Published In

1991

Published By

Konami

Genre

Real-Time Strategy

Platforms

IBM PC

A downgrade from 1988's War in Middle Earth, J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan rushes through the novels' main plot points, so an encyclopedic understanding of the narrative is expected. Consequently, Beam Software and Papyrus Design Group's simulation is only worth playing for devoted Tolkien fans, but a decent time can be had for anyone willing to seek this one out.

The strategy elements are not half-bad, but the player is required to recreate the exact moments from the book, so the only way to overcome a fight is by following a pre-established plan. Even though this makes sense for a licensed product, a strategy game that lacks personal agency is nothing more than an interactive picture book.

28 The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum

Published In

2023

Published By

Daedalic Entertainment

Genre

Action-Adventure

Platforms

PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Windows

The latest Lord of the Rings game to hit our digital library is Lord of the Rings: Gollum. It's an interesting premise, to show the world of Middle-Earth from the perspective of one of its more layered but oft-overshadowed characters. Gollum could have shown us a side of Mordor that more prominent characters bypass.

Unfortunately, Gollum instead harkens back to a style of game not seen in a long time - feeling like a licensed game. Performance and graphics aside, Gollum is dated in terms of overall gameplay without offering any real consistency and few attempts to be truly visually distinct from Peter Jackson's rendition of the world.

27 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – A Journey Through Middle-Earth

Published In

2013

Published By

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre

Browser

Platforms

Google Chrome

Browser games tend to get a bad rap, but there are a fair few decent titles out there. Even if some are worth a look, we would be hard-pressed to describe any as ambitious. At the bare minimum, Google's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – A Journey through Middle-earth warrants praise for being an exception.

Besides a Hero's Journey mode that (poorly) skims through the journey from the viewpoint of some iconic characters from The Hobbit and LOTR, A Journey through Middle-earth permits gamers to experience five major battles from the perspective of both armies.

26 Lord Of The Rings Pinball

Published In

2003

Published By

Jamdat Mobile Inc.

Genre

Pinball

Platforms

Mobile

Back when you could make a licensed video game about just about anything with little financial risk, there was Lord of the Rings Pinball. There's really not much you can say about the game, and few people who even seem to know the game exists.

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Developed by Jamdat, who developed a large portfolio of Lord of the Rings mobile games, this Pinball-based incarnation is a barebones game with nothing truly distinct to it beyond some visual elements. The biggest compliment you can give it is that it actually works.