The Two Towers: Trick-Taking Game

The game builds on the mechanics of the first installment: each player chooses a character with a unique objective and tries to achieve it without openly communicating. New are the two trump cards—the White Tower and the Black Tower—which cancel each other out if played in the same trick. Treebeard plays his cards a trick delayed; the Orc chapters require Merry and Pippin to achieve equal trick counts; at Helm's Deep, extra Orc cards are added to the deck round after round. The game comprises eighteen chapters and is fully standalone, although playing it after the first installment is recommended.

The Two Towers systematically builds upon the strong foundation of the first part and, according to several reviewers, even surpasses it in terms of variety and challenge. The ingenuity with which designer Bornmueller links combat mechanics to story moments - Treebeard playing a turn too late, the secret Black Tower, the increasing Orc pressure at Helm's Deep - is truly impressive. Those who disliked the first part will not be convinced here either, but fans of the original and of Tolkien consider this a worthy and more extensive successor.