Duel for Middle-earth Took 7 Wonders Duel and Made It the Best Two Player Game On My Shelf

My wife and I have exactly one other person we regularly game with, so I’ve gotten pretty picky about what earns a spot on the two player shelf, and this one earned it fast. I never actually owned 7 Wonders Duel, dueling games didn’t interest me before this, so I came in with no baggage, just curious whether a LOTR skin could make me care. It did. The little plastic Nazgul chasing Frodo and Sam down the ring track is genuinely well done, not just a sticker on an existing system, and there’s a real moment of tension every time that piece creeps closer.

At exactly two players this is close to perfect, and I’m not the only one saying so, one review flat out called it the best two player game on earth just got better, which is a big claim but I get where they’re coming from. Setup is maybe ten minutes, a full game runs thirty to forty five, and because it’s strictly a two player design there’s basically no downtime, you’re never sitting around waiting for a third or fourth person to finish deliberating.

Money wise this thing is a steal. Thirty five bucks got me a box stuffed with landmark tiles, coins, little towers for the battles, mini units, real production for the price. Per hour of play it’s already paid for itself a dozen times over since it hits the table almost every week now.

If I’m nitpicking, and I have to dig for this, the card art repeats the same Gollum on every blue card, and I did wonder why, since plenty of other characters had their hands on the ring at some point in the story. Small thing. A few reviewers also wished for more than seven landmark tiles for variety, and I’d take that in an expansion happily, though the base game doesn’t need it to feel complete.

Five stars, no hesitation. If you’ve got exactly one regular gaming partner, this is the one to own.