One of tabletop's most sought-after grail games is coming back, reborn in Middle-earth. Restoration Games and Space Cowboys are reviving the long out-of-print Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit as The Lord of the Rings: The King's Gambit, and the deluxe edition is heading to crowdfunding later this year.
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Find events near youThe original Queen's Gambit, released in 2000, is the stuff of collector legend, hard to find, pricey when you do, and adored by the people who own it. "It was everybody's grail game," says Restoration Games owner Justin D. Jacobson. It was co-designed by Rob Daviau, the mind behind Pandemic Legacy and Betrayal at House on the Hill, alongside Craig Van Ness and Alan Roach, and Daviau is leading the new Middle-earth version himself. Restoration Games has built its name on bringing old designs back, so this is very much their wheelhouse.
The King's Gambit keeps the original's big idea: several battles raging at once. You play cards to fight across four fronts of the War of the Ring, the Riders of Rohan on the Pelennor Fields, the walls of Minas Tirith, the great port at Pelargir, and Frodo and Sam's desperate march through Mordor to Mount Doom. The original was a tense two-player duel, one side commanding the free peoples and the other the forces of shadow, and the deluxe crowdfunding edition promises a pile of miniatures and an enormous multi-level 3D board.
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See how it worksReports point to a September crowdfunding launch through Restoration Games, with a more modest retail edition following from Space Cowboys and Asmodee in 2027. If you have ever coveted a Queen's Gambit copy, rally your fellowship and start saving.
Sources: Restoration Games | Wargamer | Zatu Games
