5 Best Lord Of The Rings Games Ever Made, Ranked

There are few series as beloved as The Lord of the Rings, whose fantasy setting would serve as an inspiration for incredible movies, tabletop games, and, of course, games. However, despite iconic status of the books or films, not every LotR game has lived up to the stellar expectations tied to the rich world J.R.R. Tolkien once created. The best titles that capture Middle-Earth are not only incredibly immersive, but respect the reasons why the setting has so many fans to begin with.

Even the worst Lord of the Rings games have some nostalgia to them simply for being in that world. Some have you play as characters from those stories, such as Aragorn or Legolas depending on the game. Others take inspiration from the larger lore of the books or movies, opting to create original stories instead of re-hashing the epic tale surrounding the fellowship formed to destroy the one ring.

5. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

A game that doesn’t try to retell the events of The Lord of the Rings is Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, an action-adventure RPG set in the heart of Sauron’s realm. This title features the human Talion, a Ranger stationed at the Black Gate leading into the realm of Mordor. When his family is killed by Sauron’s orcs, Talion is bonded to a Elven wraith named Celebrimbor, who brings him back as a revenant with supernatural abilities to seek revenge. These original characters are the heart of this game, with both being compelling through more you learn about them as the story progresses.

Shadow of Mordor has fantastic action at every step, featuring Batman: Arkham style combat where you can parry attacks and use powerful abilities to take down hordes of orcs and goblins. Furthermore, this game was incredibly innovative for its unique Nemesis System, where enemies remember you throughout the game for your actions. The manipulation of orcish ranks through assassination and domination made for surprising tactics within gameplay, to a degree that the sequel, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, never quite reached.

4. LEGO The Lord of the Rings

Almost a complete contrast to Shadow of Mordor, the LEGO The Lord of the Rings game is a 1:1 adaptation of the film trilogy, repeating events from all three movies for players to go through. Yet, in classic LEGO fashion, the brick building concept for this IP-partnered game injects levels of creativity into the well-known fantasy series at every moment. It helps that this title is a long experience as well as an enjoyable one, as it goes through the lengthy events of each LotR movie through a good chunk of levels.

This game lets you play as nearly every character in the series, with abilities designed to destroy and build levels while taking on a variety of enemies. The cooperative fun from LEGO games is addicting, especially as you track down secrets in various levels to find 100% of the area’s hidden content. The fun behind this game is within its simplicity, providing huge set pieces from the movies you already love while injecting some classic LEGO humor into them. Big open levels are well designed, letting you and your friends play through the series’ biggest moments.

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Another movie tie-in game is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, named after the finale of the movie trilogy with the same name. This hack-and-slash title still has insanely positive reviews decades after its release, mainly due to how addicting its core gameplay is. This title is a hidden gem of sound design, atmosphere, and graphics for its time, creating an experience that made players feel like they were immersed in the events of Return of the King.

The action for which this game was known for controls fairly ahead of its time, with engaging mechanics similar to Marvel Ultimate Alliance. In many aspects, this title was the epitome of a “feel-good” arcade beat-em-up, with memorable settings from where you defeat wave after wave of enemies using beloved characters. Everything in this game feels authentic to The Lord of the Rings as a whole, using frenetic action to keep a clean, straightforward pace that keeps you engaged from beginning to end.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

The large-scale battles of The Lord of the Rings are something games explore in a limited capacity, showcasing only a few characters in the midst of the huge wars between armies of good and evil. This makes The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth extremely special for how it portrays epic conflicts, crafting a real-time strategy (RTS) game like Starcraft with a LotR aesthetic. Throughout two surprisingly deep campaigns, this 2004 title allows you to command the huge forces of four unique factions, building armies to claim victory over Middle-Earth itself.

The amount of detail in this game rivals other popular RTS titles, with special units for any faction having individual abilities that offer pros and cons to your army. A rock-paper-scissors approach to many units adds to a constant ebb and flow to battles, encouraging you to find strategies that take advantage of vulnerabilities you discover. The challenging scenarios of this game make for an intense, yet never unfair, approach meant to push you to your tactical limits. Resource management and skill trees for specific units add even more depth to an unorthodox LotR experience.

1. The Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online is one of the longest-lasting MMORPGs out right now, lasting nearly 19 years and still receiving roadmaps and updates as of January 2026. This game is exactly what you’d expect, almost existing as a perfect adaptation of Tolkien’s work beyond just the content you would have seen in the movies. The only real downside to this game is the astronomical amount of content it has, with hundreds upon hundreds of hours worth of gameplay, but this is something usually considered a positive within the genre too.

The level of detail in this MMO is almost maddening, with every location, character, secret, and other information about Middle-Earth featured in some way. Although the gameplay is fairly standard, the ability to create a custom character in the world of The Lord of the Rings is already appealing enough to attract tons of players. Thankfully, unlike other MMOs, this game’s community is touted as being extremely welcoming and beginner-friendly, having one of the least toxic player bases out there.

With quests and events modeled off the books rather than the films, their is a layer of authenticity to The Lord of the Rings Online that is unrivaled compared to other adaptation attempts of the legendary fantasy world. Among The Lord of the Rings games, this MMORPG still stands on top of all its competition.

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