New Lord of the Rings RPG Available for Free

A new Lord of the Rings RPG released this week and it’s free. That said, you’re going to need to break out your mobile phones to play it as it’s only available via Android and iOS devices. The release, LotR: Heroes of Middle-earth, comes the way of developer Capital Games and publisher EA, and gives players the chance to experience the series’ more significant scenes, complete with its iconic characters.

“Fantasy and adventure come together in Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, a strategy RPG game based on the trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolkien,” reads an official blurb about the game. “A New Ring has been discovered in Middle-earth that has the power to rewrite history. How the power is used is up to you. Will you wield it for good or will you succumb to evil? Elves, wizards, and hobbits join together in a fresh visualization of a classic franchise. Build teams with your favorite fantasy characters from Lord of the Rings including Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. Explore factions of Middle-earth never seen before and collect an assortment of characters ready for battle.”

Over on the App Store, the game currently has seven ratings that amount to a 4.1 out of 5 rating, a decent score. However, the pool of reviews is so small the aggregate score is not very useful. That said, this rating is similar to its rating on the Google Store, which is 4.2. This score was calculated across nearly 5,000 reviews though. 

“Lots of potential but feels very empty at the moment. It’s got good bones, a good artstyle, combo system between certain characters, and lots of potential,” reads one of these reviews. “The only downsides are progression slows to a crawl very quickly, as you level up far slower than the campaign escalates. Also, there are very few characters in the game to collect as of now, and it’s missing a great deal of the main cast.”

At the moment of publishing, there’s no word of the game coming to other platforms. Other platforms haven’t been ruled out, but it does look like this was specifically designed for mobile, so it may very well stay exclusive to mobile phones.