Middle Earth (board game)
Games of Middle Earth is a trilogy of board games published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1977 that are all based on the epic fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was a bestseller for SPI even before its publication, and remained at or near the top of SPI's Top Ten list for two years. Description. The boxed set contains three games Publication history. In 1976, SPI was granted a license by the Tolkien Estate to produce wargames based on "Lord of the Rings". It subsequently produced three wargames  in 1977: "War of the Ring", "Sauron", and "". SPI also packaged all three games into a boxed set titled "The Games of Middle Earth." This proved to be one of SPI's bestsellers, entering SPI's Top Ten list at Number 1 four months before publication based on pre-orders alone. Following its release in November 1977, "Games of Middle Earth" remained SPI's bestselling game for almost two years. Reception. In "White Dwarf" #11, Bill Seligman called this product "one of the most artistic games [SPI has] ever published, and one of the easiest to learn." But on the  other side of the coin, "it is also one of the least balanced games they have ever put out." Overall, he found "Middle Earth" a bit disappointing, saying, "All in all, I'd say the game set "Middle Earth" is only fair. Tolkien deserves much better." He concluded by giving the set of games a rating of 5 out of 10. Writing for the Dutch games review site "Casus Belli", Frank van den Bergh liked "War of the Ring", but called both "Sauron" and "Gondor" "clearly lesser games". Although he admitted, "they are fun games that offer many possibilities," van  den Bergh concluded, "These games are only recommended for the devoted Tolkien fan."