‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ Makes Bilbo’s Adventures Into Charming Mini-Quests
You’ll travel from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain in eight delightful adventures with The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
The Hobbit: There and Back Again lets you relive parts of Bilbo’s adventure as you travel Middle-earth and overcome obstacles from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain. Over the course of eight unique scenarios, you’ll build your own adventure, collect resources, and make tactical decisions to help guide Bilbo through his quest.
| Quick Guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mechanics | Die Rolling, Open Drafting, Solo-Gaming Option | |
| Players | 1-4 Players, Age 10+ | |
| Playing Time | 30 Minutes | |
| Similar Games | Spirit Island, The Lord of the Rings: Duel | |
| Publisher | Office Dog Games |
The Hobbit: There and Back Again Overview
Designed by Reiner Knizia, The Hobbit: There and Back Again is a simple, fast, and gorgeous game that allows players to embark on parts of Bilbo’s famous adventure to the Lonely Mountain along with him. The full adventure is split into eight scenarios where you’ll collect resources, overcome obstacles, and make decisions that actually, meaningfully impact the game.
This is a game that feels like it understands the source material. It’s a competitive card-drafting board game. But it also has the styling and art of a fantastical storybook. It asks you to keep track of your adventures in your own adventure guide. And along the way, you’ll befriend dwarves, find treasure, answer riddles, and defeat a dragon.
The Hobbit: There and Back Again is a game for one to four players. Which means that yes, there is a solo mode and you can adventure with your part, or all on your own. It’s also a game that’s competitive, but doesn’t feel competitive in the way that breeds at-table animosity.
The players are all adventuring in their own adventure book with their own dry-erase marker. Sure, one player wants to earn the most points and win, but we’re all out on the adventure. It sort of feels like counting who’s taken down the most orcs. Someone’s going to score the higher number, but we’re all winners if we’re having a good time.
But also, someone does win.
How To Play The Hobbit: There and Back Again
To begin your game, players will decide which of the eight adventures to go on, organize and lay out the various tokens and dice, and then each player will take an adventure book and dry-erase marker to go with it. The game suggests that first-time players play through the scenarios in order. But you can play whichever adventures you want, in whatever order you want, and as many times as you’d like.
Gameplay is mostly comprised of rolling dice and moving or collecting resources accordingly. Journey dice allow you to add different paths to the map in your adventure book. Wizard hat dice let you take magic actions, which are, in turn, good for a bonus of some kind. Sword dice provide boons that are specific to the scenario you are playing through. And finally, bread dice will give you bread tokens that you can use to feed your many hungry dwarves
Each scenario will have slightly different requirements both for tokens and goals, as well as slightly different rules. For example, in the first chapter, “An Unexpected Party,” your goal is to help all of the dwarves make it to Bilbo’s house and then feeding them. As they play through the chapter, players accumulate points, and the player with the most points wins.
Each chapter builds on the last one, both progressing the story and changing up some of the rules and gameplay mechanics gradually. While the game never becomes punishing or confusing, it does feel satisfying to journey through the entire adventure. That said, if you have a favorite chapter, this is a game with a ton of replayability, so you can return to it over and over again.
Should I Buy This Game?
If you’re a fan of Middle-earth, yes! And honestly, maybe even if you’re not as well. This game is charming, fun, and fast with beautiful artwork. Short games make it perfect to get off the shelf when your friends aren’t sure what else to do, or when you have somewhat limited time. And the versatility of The Hobbit: There and Back Again makes it a game for almost any occasion. On your own? Playing with not-board-game-people? Want a game kids can enjoy? It’s good for all of that and the most board-gamiest of people!
The Hobbit: There and Back Again is to most board games what The Hobbit is to The Lord of the Rings. It’s shorter, it’s easier, and it’s a little gentler. But it’s wonderful, and it may just be an entry point into a much bigger world of adventures.
