The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War is a geo-strategic seasonal wargame, out now on mobile

This article is sponsored by NetEase Games.

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful movie trilogies of all time, attracting an audience from far beyond the niche sphere of fantasy enthusiasts.

The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, from global developer and publisher NetEase Games, is looking to pull off the same trick. It’s a mobile strategy game - more specifically, a “geo-strategic seasonal wargame” - but it deserves to be played by fans of all gaming platforms and genres. 

Set in the Third Age of Middle-earth, The One Ring has turned up in the abandoned castle of Dol Guldur. Various factions of Middle-earth march to claim the new ring and, by extension, dominion over the whole world.

Gameplay-wise, The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War sees you choosing a faction and then building up your settlement, constructing various strategically important buildings, recruiting fighters for your army, and setting out to expand your territory one tile at a time. You can create your own unique stories in Middle-earth.

The tile-based gameplay allows for fluid, complex tactical maneuvers as you seek to cut off enemy supply lines, encircle enemy settlements, and generally use the evolving conditions of the battlefield to your advantage like a fantasy Napoleon. 

Not only does The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War let you pick your own faction, but it lets you decide whether to be a good guy or a bad guy too. You can join a Fellowship, like Gandalf, Frodo, and those other dweebs, or you can join a stinking, snarling Warband and tear it up Orc-style. 

Either way, you’re in for a treat. NetEase Games has gone all out in recreating Middle-earth’s most iconic characters and locations. The detail is out of the world, as you can see in the developer interviews above. 

The Lords of the Rings: Rise to War is out now. Download it for free on Google Play Store, Galaxy Store, and App Store.