Lord of the Rings, The Journey to Rivendell

How to play Journey to Rivendell online

There is no official manual, because the game was never released. These controls come from players who have explored the prototype.

• Move your party: arrow keys
• Map or the Ring: Space. In towns it brings up the map; out on the road or open land it puts on the Ring.
• Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
• Starting speed of the Black Rider: F4 (left difficulty switch)
• Save and load: Ctrl + 0–9 saves, Alt + 0–9 loads, which is handy on a long journey

Gameplay

Your party is shown as a small square, and Middle-earth is a large grid of screens: road, open land, forest and three towns (Hobbiton, Bree and Rivendell). The road to Rivendell is the fastest way to travel. A Nazgûl on a black horse keeps appearing, and you cannot fight it; you can only outrun it or hide. Frodo survives three wounds. Staying too long in a forest also costs a wound, so the woods are only a short-term hiding place.

Time matters. The sky behind the hills darkens as the day goes on, and at night the rider gets faster than you. It also speeds up a little every day. If you have not reached Rivendell within seven days, the game is over. Near the end you have to find a bridge over the Loudwater river.

You can simply run for Rivendell, but the game is more interesting if you follow the book. Sam starts with you and takes one hit from the rider in your place. Strider waits in Bree and shows you the way to Gandalf, who keeps the riders away for a while. Tom Bombadil lets you move at full speed through forests, and Glorfindel across open land. Companions earn bonus points but are not required to win. The Ring hides you from Sauron’s spying birds, but it also makes the Nazgûl faster.

Tips

• Travel by day on the road. In daylight you can outpace the rider on the road and on open ground.
• Use forests only to shake off the rider. Leave again quickly before you get hurt.
• Visit Bree. Strider’s pointer to Gandalf makes the rest of the trip safer.

Why it was never released

Parker Brothers’ catalog promised a journey across more than 2000 screens with a map to find your way. Collectors then waited almost 20 years to find out whether the game really existed. A prototype box sold on eBay in 2001, and in the same year AtariAge found an actual prototype board and made the game available. According to AtariProtos, the project stalled over rights: the Tolkien books and the film and merchandise rights were held by different parties, and Parker Brothers could not get permission from both. AtariProtos’ review of the prototype found it complex for the 2600 but rather dull, since all you can do is run and hide. Mark Lesser also programmed Frogger II: Threeedeep! for Parker Brothers.