Tolkien’s Middle-earth has captured the imagination of fantasy fans worldwide ever since The Hobbit was published in 1937. And although Peter Jackson is the film director who successfully brought the books to life on the big screen, you might be surprised to learn Middle-earth also has a rich video game history that goes back decades.
The earliest video game adaptation was created in 1982 by Beam Software, which developed a text-adventure game based on The Hobbit. The game was a huge hit and went on to sell over 500,000 units in Europe, despite middling reviews from critics. Such is the power of Tolkien’s works.
In total, there are over 50 video games based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that span numerous genres, like action-adventure, RPG, strategy, and more. As we prepare for another new Tolkien game just on the horizon, we’ve gone through this long history and chosen the 11 best Lord of the Rings games ever made.
11. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The legal rights to adapt The Lord of the Rings into video games are almost as complicated as Middle-earth’s lore itself. In the early 2000s, Tolkien’s literary works and Peter Jackson’s film adaptations were treated separately, with Vivendi and Tolkien Enterprises owning the rights to adapt the books for games, while EA owned the rights to adapt Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies. In 2009, Warner Bros. was able to bring together both movie and book rights and, at long last, develop games that incorporated story elements from both the literary and cinematic worlds of Tolkien.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is the first Middle-earth game to feature story and design elements from both books and films. This hack-and-slash RPG stars a trio of original characters: The Ranger Eradan, the Dwarf Farin, and the Elf Andriel, each with their unique playstyle. The trio goes on a journey parallel to the events of the film trilogy after they’re enlisted by Aragorn to help the Fellowship, all while Frodo makes his way to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. While the combat is generally considered enjoyable, albeit typical of its time, the real draw is that Lord of the Rings fans get to role-play as self-insert friends of Aragorn during the iconic events of the Peter Jackson movies.
10. The Lord of the Rings Online
Since 2007, thousands of players have ventured into the many regions of Middle-earth itself thanks to the extensive digital world of The Lord of the Rings Online. While certainly not as popular as other MMORPGs like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, Lord of the Rings Online has cultivated a dedicated player base thanks to the way it brings the world of Tolkien to life, allowing players to explore the far corners of Eriador, Rhovanion, Gondor, and Mordor. A visit to The Lord of the Rings: Online can even be considered essential for any Lord of the Rings fan.
Create a unique character and travel around Middle-earth during the events of The War of the Ring and undertake quests and raids crafted after events from the novels. What’s more, the game is still going strong after 18 years, with the most recent expansion, Legacy of Morgoth, released in late 2024. It also remains the only Lord of the Rings MMORPG, and will remain so for the foreseeable, especially after Amazon canceled its own planned Lord of the Rings MMORPG in 2021.
9. Lego The Hobbit
TT Games, formerly Traveller’s Tales, has transformed beloved franchises into wildly popular, comedic adventure Lego games for years. Lego The Hobbit follows the same formula that made the studio’s Star Wars and Harry Potter games such beloved hits.
A zany re-telling of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies built of plastic bricks, players can adventure through the events of the trilogy’s first two films, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug (the third film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, had not yet hit theaters.) You can unlock and play as dozens of different Hobbit movie characters in this humorous adventure, which splices plenty of great skits and sight gags into an otherwise pretty faithful (if heavily condensed) recreation of the movies. Expect to battle goblins, ride barrels, and steal from a colossal dragon. But as enjoyable as this all is, just know there is a better Tolkien movie trilogy with a better Lego adaptation slightly further down this list.
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
EA Los Angeles launched a series of real-time strategy games based on Middle-earth in 2004, during the height of the genre’s popularity. The Battle for Middle-earth is rooted in the tried-and-tested Command & Conquer formula: you take command of either the forces of Gondor or Mordor, establish a base by building unique structures and units, and then send out an army that will fight a war to determine the fate of Middle-earth.
Battle for Middle-Earth was a critical and commercial success when it was released, thanks to its satisfying single-player story mode that included separate, complete campaigns for both Gondor and Mordor. Many praised the way it perfectly translated the world of Middle-earth to the RTS genre, and EA LA would go on to one-up their achievements with a far superior sequel that you’ll also find in this list.
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
The Lord of the Rings is the kind of property that allows for all kinds of adaptations. RTS? Sure! MMORPG? Absolutely. How about a Final Fantasy-esque turn-based RPG? Surprisingly, also yes – you’ve found your way to The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.
Criticized for being maybe too inspired by Final Fantasy 10, right down to having a similar battle menu, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age nevertheless combines a familiar, turn-based combat system and class-based party system with the world of The Lord of the Rings. The result is a satisfying RPG that has become an enduring fan-favorite. The Third Age, like War in the North, is set parallel to the events of the Peter Jackson films, with players taking on the role of characters who are hot on the trail of the Fellowship. Along the way, you visit many of the same locations that appear in the film trilogy, and battle familiar foes like the Balrog. There are even moments where you can temporarily team up with members of the Fellowship itself in battle.
It’s not the most original game on this list, but The Third Age is a great way to feel like a part of The Lord of the Rings movies without simply playing as Aragorn, Gandalf, or Frodo.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2
EA LA followed up their Tolkien RTS with a superior sequel, The Battle for Middle-earth 2. Like the first game, you can choose between a Good or Evil single-player campaign. The former’s story is centered on the Elf Glorfindel, who allies himself with the Dwarves to defend Rivendell from Sauron. Meanwhile, in the Evil campaign, Sauron sends his commander, the Mouth of Sauron, and the Nazguls to invade the North.
Similar to the first game, players raise armies consisting of infantry, bowmen, pikemen, cavalry, and siege machines and command them using characters from The Lord of the Rings. The sequel also adds even more factions, including Goblins, Dwarves, and Elves, for a total of six factions. It’s the better game of the two Battle for Middle-earths by far, but sadly, neither is available to buy today thanks to EA losing the Lord of the Rings licence, and even owners of the old physical editions cannot battle online as online servers were shuttered in 2010.
5. Lego The Lord of the Rings
Like the Hobbit game we’ve previously spoken about, Lego The Lord of the Rings is TT’s brickified adaptation of the original trilogy of movies directed by Peter Jackson. And if you’re only going to play one of them, this is the one you want to play. You can play as any of the 80+ available characters in Lego form, from Frodo and Aragorn to Lurtz and Tom Bombadil, all while running, jumping, and building your way through the events of the superior Tolkien film trilogy.
The Lego games usually live or die depending on which popular franchise they’re adapting, and TT had a great foundation in the vast, varied world of The Lord of the Rings. There’s something particularly charming about seeing Middle-earth brought to life in Lego form, which makes it easy to recommend to any fan. Do you like The Lord of the Rings? Do you like Legos? Do you like fun platformers? Boom, one of the best Lord of the Rings games ever.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Back during the era of official movie tie-ins in the early 2000s, , EA published a couple of hack-and-slash games based on The Lord of the Rings films where you took control of members of the Fellowship and made your way through the key events, leaving a pile of orc corpses in your wake.
The Gauntlet-like gameplay suited the fantasy swords-and-sorcery battles of The Lord of the Rings well, but The Return of the King was especially notable for its inclusion of local co-op, allowing you to form your own mini-Fellowship and go through the adventure together. Using actual scenes from the Peter Jackson movie to serve as cutscenes (a benefit unlocked thanks to the PS2’s DVD drive) and gameplay that captured the scale of the films’ battles, Return of the King was head and shoulders above many official tie-in games released at this time. But it didn’t quite beat its own predecessor…
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King are very similar games built on the same hack-and-slash foundations, and so your favorite of the two is largely up to personal preference. Which scene from the movies do you most want to experience? For our money, the Helm’s Deep level in The Two Towers is among the very best moments in any Lord of the Rings video game.
Like in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, you’ll find many of The Two Towers’ key moments re-created here (as well as a few from The Fellowship of the Ring, too.) But the real joy is found in taking control of one of the members of the Fellowship themselves. Whether it’s the hack-and-slash sword combat of Aragorn, the speedy ranged bow attacks of Legolas, or the heavy axe swings of Gimli, The Two Towers’ combo-heavy combat felt as good as any action game released in the early 2000s. Throw in amazing visuals taken straight from the movies, and The Two Towers is a standard-bearer for official movie tie-in games.
2. Middle-earth: Shadow of War
As previously mentioned, complications around the rights to The Lord of the Rings have led to a variety of restrictions. The Middle-earth: Shadow games, though, were developed during a time when Warner Bros. had the rights to both Tolkien’s works and Peter Jackson’s movies, which meant developer Monolith Productions was able to take inspiration from the wider universe detailed in the legendarium, the lore bible that The Lord of the Rings is built on.
Shadow of War, the second game in the series, goes to some unusual places because of that freedom. It involves figures like Shelob (here depicted as a woman, rather than a spider, because of lore reasons) and the never-before-seen Entwives, and ties protagonist Talion’s fate directly into the story of the Ringwraiths. Shadow of War’s overly complicated story, with its convoluted attempts to tie its world to the movies, is the reason why many have the sequel ranked below its predecessor when it comes to Monolith’s two Middle-earth games.
But story isn’t everything. Shadow of War features a much larger, more varied world than its scorched brown predecessor, allowing you to explore more of Middle-earth. The same fantastic combat and, of course, the Nemesis system, all return from the first game, but they’re bolstered by a fortress siege system that captures the epic scale of iconic battles such as Helm’s Deep (albeit you’re fighting alongside an amassed army of brainwashed orcs, rather than men and elves.) All this helps skyrocket Shadow of War towards the top of our rankings, beaten only by its fantastic predecessor.
1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor sees the Gondorian Ranger Talion bond with the wraith of Celebrimbor, the elf who unwittingly aided Sauron forge the Rings of Power. Together, they go on a journey through the depths of Mordor to get revenge on Sauron’s generals who murdered Talion’s family. With fewer ties to the movies than in the sequel, Shadow of War, Shadow of Mordor tells a more cohesive story of revenge in Middle-earth.
But the true star of Shadow of Mordor is Monolith’s patented Nemesis system. Every Orc in Shadow of Mordor is unique to your playthrough, each given a random design, traits, and name. But beyond just procedurally generating an army of unique foes for you to kill, the Nemesis System shifts and changes each Uruk’s relationship with both you and their peers depending on how you interact with them. If one kills you in combat, for example, they will get promoted for their valiant deed and will bring up their victory the next time you encounter them.
This system, combined with the satisfying, Batman Arkham-style combat and a story that isn’t just a retread of Peter Jackson’s movies, easily makes Shadow of Mordor our favorite Lord of the Rings game of all time. Sadly, Monolith Productions was shut down in 2025, and so we’ll likely never see another Shadow game, nor the Nemesis System again. And so the two Middle-earth games serve as a proud legacy for this departed studio.
With a new line of The Lord of the Rings movies on their way, as well as the ongoing Rings of Power TV show on Prime Video, there will likely be even more Tolkien games coming in the future. Next up is the cozy game Tales of the Shire from Fictions and Weta Workshop, which will deliver an entirely different video game take on Tolkien’s world.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.
