The Greatest Lord Of The Rings Games To Play Right Now

Of all the iconic IPs out there, it's surprising how up and down the popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has been. There is the incomparable movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, the decent but overstuffed Hobbit movie trilogy, and The Rings of Power TV show, which gets more hate than itdeserves.

Then there are the video games based on The Lord of the Rings, which are also a mixed bag. While The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is the most recent disaster, there are still plenty of great Lord of the Rings games to play in 2026 while we wait for Warhorse Studios' upcoming LotR open-world game.

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War

Glory To The Nemesis System

Let's get the obvious one out of the way. As far as modern The Lord of the Rings games go, nothing holds a candle to Monolith Productions' Shadow duology. While Middle-earth: Shadow of War has its detractors, mostly due to the completely needless inclusion of microtransactions, it is still the best modern LotR game, and one of the best games based on Tolkien's work ever made.

This is largely due to the spectacular Nemesis System, which organically creates Orc generals and recurring enemies for you to face off against. Instead of a pre-determined "big bad," Shadow of War creates one based on the enemies who defeat you in combat, or who manage to survive one of your killing blows. It's an incredible mechanic that is sorely underused in the gaming world today.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

My Kingdom For A Remake

Very rarely will you see me (or anyone) advocating for a licensed movie tie-in game from the 2000s to get a wholesale remake for modern hardware, but there are exactly three exceptions to that rule: Spider-Man 2, and the tie-in games for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King. While both LotR games are good, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is simply a deeper game.

These aren't quite RPGs, although you do level up your characters as you progress. They're more like action games, with a roster of characters to play as and a host of unique levels to complete, each connecting to key moments from the movies. The Return of the King has more characters, levels, and even additional story beats that don't appear in the movies. They're also just a blast to play, with excellent combat and a ton of unique interactions for each level.

The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2

Tolkien Meets Real-Time Strategy

Real-time strategy and Middle-earth are an obvious pairing, and that's why the Battle for Middle-earth series, and particularly The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth 2, is so excellent. It captures the epic scale and stunning visuals of Tolkien's massive battles during the War of the Ring in a way that few other games can match.

What elevates the sequel above the first game is that it takes place in an often-overlooked portion of the war: the battles in the north. This adds a level of unpredictability in both the settings of each battle and the armies involved. Just like the first game, you can play as either good or evil armies. The good side is often on the defensive, forced to fight uphill battles and rely on clever tactics, while the evil side has superior numbers and can revel in the destruction of iconic locations like Rivendell or the Shire.

Tales Of The Shire: A The Lord Of The Rings Game

Now We're Cooking

Not every Lord of the Rings game needs to be about large-scale battles and the fate of the world. In Tales of the Shire, you play a Hobbit starting a new home in the village (or not, depending on which Hobbit you ask) of Bywater. It's a cozy life-sim game that's light on narrative and more interested in a slower-paced experience full of idyllic moments and casual chats.

Central to all this is an impressively complex cooking system, which is what the game's social elements revolve around. You spend your day inviting other Hobbits to dinner, and when they RSVP, they'll tell you what they'd like to eat. Then, it's up to you to prepare those meals. That preparation involves everything from finding and chopping ingredients to cooking to seasoning. It's a low-stakes game meant to be a casual, relaxing experience, but isn't that what life as a Hobbit is all about?

LEGO The Lord Of The Rings: The Video Game

Gondor Never Looked This Blocky

If the virtual Tolkien experience you're looking for involves nothing more than a playable version of the key moments in each of the three Lord of the Rings movies, then LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game is your best bet. Much like other licensed LEGO video games, this one isn't reinventing the wheel here. It follows the movies to a T, with a healthy helping of patented LEGO humor thrown in for good measure.

The most impressive thing about LEGO The Lord of the Rings is that it is entirely open world. Even though the game's missions will lead you on a relatively linear path, you're free to set off in any direction you like, encountering dozens of famous Middle-earth landmarks along the way. Moreover, characters who never appear in the movies but are key parts of Tolkien's original novels are available as unlockable characters, providing a more complete experience in some ways, while the game might skip over less-important story beats in others. It's a fair compromise, and one that's sure to please any LotR fan.

The Lord Of The Rings Online

One Of The Most Underrated MMOs

MMOs have come a long way since the late 2000s, but if you're still comfortable with the gameplay loop of titles like WoW Classic or Guild Wars 2, then The Lord of the Rings Online is one of the most underrated entries in the genre, even for non-LotR fans. Sure, its combat and character creator are dated by today's standards. However, where this game excels, it rivals (and even exceeds) the best MMOs out there.

Let's start with the world and quest design. When it comes to a game that lets you immerse yourself in Middle-earth and experience it in all its glory, without the need for constant action or drama, The Lord of the Rings Online is second to none, especially if you start with the free-to-play Before the Shadow DLC, which is designed to welcome newcomers to the game. The writing and quest design here are of an exceptional quality, and if you're coming in as a LotR fan, they will blow you away. Peter Jackson's movie trilogy is obviously a spectacular adaptation of Tolkien's work, but The Lord of the Rings Online, in many ways, stands shoulder to shoulder with those classic films. It's really that good.

The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North

LotR As An Action RPG

There are surprisingly few action RPGs based on The Lord of the Rings. We have Monolith's Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, but those are more open-world action games than anything, without much in the way of RPG elements. Then there's The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, which is an unbalanced mess, albeit a creative one. Often overlooked in this conversation is The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, which is, in some ways, the best of the bunch.

Combat here is especially brutal (which earned the game its M rating), with orc dismemberments and beheadings aplenty. The narrative, once again, explores the northern campaign of the War of the Ring, this time telling a completely original tale that runs parallel to, and sometimes intersects with, the original trilogy. War in the North isn't going to change how you look at RPGs or anything, but for seasoned LotR fans looking for something new, this game will feel like a breath of fresh air.

The Lord Of The Rings: Conquest

Star Wars: Battlefront Set In Middle-Earth

One wonders why there were never many attempts to emulate the success of Star Wars: Battlefront, given the relative simplicity of the concept. However, one game that tried to carry that torch was The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. It follows the formula you would expect. You play as the heroic side first, choosing from one of four classes and participating in some of the series' most iconic battles, while occasionally jumping into the fray as a recognizable hero character.

However, the real twist comes when you complete the heroic campaign, which aligns with the moment when Frodo destroys the Ring. Then, you unlock the evil campaign, which follows a narrative where Frodo kept the Ring instead. This is by far the more interesting campaign of the two, featuring shocking narrative moments that might feel like blasphemy to Tolkien purists. Most importantly, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is playable in co-op, and is actually much better that way than playing solo. If you've got some friends and a PS3 on hand, it's absolutely worth a look.