Hobbit with a sense of humour
For those not ready to leave Middle Earth behind and perhaps with a competitive streak, the world of The Hobbit is returning in board game form.
Weta Workshop concept designer Daniel Falconer is the man behind many of the costumes, weapons, and props on The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings trilogies, and art director and illustrator for the game.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party is a fast, action-based tabletop game for two to four players, set in the opening scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, when 13 dwarves arrive unannounced at Bilbo’s door.
‘‘We’d done a couple of board games prior to this one,’’ Falconer says, ‘‘but we wanted to do something lighter, less heavy, with fewer rules.’’
The game is due for release in September but can be pre-ordered online through Weta’s website.
Designed and developed in partnership with Jarratt Gray and Ian Luxmoore, the game is designed to be short, fun and more suitable for families with kids. Its characters emulate the style of the ‘‘Mini Epic’’ figurines.
‘‘It’s not world-changing, it’s a bunch of dudes who turn up and trash a guy’s place.’’
Players act as dwarves arriving at Bilbo’s house, racing around Bag End, finding cards and scoring points. The game is over when Thorin turned up — a sure sign the fun was over.
Falconer and his daughter were part of the group that tested the game — and there was a lot of play testing involved — and Falconer knew they were onto a winner when his daughter cancelled a playdate with a friend to keep playing.
‘‘When we were designing the dwarves for the films, Peter Jackson was emphatic about wanting each one to be distinctive,’’ Falconer says.
‘‘It was important that the audience be able to distinguish them easily, so that led us to lots of extreme beard and hair experimentations.’’
It started as a card game but when the character tokens were developed, it morphed into a board game.
Although it would draw on people’s existing love of The Hobbit world, it would hopefully also appeal to those who had no preconceptions.
‘‘We have so many different arms to Weta,’’ Falconer says. ‘‘Anything people can engage with we can keep the world alive through.’’