G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

Let us say it right at the beginning. The game is what you call a merchandise product. It is completely based on the new movie of the Lord of the Rings (and this is also said on the cover). But of course this does not automatically disqualify the product. Nevertheless you never loose the feeling that Kosmos only tries to take part in the new euphoria and that the game is a "quick shot". But maybe the success of last years new release "Herr der Ringe" was the true reason for the new game (look on the never ending new expansions for the Settlers of Catan).

But Die Gefährten is game of its own and has nothing to do with the last years release, which was my first thought. Each player takes control of one of the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Mary. The hobbits go on the dangerous trip from the Shire passing Bree, Rivendell, Moria and Lorien and finally reach Amon Hen where the game - like the movie - ends. On the way the hobbits encounter a lot of enemies they have to defeat. The players fight on their own, so there is not the community-felling as it is in last years game. Each turn follows the same pattern. First the player with the ring may look at the next enemy and the next event. Then the player who is ahead of the others starts his move. He rolls his two dice and chooses one for a possible fight in this turn (this is his strength), the other one for his movement. Then the other players do their turns. If one of the hobbits stops his movement on a symbol of a leaf, the player draws one event card and reads what is happening. For example he can move two steps ahead or the next fight does not take place.

When all players have done their turns, the top of the enemy card deck is turned over. This card shows a more or less strong opponents. The strength of the enemy is expressed by 3 different numbers, for example 8-5-2. These numbers are valid for different fight turns. In the first combat, the leading hobbit tries to beat the enemy. In this fight the first number on the enemy card reveals the strength of the enemy (here it would be 8). Both the hobbit and the enemy roll one dice and add the result to their strength. The enemy is defeated if the result of the hobbit is at least as high as the result of the enemy. For a defeated enemy the player will be granted a benefit (this can be movement points, hero points or a weapon) as it is written on the card. If however the hobbit looses the fight, he is re-positioned behind the next following member of the Fellowship. Then the new leading hobbit fights against the same enemy and in this combat the second number on the enemy card is his strength. Almost every enemy looses strength from fight to fight. So sometimes the enemy can only be defeated in the last (the third) combat, maybe against the same hobbit who lost the first fight. After the enemy is defeated (or not) the positions of the hobbits are compared. If the ring bearer is the last hobbit on the path to the next station, the ring is given to the new leader.

The hobbit with the most hero points at the end wins the game. Beside the hero-points for defeated enemies the players get points for reaching the stations. It is always good to be the first, because this player gets the most hero-points. The ring-bearer has the big advantage that he knows the next enemy and thus can decide where to place his hobbit. It is not necessarily an advantage to be the leader, especially when you know - as the ring bearer - that the next enemy is very strong. But on the other hand you will not get many hero-points as the last in line to reach the next station.

To sum up I would not say that the game is a unnecessary product like did Kulkmann in his first short review during the game convention. But compared with last years game of the Lord of the Rings, it is not really worth to buy it. The game-mechanism is quite simple without much tactics, so maybe it is something for younger players. As much as the design is concerned I am a little bit disappointed of the card-illustrations. There are a lot of screen-shots from the movie and I do not know why a game needs this. But this underlines my statement from the beginning that the truly is a merchandise product.