The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Trick-Taking Game FAQ
66 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Trick-Taking
Tower Cards
- Does a Tower card that is led set the lead suit of the trick?
- Can you lead a trick with a Tower card when you still hold other cards?
- If a Tower is led and only Orcs cards follow, who wins the trick?
- Can you play an Orcs card after a Tower card is led, even if you hold a card of a suit?
- Does the White Tower holder take the White Tower token before playing the card?
Character Goals
Additional Rules
Chapter-Specific Questions (Chapters 19–22)
- In Chapter 19, what does it mean that Boromir cannot win more tricks when the Black Tower is set aside?
- In Chapter 21, can Grishnákh exchange away the Black Tower he receives?
- In Chapter 21, when Grishnákh exchanges with the Black Tower player, what is the order of the passes?
- When Treebeard leads a trick, what happens to the card under the White Tower token?
- When Treebeard follows suit or plays off-suit, which card goes under the White Tower token?
- Does Treebeard's Chapter 22 objective count tricks or Forest cards?
- In Chapter 22, how do Quickbeam's Hills cards work?
Chapter-Specific Questions (Chapters 23–24)
- Does Gandalf the White keep replacing his face-up card each time he plays it?
- Can another character exchange for the face-up card that Gandalf the White holds, and can he play the card he receives?
- After Chapter 22, is the deck changed back for Chapter 23 (Fangorn and Hills cards)?
- In Chapter 23, must both Old Men in White flip even if one of them never wins a trick?
- In Chapter 23, do the players know which Old Man in White is Gandalf and which is Saruman?
- In Chapter 24 (Wormtongue's Counsel), who performs the setup actions first, and does the White Tower holder announce it?
- In solo Chapter 24, how is the starting deal done, and is the Black Tower dealt in?
- In Chapter 24, can a character change the card they tucked, or tuck a new card after untucking?
Chapter-Specific Questions (Chapters 25–28)
- In Chapter 25, if a completed character is selected again, does it become uncompleted?
- In Chapter 25, when a Forests card leads and you hold both Forests and Orcs, may you choose which to play?
- On Helm's Deep's round 4 event, can an Orcs card follow a Forests lead?
- In Chapter 25 round 3, which completed character may fill the extra slot when the event names Éomer or Théoden?
- In Chapter 25, if Aragorn fails his goal in a round, does the whole Siege chapter restart?
- In Chapter 25, does failing one character's objective lose the round?
- In Chapter 25, must every character complete their goal by round 4, or can a miss be made up later?
- In Chapter 25, what happens to the leftover cards after dealing the hands with two Orcs added?
- In Chapter 25, can Gimli and Legolas both be selected in the same round?
- In Chapter 25 Helm's Deep, do the Orcs added in each round carry over?
- In Chapter 25½, how must a character tuck and swap cards that the horse does not want?
- In Chapter 25½, must Gimli or Legolas still tuck a card if they have no Mountain or Forest card?
- How does Pippin's Palantír ability in Chapter 28 work?
The Rings Suit
Weariness Cards
Tower Events
- Under the Dead Marshes event, can a Shadows card follow a Weariness or Tower lead?
- What does the Chapter 29 Tower event do with the White Tower?
- In a Tower event exchange, can a character give the event a Weariness card?
- In Chapter 30, which card is the lost card when the Dead Marshes event sets none aside?
- In the Chapter 31½ Haradrim promo, which Tower event applies when the card says Black Tower?
Chapter-Specific Questions (Chapters 29–36)
- Which cards leave the main deck for Part 2 (Chapter 29 onward)?
- In Chapter 35 solo, how does Shelob's setup work with Sam?
- In Chapter 35, what is the correct card count for the setup, and why might a card be left over?
- In the 2-player Chapter 36 setup, when is the simultaneously revealed card taken relative to building the pyramid?
Rule Changes for 2 Players
- If Gandalf the White is assigned to the 2-player pyramid, how is his lost card treated?
- In a 2-player game, where does a card the pyramid receives go, and does it replace the card given away?
- In a 2-player Siege with a pyramid dummy hand, does Aragorn's pass to the left go clockwise and include the dummy hand?
- In a 2-player game, which Chapter 25 rules apply, and is Gamling the Old used?
Solo Setup
- In solo play, how many cards does each starting hand get?
- In solo Part 1, are both Tower cards dealt into the opening hands?
- In solo Part 2 (Chapter 29 onward), which cards go into the starting hands, and is there a lost card?
- In solo play, are the starting cards dealt face up to the four hands?
- In solo play, which side of double-sided characters such as Legolas, Gimli or Aragorn should be used?
- In solo play, how many exchanges can you make during setup?
- In solo, does Gandalf the White's ability to replace his face-up card apply when he plays the lost card?
- In solo, if both Tower cards land in the same starting hand, what can you do?