Over the last couple of weeks I have experimented a couple of times with playing The Lord of the Rings as a solitaire game. Frodo goes on his quest all alone, and gets 4 cards at Rivendell and at Lothlorien. He also gets the two cards for being the ringbearer at the end of each board. It worked very well - there was still a tremendous feeling of rising pressure from the events and the corruption track, even though all the decisions were down to me and there were no other players to throw spanners in. The first time I lost very early, on the Shelob's Lair board, but the second time I actually completed the quest and destroyed the ring - a new experience for me, even in playing multiplayer! Next time I'll use it as an opportunity to learn the rules for the Friends and Foes expansion which is waiting at home on the gaming table for its first outing.