With the legendary 'Lord of the Rings' fantasy book series literally inventing so much of what is used in fantasy role-playing games today it was inevitable that the series itself would be ripe for gaming. Surprisingly enough, even though there were some games released throughout the eighties and nineties, it was the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies that shifted interest if Lord of the Rings game into high gear.
The first game, released before the renewed popularity after the films, was The Hobbit back in 1982. It was available for popular computer systems of the time and proved to be a capable adventure game. There were sporadic releases after that until the flood gates were opened in 2002. Since then there have been dozens of games released for most popular consoles and computer systems, some directly based on the movies, while others are simply based on the lore/universe. With the last movie being released in 2014, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, it will be interesting to see if the series goes into a more dormant period again or if the popularity continues to drive releases.
