The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict demo at Slumberland BD World

A week before it reaches the shops, The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict gets a test table in Belval. Slumberland BD World, the comic and games shop in Belval Plaza, runs an in-store demo with the distributor Asmodee on Friday 6 November, from 14:00 to 17:00. In French the game is called Le Seigneur des Anneaux : Cercle du Conflit, and the French edition is the one on the shop’s announcement.

What is Circle of Conflict?

A strategy dice game set in Middle-earth, for 2 to 4 players aged 14 and up. It was designed by Geoff Engelstein and Stephen Buonocore and is published by Office Dog. The twist is in the name: every player commands both sides of the War of the Ring at once. You lead the Free Peoples against the Shadow of the player on your left, and the Shadow against the Free Peoples of the player on your right, so the whole table turns into a ring of rivalries.

How does it play?

Each round, everyone works from the same dice roll, then secretly splits what it gives between their two sides, marking choices on erasable boards: raising nations, recruiting characters, marching armies into battle. Underneath it all, your Fellowship creeps unseen towards Mount Doom while your neighbour’s Shadow hunts it, guessing where it is and piling on Corruption. Destroy the Ring, corrupt the rival Fellowship or win your battles: the player with the most victory points at the end wins.

What happens at the demo?

Slumberland says you can learn how the game works, take part in the conflict and find out whether you would make a hero of Middle-earth. Anyone who pre-orders the game in the shop that afternoon receives a set of four illustrated microfibre cloths, while stocks last. The game goes on sale on 13 November.

Good to know

• When: Friday 6 November 2026, 14:00 to 17:00.
• Where: Slumberland BD World, inside Belval Plaza, avenue du Rock’n’Roll.
• Booking and price: Slumberland’s announcement mentions neither.
• Language: the announcement is in French, and the copy shown is the French edition.
• Age: the publisher rates the game 14 and up.

Staying on into the evening? Kneecap and Caravan Palace both play the Rockhal that Friday.