Pinside rating

This game received 1068 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.709 _/10

8.709

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks 1st in the game group "Lord of the Rings ". The group itself ranks #5 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game design: 8.937

Artwork: 8.367

Sounds/Music: 8.433

Other Aspects: 8.807

Rating comments

There are 606 rating comments for this game.

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 9 of us have rated this game.

9.137

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This game is part of a group

Note! There are multiple versions of this game!
This is "Lord of the Rings ".
The other version is: Lord of the Rings Limited Edition

Ranking history

An overview of this machine's ranking over the last years. Lower is better.

Rating history

An overview of this machine's rating over the last years. Higher is better.

Found 606 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 606 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 25.

List options

8.980/10

31 days ago

KDN

NeokAG

Pinside member

Sluiskil

<1y 18,900 3 3 6

I have this game for about a half year now and i still play it allmost every day, or at least weekly when busy from work.

I love the 4 different multiballs, the different modes, extra modes like "destroy the ring", "bash balrog", "there and back" or "ring frenzy".
This games has endless stuff to collect and modes to play. Shots are a bit difficult in the beginning, but after some practice it gets a bit more easy, but still very sattisfying.
Balltimes can be pretty long, but i like that in a pinball game :)

Sound and call outs are great, like the "SUPERJACKPOT WHAHAHAAAA"
And the different kinds of songs are nice too.

A weaker point is deffenitly the playfield artwork, it is not the best... but the gameplay makes me forget about that at all times.

If you never played this, YOU SHOULD!

NeokAG currently owns this game.

10.000/10

31 days ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside member

Rockwall, TX

<1y 64,050 1,170 7 32 2

Top game with zero flaws. Tons of shots, great toys, and an awesome theme. Great for home use, on location, or use in tournaments.
As a side note, there are a lot of great mods for this pin as well.

Daditude currently owns this game.

9.360/10

38 days ago

JAY

Jgel

Pinside member

7y 54,900 1,566 2 18

Wow, just great overall. No other game feels like LotR. If my collection was bigger it would stay. After you get good at the shots the games last too long but it is so much fun. Rules make sense. The Barlog is cool but not necessary. I do like it in the mode it fits in but the random Barlog serves no purpose. Everyone should own this game at least once.

Jgel edited previous rating on May 13, 2019.
Jgel has owned this game in the past.

9.500/10

38 days ago

TYK

TINKY

Pinside apprentice

Mainz

<1y 9,500 12

I love the theme. The gameplay of this pinball is challenging and fun. It´s just a perfect game.

9.396/10

52 days ago

VP

pipes

Pinside member

Toronto, ON

2y 52,550 677 8 6

Quite possibly the best Stern ever made and one of the best games - period. Perfect for the home environment in any size collection. Great rules and excellent layout with tons of unique toys and shots. Keeper!

pipes currently owns this game.

10.000/10

53 days ago

JAS

pinheadaustralia

Pinhead Australia

Townsville

<1y 32,150 1 39 21

This is the game i've racked up the most hours on. Destroying the ring was and still is a blast. Very progressive. Not good for comp play but a fantastic machine for the home and family. Theme is also second to none.

pinheadaustralia currently owns this game.

9.380/10

81 days ago

???

dex82

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

2y 11,000 2 26

Amazing pin, gameplay very deep! And valinor mode is very hard

9.804/10

89 days ago

LGR

Lowregs12

Pinside member

Tampa, FL

<1y 29,750 14 17

Have played this game a ton! Ruleset and code allow for even a casual fan of this game to get into it. Love the call outs, wish the animation included movie trailer files. Overall, one of the best games I've played.

Lowregs12 edited previous rating on May 13, 2019.
Lowregs12 currently owns this game.

7.160/10

3 months ago

???

cyberbear

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

<1y 10,000 21

I played this machine about 20 times, I was engrossed even though I am not a huge LOTR fan. I would say that this definitely the best stern (along with RBION) that I have played. This stern is the only one I would consider actually buying.

8.568/10

4 months ago

???

Patrunkenphat7

Pinside member

Charlottesville, VA

<1y 16,400 13 9

Amazing code. At the time it was the best in pinball. Almost everyone agrees that the rules for LotR score perfect.

Layout is fun but imperfect. Path of the Dead is annoying... It is repetitive and boring compared to other similar “upper path” areas like on IJ and TZ. Right ramp is a a bit of a clunker as well. But despite these flaws the layout is still solid.

There is no better theme than LotR... and it is integrated so well in this pin. I am dying for better playfield art... not only is it cheaply photoshopped, but the actual printing is washed out.

Overall I this is a great pin, undoubtedly top 20, but top 10 is understandable. Top 5 overrates it a bit...

Patrunkenphat7 edited previous rating on April 22, 2019.

4.090/10

4 months ago

BRI

United555

Pinside member

København

3y 18,700 42 17 9

I find this game borring - sorry!

5 Pinsiders flagged this rating/review.

9.600/10

5 months ago

RZR

Razorbuck

Pinside member

<1y 17,900 2 1 16

The more I play other games, the more I think about how great this game is. I played Attack of Mars, and while it was enjoyable, it couldn’t hold a candle to the game play experience of LoTR.

Razorbuck edited previous rating on January 12, 2019.
Razorbuck currently owns this game.

9.840/10

6 months ago

DRP

paynemic

Pinside member

Eagle, ID

4y 61,650 1,383 13 21

One of the best ever.

paynemic currently owns this game.

9.900/10

6 months ago

???

Yngwie

Pinside apprentice

Paradise Valley, AZ

<1y 16,250 11 10

This game is deep! I imagine this will get more and more fun the longer we have it.
Just scratching the surface!
Love the theme Some shots are easy, some are tough, nice mix

Yngwie edited previous rating on March 02, 2019.
Yngwie currently owns this game.

9.780/10

7 months ago

JTL

robojustin

Pinside member

Victoria, BC

1y 24,000 1 6 6

Talk about a pin with a lot going on! If you're a fan of the series you'll adore this game. If not? You'll probably still love it. I think its one of Stern's best early 2000's machines. The center ring/eye shot is rad, the barlog toy is a glowing feature of pure joy when activated, the sword ramp is an incredible touch and almost worth the price of play, the winding ramps are sure to bring a smile, and the toys suit the field perfectly. The gameplay is fun and rewarding, collecting your companions with different shots is a blast, and the modes are incredibly enjoyable...whether its out running the Nazgul, or escaping from Shelob, there's not one event that's a snooze. Great pin, great sound, playfield, great animations....easy to understand why its a top 10. With this one, Stern definitely has my sword for this journey.

3 Pinsiders starred this rating !

9.640/10

7 months ago

DAD

Damien

Pinside member

Toronto, ON

2y 70,300 2,002 7 10 1

This game is so good, that I even give a pass to the Stern clipart playfield, and it's pretty bad. I think the longer I own it, the more I realize that it's almost part of it's charm. The game does everything else so well, that it almost has to show a flaw. For me, the rules are a masterpiece. I've been just a few shots away from Valinor, yet, it seems so far away. It's the only game I've ever played that makes me feel like I'm part of the adventure. People say this sometimes about IJ, but I've owned it and never thought that. This game really pulls you in with perfectly placed sound bites, and a great musical score. I think I ever decide that I only need to keep one game, this could very well be the one.

Damien edited previous rating on October 16, 2018.
Damien currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders starred this rating !

9.640/10

8 months ago

NCA

Charliemouse

Pinside member

Wakefield

<1y 18,650 7 3 7

Only my 5th pin... but on a different level to anything else I've played or owned.
I'm a LOTR fan: books and movies... and the game has the massive advantage of the movie assets. It uses them well... but it's the rule set and game/play field design that really lift LOTR to the highest level of pinball.
Only my spending on mods means it's not perfect lol.
CM

Charliemouse edited previous rating on November 22, 2018.
Charliemouse currently owns this game.

9.800/10

8 months ago

DDS

Shubbydoo

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

<1y 10,750 1 23

One of my all time favorite pinball machines. I own one now and it is my second one. It has everything so its tough to knock of any points on this game. I find it tougher then what some folks say but I usually have my pins set of difficult with the outlanes opened up. The game has great flow and a great rule set. Music, sound, callouts, artwork package, toys all seem to work with the software. If you're a LOTR fan that is icing on the cake. I highly recommend this game. You won't regret owning LOTR.

Shubbydoo has owned this game in the past.

9.560/10

9 months ago

BDM

brianmcculloh

Pinside member

Avon, IN

3y 33,650 82 2 24

Lots of shots, always new things to be doing, great flow in the orbits and ramps, colorful in a good way.

brianmcculloh has this game on the wishlist.

7.848/10

9 months ago

MCM

middaleman

Pinside member

15y 45,150 7 37

Good game. Not quite as good as some make it out to be, but it's fun to play and has a solid rule set and some tough shots.

7.448/10

9 months ago

???

CptUniverse

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

<1y 8,250 1 14

A fine game, could/should have been great!

9.140/10

11 months ago

OWL

n1teowl

Pinside member

4y 49,550 377 5 9

Great theme integration with excellent callouts. Tons of variety on the packed fan layout with lots of interesting toys. The ring shot is always satisfying. Can be a long player and sometimes one game is enough.

n1teowl currently owns this game.

9.356/10

12 months ago

ZOM

rpageler

Pinside member

Seattle, WA

5y 35,900 99 5 8

I've had this game about 3 weeks now and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I find it more difficult than most claim but i have set it up hard. Can tend to get going on a longer game but i haven't found that to be an issue yet. I also haven't found the sound quality to be as bad as some have claimed but i wonder if it varies from machine to machine. In general, the game will keep your interest and not disappoint - deserves its place in the top 10. Not sure how kid friendly the theme is. i love it but some kids may find it a little intense. This is one of my favorite pins and even more so now that i have one and can truly dive into the rules.
Pros: theme, music, animations (colordmd well worth it on this machine), flow, toys (ring and balrog), variety of skillshots, ramps, and the RULES/Depth
Cons: playfield art. Can see what others mean about photoshop quality used. the art chosen and used is good but could have been executed better . a lot of comments exist about path of the dead. it is a slower shot but sometimes i try to use it to get a 5 second break.

rpageler edited previous rating on May 29, 2018.
rpageler currently owns this game.

9.008/10

1 year ago

CAD

retrotilt

Pinside member

Prosper, TX

6y 65,150 62 12 53

First, the negatives. This is one of the worst multi player games in existence. Ball times can be a bit long (although everything is adjustable) and switching players breaks up the epic journey feeling of the pin. Also, the playfield artwork is a little muddy and some of the sound clips seem to be sampled at a lower quality rate.

The positives? Everything else. This game is immersive in so many ways. It's an epic journey and the "on a quest" feeling that the game gives you is unrivaled. The music enhances the theme and it fits the action perfectly. This game also has great voice work and some of the best custom call outs in pinball. The code is deep, the modes offer plenty of variety, and playing thru the movie themed multi-ball modes is the perfect balance of challenging and fun. The game is also loaded with great shots and nailing the center ring shot never gets old. Great custom dot animations round out the package and make a ColorDMD a must have on this title. Overall, this is a top tier pinball machine that arguably offers the best immersive experience in pinball.

retrotilt currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders starred this rating !

9.840/10

1 year ago

MCH

Pinkitten

Pinside member

Williamston, MI

1y 63,300 148 14 49 1

After years of ignoring this game (I’m not familiar with the movies, but I love the 1977 animated Hobbit), I decided to read up on this game and started to play it in local bars. I was immediately struck by how inspired it feels. The ramps are unique. The playfield is complicated but tasteful. Artwork, music and callouts are very good. The code is excellent and deep. Plenty to do. You don’t have to be a fan of the movies. This game stands on its own. Maybe the best long-ball adventure game I’ve played. I soon wanted to own one. Now I see why this game is so highly regarded. It’s not really that hard, but it depends a lot on your settings. Just a really unique game designed and built by a lot of talented people. Probably Stern’s crown jewel.

*UPDATE - I traded my first LOTR and missed it too much. So I found an even nicer one and bought it again. Beautiful, balanced adventure game with fantastic sound and perfect rules. Great shot variety. This one is staying.

Pinkitten edited previous rating on November 19, 2018.
Pinkitten currently owns this game.

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There are 606 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 25.

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