The Lord of the Rings as Convergent Game Play - Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games - page 37

cooperative discussion to occur between us all while making decisions as a group
about how to progress, whom to save, and whom to leave behind. We became
co-constructors of our narrative: this most dramatically manifested when our
game literally depended on the results of one dice roll, which sadly, we lost.
he Complete Trilogy also functions as an example of convergence culture,
especially as it relates to audience empowerment. Although the aesthetics of
the game follow Peter Jackson's ilmic version of the story, the actual game play
difers signiicantly. In he Complete Trilogy, the game board is a giant map of
Middle-earth. he game board itself is constructed from twelve interlocking
pieces, which do not allow structured breaks as in Knizia's version (see Figure 2.3
for one of those pieces). While it is an enjoyable experience to join the pieces
together—and the fact they “it” with the game version of Jackson's he Hobbit
series of ilms as well makes them particularly useful as paratextual tools—they
ultimately do not shit or move and simulate a traditional immobile game board.
he luidity of the game is uninterrupted by breaks in the action, as characters
might be constantly moving around the static board. 39
In one game we created a storyline wherein the Nazgûl inhabited the Shire,
near Hobbiton, and destroyed all the escaping Hobbits. Aragon and Boromir
were constantly getting into scrapes, and Frodo was antisocial and only wanted
to mope. As Gray describes, citing Ellen Seiter, toys can become “generative of
their own meanings,” and as “'mass-media goods, these kind of toys actually
facilitate group, co-operative play, by encouraging children to make up stories
with shared codes and narratives.” 40 he stories that our group made up during
our he Complete Trilogy game play diverged greatly from those of Jackson's
Figure 2.3 A piece of Middle-earth. Photo by the author. 39