The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
The only survival crafting game set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth™. Embark on an epic journey to reclaim the Dwarven homeland of Moria, and explore, craft, and build in procedurally generated worlds. Play as a solo adventurer, or join friends in co-op gameplay for up to 8 players.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ is a open world survival craft, dwarf and base-building game
developed by Free Range Games
and published by North Beach Games.
Released on August 27th 2024 is available only on Windows
in 9 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil and Simplified Chinese.
It has received 7,697 reviews of which 6,418 were positive and 1,279 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.1 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 15.68€ on Steam with a 36% discount.
The Steam community has classified The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
- Processor: Intel® Core i5 (Quad Core or better)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 20 GB available space
- Additional Notes: SSD Recommended
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
First things first, I am recommending this game purely from the perspective of a LotR mega-fan. If I wasn't one, I unfortunately wouldn't recommend it to a general audience. My thumbs up is as a mega-fan, to other mega-fans. The devs clearly care about the universe, and I think future games could be genuinely good. This is the reason I felt the need to write this review- the Very Positive rating (at the time this was written) could be misleading to a general survival game audience. With that caveat out of the way, onto the actual review. The core idea of this game is fantastic! Unfortunately, the execution was sloppy due to the developers focusing too much on current trends in the genre, instead of building something that actually fits in with LotR. What I mean by this is the game is basically a mediocre survival-crafter at best, with a LotR paint job slapped on top of it. The paint job can be cool and shiny in some places (almost exclusively related to the lore/world building), and truly repulsive at it's worst (procedural generation of the map, progression, building, art style, combat, wait isn't that literally every aspect of a game?!?). As I write everything out, it is making me more begrudgingly give that thumbs up. I think my opinion of this game is a great example of how new media related to old and beloved IP's can really ride the coattails of the wonderful lore it was originally built upon. And that's my point with the caveat above, if this was some random new IP in a previously unknown universe, I would be telling you all to avoid this game like the plague. It was those little snippets of: actually standing in a massively significant location from the lore, conversing with the legendary Gimli son of Gloin, uncovering secrets about the Dark Lords and the long-lasting impacts of their actions on Middle Earth. Those hidden gems scratched that itch of learning something new about my favorite fantasy universe enough to recommend this game to others that have the same itch as me. With the positives out of the way (yikes, that's it?), I will address my issues with this game as a gamer, not a LotR fan. As a reference point it took me 47 hours to beat the main story line on normal difficulty, entirely alone. I didn't use any guides or videos except one because I couldn't for the life of me figure out where to find rubies. Didn't do any farming or brewing, my dwarf survived entirely on mushroom stew, salted meat, and abakhs through the whole playthrough (take that how you will). This is pretty much spoiler free. 1. Procedural World Generation: this is the biggest gripe I had with the game. Why the devs decided to hop on board with this trend I will never understand. Procedural generation, at its core, is used to make exploration more exciting and encourage subsequent play-throughs. The system in this game is so janky it completely misses in both of those areas. I lost interest in exploration by the fourth zone (from then on I just rushed through to find the items I needed to continue to the next one), and I am confident there is nothing new I could see or experience in a second play-through. Some of the transitions between zones or even areas within the same zone are downright jarring, and make zero sense from a lore perspective. The in-game map is nearly useless, you pretty much just have to rely on memory at a certain point. In my opinion, the map should have been handcrafted start to finish and I will die on that hill. 2. Progression: it was hard to decide if this should be #1 or #2. I went with #2 because an awesome map that is fun to explore will still give you the motivation to push through a not-so-awesome progression system (sadly this game had neither). The progression is bad. It is super repetitive... the formula is almost exactly the same in each zone: enter new zone > current gear is weak against enemies which are a slight variation on the previous zone's enemies > find new gear recipes by rebuilding statues while avoiding enemies at all cost > mine new ore needed in those recipes while avoiding enemies at all cost > sometimes find special forge to craft new gear, or just craft at base > become unstoppable once you have upgraded weapons > faceroll the zone and orc stronghold > complete main quest objective > move on to next zone. Rinse and repeat. It's all the same, the strongholds are all identical, rebuilding the forges is all the same, the zones look different but there's nothing unique about progressing through them, the few actual boss fights (not warchiefs) are decent but few and far between. Mining basically one node of each new material was enough for me to get fully kitted out, the hardest part was finding the recipes in the first place. Lastly, you quickly realize there is almost no incentive to building multiple bases, it is purely a waste of time progression-wise and not fun at all due to a bad building system (will get into that next). With the current progression system, you are much better off getting firmly dug in to one location and expanding as you progress. Just always bring materials to make a campfire, a map stone, and a repair smithy wherever you go and you're set. It just shouldn't be that way, it should feel like you're actually clearing out Khazad-dûm, and establishing your own strongholds as you go. 3. Building: building just straight up sucks. There are two key reasons for this in my opinion. First, you can't really "clean up" or rebuild areas completely. Oh, you like this area and want to build a base here? Sure, you can, but you're going to have to deal with these ruins that you can't clear for... reasons, and they will make your base look like a decrepit hovel no matter how much work you put into it. There are so many areas where you just... can't destroy or repair things... WHY? Second issue is the grid system. It sucks, it's super limiting, and the worst part is it doesn't even line up with the existing structures sometimes... again... WHY?? You can't put anything on an angle, so if you wanted to build in a cool area that isn't aligned with the grid- well that's too damn bad, find somewhere else or deal with everything you build looking horrifically out of place. 4. Art style/graphics : I'll keep this one short, my review is turning into a LotR novel of its own. Art style was a miss for me overall. The game looks okay-ish here and there, but in general just... bleh. Really starts to weigh on you by the last couple zones. A lot of lighting issues, textures just look off, feels like a game from the Xbox 360/PS3 era. I was running the game on a 4070 Super. 5. Combat: in comparison to other survival games, combat is pretty much on par. The spots where it stands out negatively are the lack of diversity and enemy AI. Long story short combat is basically bonk everything until it dies- there is very little variation needed in strategy. While there are different weapon types, they are all pretty much the same each tier. I played around with all the different types early on and found that it was best to just get whatever one you unlocked first in the next tier, put the extra orc damage rune on it, and move on. Once you get the crossbow it replaces the bow, end of story for ranged combat. Enemy AI is decent sometimes but also pretty janky. They just spawn out of thin air a lot- I don't mean when they come out of the ground or jump from the ceiling, I mean like straight up out of thin air in front of you. I cheesed every single warchief because their AI was so bad with pathing, I also found that you can easily cheese hordes. I know I chose to do that and exploit the weak AI, but I only did it because combat became such a slog towards the end of the game I wanted to avoid it as much as possible. If you made it this far, I hope my review was insightful in some way. Thanks for taking the time to read through it!
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This game is like 80% of the way to being great, but that 20% is plagued with bizarre design and game balance choices that make it a little frustrating. There was absolutely love for LOTR put into this game, though, which is pretty nice to see. Pick it up on a sale if you love Lord of the Rings and survive-'em-ups, and are looking for a new one to scratch the itch, but brace yourself for things to be a little rough around the edges.
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I absolutely loved this game. I finished my playthrough of the story at just shy of 70 hours. I love nearly everything about this game. The graphics are good, the crafting is good, the story is good....its just a well rounded survival/crafting game that leans more into the crafting side. My entire playthough was also done co-op with a friend on PS5, which connecting with them was smooth and easy. The combat can be a little janky and sometimes there are some jumps in difficulty that made me want to rip my hair out, but the difficulty settings are decently modifiable, more than the standard Easy, Medium, Hard. Plus having a procedurally generated environment, the terrain and buildings can sometimes be a little wonky. If you're a fan of The Lord Of Rings universe, I truly believe you will like this game. Theres a ton of lore and backstory to the dwarves, including the mythical Durin. It also has nods to the Fellowship peppered in throughout the entire story. Overall I give this game a solid 9.5 out of 10. I adore this game so much.
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The problem with these reviews is that they demand my opinion on the game, and with "Return to Moria", I'm having a hard time sussing out my overall feelings about it. The game itself? It's one of many open-world survival games. You know the type; you start the game naked and have to build up your gear from local resources. This game's hook --the thing that sets it apart from similar games in the genre-- is that it's set in the "Lord of the Rings" universe. I suppose it does that fairly well; it doesn't quite ape the Peter Jackson aesthetics, but the similarity is easy to see and it looks quite nice, if a bit cartoonish. But it doesn't really do anything with the license; for all that it's called "Return to Moria" and features some known characters and monsters, it all comes across as pretty generic fantasy. Of course, this is somewhat expected, given the genre of game (survival games aren't known for their characters or narratives) but the use of the IP seems a bit wasted. Mechanically, the gameplay itself is fine. Set within the confines of Moria, it's not really open-world. The maps are procedurally generated, but there are very definitive borders; stone walls that you just can't hack through no matter how strong your pick-axe. This limits how expansive your constructions can become, and this may turn off some fans of the genre. Similarly, being constrained by the "Lord of the Rings" license, you don't get the same range of upgrades you might find in other games. This isn't a title where you start banging two rocks together but by the end you're building jet-packs and robot-miners. An hour into the game you'll have a pick-axe and be building wooden stairs; sixty hours later its pretty much the same, even if your pick-axe is now made of mithril and your stairs of adamant. The mining is surprisingly fun; there's a lot of procedural deformation that lets you hack away at the terrain and at buildings. It's not quite up to the standards of "Red Faction: Guerrilla", as a lot of that destructibility is limited to specific areas of the map, but it's still fairly impressive tech. My biggest problem with the game really has nothing to do with the game itself. Nominally, I think the developers expected players to enter the world, explore a bit, mine for resources so they could build up their equipment and bases that would then let them explore the next bit of Moria (there are five 'regions' in total, each locked behind certain tech upgrades). There would be a constant sense of momentum as you moved ever forward through the game. Except... that's just not how I play games. Give me a map, and I'll want to explore every bit of it. Give me a map where good chunks of the maps can be picked away, and I will mine every bit of rock until I hit the inevitable unbreakable borders. And when I entered the fourth region --a vast underground city of ruins-- I gazed at the wreckage and sighed, knowing I'd just have to repair every single building before I'd let myself move forward. You can imagine, this slowed by progress to a crawl... but what was I to do, not explore every nook and cranny, and not vacuum up every piece of loot or vendor-trash? Nosiree! I'm leaving Moria in a better state than I found it. It's only considerate, after all! Which is why, I am embarrassed to admit, I didn't actually finish the game. (Actually, it being a procedurally generated survival game, I'm not entirely sure it has an end, but I didn't even get into the fifth region). Ultimately, after 70 or so hours, I just ran out of steam. I don't entirely blame the game --a lot of the tedium I faced was of my own making-- but I might have lasted a bit longer if there was more variety and atmosphere. As it was, by hour fifty I felt as if I was just exploring for the sake of exploring; there was nothing driving me forward except for the fact that the game expected me to do so. The TL;DR is that the game is fine; it's an average example of the genre that will probably satisfy most fans of survival sims. But it's definitely not a game for an obsessive explorer and collector like myself. There's too much to explore, and not enough to collect. But at the same time, "Return to Moria" did occupy me for over 70 hours, and I don't consider that time entirely wasted. So that's gotta be a positive. If you're a more sensible player and aren't expecting anything too novel, it's fine; not great, but a fair example of the genre. But if you're an obsessive explorer/collector like me, maybe wait until the game is on sale.
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I've played this game since its launch on Epic a year ago (it released as an Epic exclusive). Epic says I have 648 hours played on the game at the time of this review. Feel free to verify it, my tag is FireManeDavy. The developers of this game are a tiny team, but, they are nerds for Lord of the Rings and that love shows throughout the game in its lore, plus its attention to detail. When this game launched, it needed some TLC. It has gotten that in the form of a handful of massive updates that add new content and fix tons of issues. I love Dwarves, I love LOTR, and I love survival craft so I love this game a lot. A year ago this was priced at $40 on Epic, I'd say I've gotten tons of value out of that $40 and now it's a steal for its new regular price of $20 or $25. The developers are really receptive to feedback and always help out in their discord. They deserve all of the good fame they get from this game IMO. Edit: I have adjusted some information in my original review. I am going to go more into depth with my review of the game and review the aspects for which I love it. COMBAT: This one is a huge one that seems to irk a lot of people. It can feel hack and slashy at times. But, you can change the difficulty settings to tune combat to how you'd like. In a world, scroll over to settings and difficult. You can change things such as: 1) Aggressiveness of enemies (how frequently enemies attack and how many attack you all at once). 2) Combat difficulty (how much health enemies have and how much damage they deal) 3) Patrol Frequency, Siege Frequency, and Horde Frequency (these settings change how often patrols and sieges on your base happen. For hordes, it affects how much noise you make and how frequently hordes can ambush you when it happens). There is a new item called Abakhs which are basically just temporary buffs to give yourself as well which you can find in barrels, crates, or chests found around Moria. Some such as the Power Abakh give you a boost to attack damage which can help you if you prefer to fight your foes, like me. You also have Cleansing Abakhs to get rid of poison, and a Resolve Abakh to get rid of despair and shadow. There are 8 different kinds. There are also a couple of other difficulty settings to adjust now as well such as mining drops and drops from enemies. Fine-tune combat the way you'd like it. I do think the telegraphing of enemy attacks could be better, but, the game stands to get better over time. BUILDING: This is not as robust as other survival craft games like Valheim. You have a grid system to place your pieces on and currently, you can only rotate the pieces 90 degrees. The building in this game shines in the late game, which is unfortunate because I feel like a lot of people base the building on the early game, where you do not unlock much in the way of building options other than function. There are tons of building accents to build, pieces that can be phased into each other, golden floors, golden walls, Dwarven banners, rugs, and furniture! There are also monuments of the various Durins to build. The only downside IMO is that you have to build some things within the radius of a hearth, not unlike Valheim where you have to build within the radius of a workbench. Building is one of my favorite things to do in games like this, I like building my own buildings and tearing down the RNG ones. Though, sometimes, the RNG ones are pretty nice and, if they're intact enough, I will repair it use it. Indeed, you do not have to build a base if you use an RNG building, but, it's more fun for me to tear things down, clean up an area, and then build my imagination of things. I love how everything looks when I have crystal lamps everywhere in various colors. Feel free to check out some of the cool builds we made before the update on the discord in the challenge #3 thread. One of my submissions is on there as well. STORY (SPOILERS) The story is simple. You are a company of dwarves led by a descendant of Thorin and Gimli himself who cannot get into Khazad-Dum. You accidentally find yourself in Khazad-Dum and must survive with the help of a loyal friend and raven of Erebor, Aric, son of Arac. Throughout the game, your character(s) will have dialogue on various things you see in Moria. With plenty of lore to find and read, including lore surrounding Balin's attempt to reclaim Moria. You encounter a dragon which uses dark magic to cast cursed runs and shadow all over Moria, preventing the dwarves from entering outside. After slaughtering a massive Troll King, and with the help of Thorinn, you learn an ancestral recipe to slay the dragon. The final fight is pretty typical. 2 Phases. 1st Phase a large arena with dialogue fitting of a Peter Jackson film of how the dragon's own horde is not gold, but, the bones of fallen dwarves. You go on to the second phase to kill the dragon. It ends with you walking out of Khazad-Dum and you being crowned as the new Lord of Moria. Not before a 1-on-1 talk with the Gimli himself. SANDBOX VS. CAMPAIGN What's the difference? For beginners, I recommend campaign mode. Think of campaign mode as a ride on a roller coaster. It is scripted and there is linear progression and certain areas that you progress through. The way you learn recipes is different as well. You will typically progress to new areas, rebuild statues to learn recipes, get new materials or gems that unlock other recipes such as upgrades to workstations, and then build those to level yourself with enemies. Or you can use Abakhs to level the playing field as well while you explore. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to the game and your progression. Seeds can still vary, such as the rooms that make up those areas. In Sandbox, the equation is flipped a bit. There is still a "story" to beat the dragon. But, it is not linear at all nor scripted. There are 4 levels (floors up) and 4 deeps (floors down) that are their own miniature maps. Room generation is different and even room types are different as well. There are different weapons and armor that you wouldn't find in the campaign. But, like Valheim, you can bring your character between worlds and so long as they have things in their inventory they'd bring that with them. Everything is "scrambled" so to speak, the second you leave the "beginning area" where you find yourself in Moria and hop the wall it is randomly generated. Pros and Cons of Sandbox? Pros are: there tend to be way more resources to gather overall in the sandbox. Sandbox feels more like a traditional survival craft experience with unexpected areas at every turn. Every new area feels cool to explore (and that is true even in the campaign). Cons are: that the map is 2D atm. You have to get creative with waypoints when there are multiple floors within a "level" or "deep" that technically do not breach the height for the next floor. It does get a bit confusing too. But, it's not completely unmanageable with the filters in the map pane. MISCELLANEOUS THINGS I LIKE: SINGING: Singing for almost everything. I love the mining songs and the drinking songs. They give buffs too which is really cool. Singing to the monuments of Durin about his founding of Khazad-Dum honestly never gets old. QOL: Tons of QOL since this game launched. Ambient music while exploring and music when you're next to a hearth. It doesn't play constantly which is a good mix of their original intention of you hearing the vast emptiness of Moria, but, with periods of nice music too! Additional chests for increased storage space - and they look cool! Increased pallet sizes too are nice. Depositing similar items and sorting inventory is also a lifesaver. Scooping up tons of items on the ground by pressing and holding the pickup button was SO necessary (we remember the days of picking up everything 1 by 1). More voice lines! There's new voice lines after you finish a song. It's a small change, but, I enjoy it. Out of space. 10/10!
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Last Updates| Steam data | 12 April 2025 01:13 |
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| SteamSpy data | 10 April 2025 10:02 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 20:50 |
| Steam reviews | 12 April 2025 19:50 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™
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- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ compatibility
Online players
1,841
Developer
Free Range Games
Publisher
North Beach Games
Release
27 Aug 2024
Platforms