The game takes place over 12 rounds, with one player assuming the role of the Goblins of Moria and the other that of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Turns begin with the Goblin player drawing the number of Goblin cards shown in the rulebook and placing any additional Goblin reinforcements (and possibly the Cave Troll as well) in the appropriate positions, then each miniature can move and attack or attack and move or pass the shift; the Goblin player performs these actions with all of his miniatures and once he has none left, the Fellowship player can finally activate his characters.

Once the movements and attacks have been made with all the miniatures in play, the turn ends and the next turn goes on.

At the end of the 12 game turns the Fellowship player wins if he has at least three characters left alive including Frodo; if instead Frodo is killed but the Fellowship player still has at least 3 characters still alive the result of the game is a tie, while if there are less than 3 Fellowship players alive, the Goblin player wins.