Years later, I can finally play my favorite Lord of the Rings game on Steam Deck

The Lego games all have a special place in my heart. There’s something so relaxing about jumping into a brick-based adventure in a familiar setting. This goes doubly for Lego The Lord of the Rings, which combines my favorite book with the comedy action of a Lego caper. However, I haven’t played the game in years. It’s one that I’ve been meaning to go back to, but never get the chance. I downloaded it on my Steam Deck when I got that, but the game simply wouldn’t run. That’s just changed, though, as the game’s latest update has made it Deck Verified.

Asking a Lord of the Rings fan their favorite game is liking asking me to pick my favorite child. It’s definitely not Gollum, that’s for sure, and that goes for the game, too. Battle for Middle-earth 2 is definitely in with a shout, especially as I’m not as keen on the Shadow series as a lot of players. They’re silly fun, but it was afflicted with a bad case of ‘ignore the lore-itis’ that got on my nerves too much.

Lego The Lord of the Rings is always there to catch me when other games would let me fall. As one of the best co-op games and most family-friendly fun around, it’s always a pleasure to dip back into the blocky Shire for another level or two.

Lego’s silly comedy and light platforming make all of its games a pleasure to return to, but the circumstances were never quite right to return to the brick-based game. It’s not the kind of thing I’d sit at my PC to play (I want to relax!) and it straight-up didn’t launch on my Steam Deck.

Thankfully, that has changed. The game’s most recent update has verified it as Steam Deck compatible. I’m downloading it to the device as we speak to test it for myself, but if Lego: The Lord of the Rings runs smoothly on Valve’s handheld, I’m doing nothing else until the Silksong release date later this week.

Of course, not every game that’s Deck Verified runs perfectly, but I’m crossing all of Frodo’s nine fingers that I can at least launch the game now. I can already envisage myself settling into my hobbit hole with a hearty second breakfast and Howard Shore’s stunning score emanating from my Steam Deck. Heck, if this would install any quicker I’d take off work early in order to start a new playthrough.

What’s even better, the game (and Lego: The Hobbit, which is the best way to enjoy those dire movies) is available at a sizeable discount right now. Lego The Lord of the Rings is available on Steam for just $3.99 / £3.19. You can buy it here.

If you’re after a similar experience while you, too, wait for your download to finish, try out some of the best fantasy games. If you just want some bangers for Valve’s handheld, regardless of genre, our list of the best Steam Deck games is also at your service.

If you want to chat about which Lord of the Rings games are the most fun (or the most canonical), hop into our community Discord server and chat about it with readers and staff alike.