Felt like the game had great ideas, a good team for many aspects...but then were forced to rush critical pieces or else lacked access to fairly crucial elements of the Tolkein legendarium that are required for this undertaking.

My wife and I played this for around 73 hours and I don't feel it was worth it. In summary, the time invested was rewarded with a few half decent cut scenes, solid armour cosmetics, cut-and-paste biomes, hack-and-slash combat, John Rhys-Davies reprising Gimli for 10 mins of overall speech, agonising hide-and-seek to find basic items, poorly explained limitations (i.e., salt is way more rare and valuable than mithril or adamant), mega-grindy mechanics, sparse customisation beyond character facial features and an small colour swatch for fixed armour designs. Even the "end" is pretty lacklustre - essentially Gimli hits you with a "Yay! You made it out of the cave - now go back in and make it nicer cause Durin may come one day."

I would say there was maybe a 15 hour window where we knew what to do, difficulty was enough to fire up the adrenaline sporadically, there were vague allusions to a storyline(ish) and there was a mix of building, mining and fighting that was alright.

However, if you're making a *mining* game then perhaps figure out and build in the mining mechanics. Floating debris that obstructs movement, ludicrously stupid and needlessly tiny irksome hit boxes, no physics simulations (i.e., cascading debris when undermining sections) and no consideration of what might be required to secure collapsing walls (something like braces) really kept you from being immersed. Where there are rooms with falling rocks, these target you as if Saruman himself is conjuring them over your head and these can even reach you when you're sheltered inside an ore vein, breaking yet more laws of physics.

In addition to being incapable of simulating a modicum of realism in the mining department, it was not uncommon to break free from the limited immersion by being stalled and forced to stand in front of an "invisible" dotted wall for 30 seconds as terrains and textures loaded. Add to this regular crashes of the game and both of our computers, and basic gameplay significantly suffered. (For contrast, I'm running full spec Ghost of Tsushima with nary a problem.)

Add to that a very irritating pool of basic songs that were never in time with mining swings (kind of the point of a working song?), were about either killing bears (not really the core interest of Dwarfs?) or about Bilbo...Now, I'm sure these Dwarves liked Bilbo, but the expedition was led by Gimli so surely his tales were of his adventures more than Bilbo's hobbit hole? Layer over that the Dwarves had about 1,000 years of history pre-Bilbo - perhaps the battles with Azog, the Five Armies, the Mountain King (not just the fulfilled prophecy), the migration to the Blue Mountains, the history of the Iron Hills, the War in the North, etc. - maybe a few of those might have been deemed worthy of a couple of songs by the Dwarf bards? It might also be less grating if you weren't forced to listen to those ad naseum - while spending a needlessly painful 30 seconds drinking any pint (key to getting buffs) or while mining (something you probably spend about 40% of game time doing).

Overall, I liked the idea of this game and desperately wanted to love it...sadly, the end result is lacking. There are a number of Easter Eggs, yet even these are either too on the nose, too contrived or ultimately deficient of Tolkein-esque substance. If you want a mining game, there are others that have figured out physics and engineering. If you want to play a Tolkein game, this one nods to canon but lacks the depth and substance that a true fan craves/requires. Appreciate much of these shortcomings are likely due to IP limitations, but as with Rings of Power, if you can't do it well and honour the source material (which is backed by a militant fanbase), maybe it's not the right time to do it.

Takfa Durin Khidrir.
10/10

To be honest, I should hate this game. There’s plenty that doesn’t quite work, and the inconsistencies with the original lore are hard to ignore. But somehow, it wins me over because when it works, it really works. The game nails just enough of that Lord of the Rings vibe to feel authentic and delivers a surprisingly solid survival-lite experience.

The problem? It’s rough around the edges. The UI feels clunky, and the gameplay could use a good round of polish. With a little more refinement, this could have gone from a good game to a truly exceptional one, and that’s the real shame.

Still, despite all that, I’ve had more fun with this than with many recent survival titles even beating out Enshrouded. I’d happily recommend it at full price to any LOTR or dwarf fan, and it’s worth grabbing on sale if you’re into survival games. If you’re neither of those, well… I’m not sure why you’re even looking at this one.

Overall: 4 Precious Stones out of 5.


At its core, Return to Moria has a really solid foundation. Progression is steady, a bit on the slower side for my taste but exploration is genuinely rewarding, and the crafting system strikes a nice balance: deep enough to stay interesting without getting buried in the dirt.

Surprisingly, the food system is quite complex, with a variety of buffs available from multiple sources. It’s a great feature, though I found the buffs didn’t last quite long enough to feel a lasting impact.

Building is another highlight. The aesthetic is fittingly dwarven, and putting together a proper hall feels satisfying. That said, the building mechanics themselves are a bit clunky and sometimes inconsistent, which can get in the way of creativity.

Combat is simple, maybe too simple. Each weapon comes with a basic light attack chain and two heavy attack options. You can apply a combat modifier (essentially a bonus damage perk), and rolling/blocking are both available. It’s all functional, but let down by lackluster enemy AI, which makes fights feel a bit repetitive towards the end of the game. Think more arcade-style brawling than Soulsborne intensity.

The Raid mechanic which quite common in this genre of game is actually a little more on the punishing side than other titles in my experience, if you push to far to fast, so that's an interesting challenge for people who like to get into the thick of things.

For this section, I’m giving it 3 out of 5 Gold Coins.


There is a story... but to be honest, it didn’t make much of an impact. In my opinion, it’s the weakest part of the game. It’s there if you really want to engage with it, but I found it pretty forgettable. It never grabbed me, and I didn’t feel invested at any point.

For the narrative effort, I’m giving it 1 Sapphire out of 5.


Performance-wise, the game holds up pretty well. I ran into a couple of minor bugs, but nothing game-breaking. The one thing that really stood out and not in a good way was the loading between map segments. You occasionally hit a not so invisible wall and have to wait, which feels like a weird design choice. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often enough to be a real issue.

Visually, the game has a stylised look that fits the setting nicely. There’s some odd behaviour with torch lighting shadows can flicker or behave strangely but overall, it looks good. Sound design is solid, too. Nothing sounded out of place or low-quality, which is exactly what you want: nothing to break immersion.

With a few tweaks to loading times and some torch-lighting fine-tuning, this would’ve been a totally smooth experience.

I give this section 4 Rubies out of 5.


Credit where credit’s due this game absolutely nails the dwarven aesthetic, and for me, it’s the crown jewel of the whole experience. Your halls feel grand and imposing, your gear looks like it was forged in the heart of a dwarven forge, and the world is littered with ruins and statues that scream “fallen dwarven kingdom.” It’s all beautifully done.

The creature designs and their interactions are a nice touch, too. Trolls turning to stone in sunlight? Perfect. It leans into the unique quirks of LOTR lore in the best way. There are also some lovely nods to the Fellowship’s journey through Moria and the occasional eerie reminder that others have walked this path before you.

This part of the game earns a full 5 Mountain Hearts out of 5.

Ultimately a ROCK & STONE experience brothers!