The game is actually played in the game box. The board is "3D" in that there are tiered areas and freestanding icons of trolls, spiders. elves, Smaug and Gollum. High roller starts to move his/her hobbit across the board. The objective is to reach the last space on the board by exact dice roll. Foils to this are losing a turn (if another player lands on the space you are already occupying), trolls (who keep you stuck in the Misty Mountains until you land on "Escape"), Gollum (who keeps you trapped until you land on a space that matches your hobbit's cloak color), goblins (same concept as the trolls, but you have to land on "Saved by Eagles"), spiders (whom you have to "kill" by dice roll) and elves (whom you have to escape from by dice roll). Game Art has a Rankin/Bass feel.