The decision in The Hobbit: There & Back Again is how much of a shared die draft to spend on movement, supplies and one-use powers before somebody triggers the chapter end. A good route is the one that scores on this page of your adventure book, not necessarily the shortest line across the map. These tips are editorial analysis of the publisher’s rules; chapter layouts and dice rolls change the best choice.

Read the finish line before the first roll

Each chapter stops on its own trigger, sometimes immediately in the middle of a five-die draft. Compare the score rows with that trigger. In Part 1, connecting all twelve ordinary Dwarves to Bag End ends the game, but feeding guests, linking Thorin and Gandalf, and keeping swords can add points. An opponent may rush the end while you have higher-value guests almost ready. In Part 2, the path to Rivendell is the trigger, yet dangerous-space penalties, Trolls, white stones, provisions and leftover swords determine the score. Do not assume the player who ends the adventure is winning.

Checkpoint: at the start of a round, ask how many plausible path dice each player needs to finish. If an opponent can complete the condition with one shape, a long detour for a five-point symbol might never be scored. Conversely, if you can end the chapter, see whether one more resource pick is likely to improve your total more than the risk of leaving the finish open to someone else.

Draft by scarcity, not by how impressive a face looks

There are three path dice and two resource dice in the normal draft. A resource die with two swords can be urgent when a route is blocked by a Troll or Goblin, even if a three-space path seems faster. On another map, the long path may cross two useful resource spaces and save a later pick. Judge the exact placement available on your map and the other dice still in the pool. The value of a shape often lies in the branches it preserves next turn.

Player count changes your expected second chance. In a two-player round, the first player selects three dice and the other two. At four players, the first selects twice, but the other three get only one each. A resource face you pass may be gone by your next pick. Because the next roller is simply the next player due a turn after the fifth die, the start position advances through the draft; do not plan on permanently controlling the first die.

Route through access points, not just toward an endpoint

A path must use its full die shape, but you may rotate, mirror and overlap it with your existing network. A branching one-space shape can open two directions; a long straight may reach a reward while making the next bend awkward. Before drawing, look at thick-bordered spaces that can only be connected to, regions that you cannot reenter, and resources acquired when you enter rather than touch a space. A path that barely misses a sword icon may not pay for the obstacle ahead.

In Part 3, storms accumulate on matching numbered spaces until the special stop condition; entering an affected space costs points, while reaching it before the storm appears avoids that penalty. In Part 5, Warg spaces become blocked unless pinecones cancel the black-die result, and the Eagles’ flight paths must meet Dwarves already connected from the dell. A quick route to trees without enough Eagle progress may satisfy only part of the scoring plan. These maps reward anticipating what future rolls can close off.

Spend hats and Bilbo actions at the right moment

Wizard hats fill action boxes, and a completed magic action resolves immediately. A two-hat die must put both hats into the same magic action; if that action has only one box left, the second hat is wasted. Before choosing the die, check whether another two-box action would be more efficient or whether the one-box power is important enough now. Bilbo’s burglar action lets you ignore a die face to mark any one symbol in its area, so a weak die can become progress toward a useful one-use effect. This is a trade of current movement or resources for future flexibility.

Black-die chapters need a different plan

Parts 4 and 6 have everyone use the same black-die number, choosing a shape at that number or lower. On the riddles map, fill connected spaces around riddles and the Ring, but remember unfilled water spaces subtract points and only one bonus shape from newly covered icons can be used in a single roll. Taking the largest available shape every time can block the exact four sides of a riddle. On the spider map, every spider space covered can grant a bonus shape, private rolls can create extra tempo, and you score both freed Dwarves and Sting spaces left unfilled. Recheck the board geometry before selecting a shape size.

Plan resources in the final two chapters

Part 7 requires bread to enter camps and to buy an extra path after a normal path draw. Spending it all to accelerate may leave you unable to enter a camp; saving it all may leave gem spaces unvisited before someone ends the chapter. You must connect the ships from both the river and land before the mountainside route opens. In Part 8, bread again buys an extra path, while swords can adjust the black-die attack number. A sword spent to save a house may be more valuable than an extra attack mark; the chapter scores undestroyed houses, Smaug progress and boats separately. If you play the official epic mode, the resources from Part 7 carry to Part 8, changing their value.

Use the score sheet as a live decision aid

Each row displays how points are awarded and often what its maximum can be. After a die choice, mark the reward or penalty at once. If a chapter gives first-completion glory, announce it so others mark that glory as unavailable; the black-die chapters can have simultaneous firsts on one roll. Before you chase another optional target, compare its actual row gain with a die spent toward the end condition. The eight-adventure reference lists each trigger and scoring emphasis.

Continue: How to play · Adventure goals and scoring · Solo and hard mode · Game overview.

Source and scope: Office Dog/Asmodee English rulebook, checked October 3, 2026. Recommendations and examples are editorial deductions from the rules, not guaranteed winning lines or playtest results.