Basically,
Guardians of Middle-earth is a giant game of Capture The Flag. You have two teams of 5 people each. On a 1-lane battlefield, the idea is very easy: you try and take down the other team’s main tower. There are two defending towers in the way. There are only 2 shrines that you can gain control over. Shrines will boost your entire team’s health regeneration. On a 3-lane, there are three different paths that you can take to get to the main tower, with two towers to take down on each path. This means that you can really work on strategy rather than just killing each other on the same path. There are also 4 shrines that can be controlled.
Your main area has the tower that you have to protect or you will lose, plus defense towers and barracks. The defense towers are to help you protect the main tower. Trust me, you don’t want to let them hit you. It’ll only take three to five hits and you’re dead. These towers can be upgraded to Quickfire, Splitshot (two projectiles), Siegestone (three projectiles), or Healing once you get to a high enough level. Upgrades can be very beneficial, but you can only choose one upgrade. In other words, if you want a Healing tower then you will have to give up the double shot or whatever other upgrade you had previously. The barracks can also be upgraded. You can make them Elite soldiers, Mounted soldiers, Siege soldiers, or upgrade all soldiers. Once again, you have to choose one upgrade because they don’t stack.
From the Main Menu, there are several options. Battlegrounds are 5 players vs. 5 players with a 20 minute time limit. Elite Battlegrounds are 5 vs. 5 as well, but you have to have a Profile of Rank 2 to enter. There is no time limit on them. Skirmish is 5 real players vs. 5 A.I.-controlled players with no time limit. If none of these meet your needs, you can choose a Custom Match of up to 5 players, real or computer-controlled. This is where you can go to play alone if you just don’t like people, but still want to play the game. After you choose the type, you can then choose how many lanes you want to have. A "3-Lane game" will give more areas to attack from, so it tends to be a longer game. The "1-Lane Game" obviously only has one path you can attack from. You choose your character after the game has been created. There are 26 characters total, but only 16 unlocked at first. You will have to buy the rest with money that you earn from matches.
