During the game, players take turns as the Narrator and improvise a story using a hand consisting of illustrated cards.
The other players try to twist the tale, interrupting the story to play hazard cards featuring hidden dangers and fearsome monsters.
"[7] Bruno Bacelli of Italian FantasyMagazine [it] felt that the game was good gun because it was of low complexity and would involve a reasonable playing time, depending on the number of players.
[6] Bocelli added that the game was best when players engaged in the narrative element with the cards and made efforts with inspiration and fair play.
[8] Marco Arnaudo felt that Hobbit Tales was one of the games that "contributed to popularize the idea in the 21st century that Tolkien's materials could be experienced in the form of playable variants.