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Risk: Star Wars Edition


JAG18

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A couple of days ago I turned 20 and one of my gifts was a board game called "Risk: Star Wars Edition".

 

Now, any serious board gamer (full disclosure: I'm not because I'm new to the hobby and frankly don't have the funds to get into) Risk is at the end of the day not a very good game or at best their are a lot of game that does what Risk does a lot better, but that doesn't matter because this game has absolutely nothing to do with Risk. Instead, this a spiritual successor of an older and exceptional Star Wars game that came out in 1999 called The Queen's Gambit and both were designed in part by Craig Van Ness who worked on my favorite board game of all time "Star Wars: Epic Duels".

 

Anyway, Risk: Star Wars Edition is a fun game, very reminiscent of a Commands and Colors game only Star Wars themed (come to think of it, that actually sounds like a great idea) and while there isn't much deep strategy involved in this game who cares because its just a lot of fun moving ships around and chucking dice. I did encounter the same problem that most people who bought this game did; that the Rebels win almost 90% of the time, but fortunately I was able to find a rule clarification sheet online that, in my experience, balances the game out by pointing out some rules that really help the Empire.

 

Star Wars: The Emperor's Gambit is a great game that's strangely, also a mass market game; I like it a lot and will probably play it again as soon as I can.

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:kaukau: I love Risk.  There's nothing wrong with having fairly simple rules, and it's a good party game, especially if you pllay with people who like to make alliances and/or manipulate other players.  That having been said, if by "serious gamer" you mean that it won't live up to certain tastes, I see what you mean.  Complex games with multiple levels of strategy are way awesome, and I would love to someday find people who are willing to play Axis and Allies with me.  Until then, I play Civilization V, which is my go-to "game that does what Risk does a lot better."

 

As for this game that you're reviewing, I had to Google it.  I'm assuming that you're referring to this, but you said that it actually has nothing to do with Risk, so I'm a little thrown off.

 

Personally, if you're okay with playing games online, there's the Risk-inspired website called LandGrab that has quite a few maps and experienced players, whom I have never personally beat.  In those games there genuinely is quite a bit of strategy, especially when you're playing on certain boards.  You can also customize the rules for a game to make for some very interesting gameplay, such as enabling the "fog of war" setting.  I could talk about it all day, but really, I recommend that you check it out for yourself.

 

Unfortunately, from the way you describe the game, it doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in, especially if it's the same game that I linked to.  The map sounds a little uninteresting and doesn't add as much depth to the gameplay as the maps I've played on LandGrab.  I'll check out The Emperor's Gambit, but like you, I don't have the funds to be pursuing gaming as a hobby, but I like it when games are on my radar.

 

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:kaukau: I love Risk.  There's nothing wrong with having fairly simple rules, and it's a good party game, especially if you pllay with people who like to make alliances and/or manipulate other players.  That having been said, if by "serious gamer" you mean that it won't live up to certain tastes, I see what you mean.  Complex games with multiple levels of strategy are way awesome, and I would love to someday find people who are willing to play Axis and Allies with me.  Until then, I play Civilization V, which is my go-to "game that does what Risk does a lot better."

 

I'm not against simple games, but it's just that I don't find Risk to be very fun for a variety of reasons from the fact that the game can be brutal toward players having no luck with die rolls to how the winner is often determined several turns in advance with the other players having no choice, but to take their beating.  Not that the game doesn't have some good moments and was a great step forward in board gaming when it came out, but it just isn't all that fun for me anymore.

 

Axis and Allies has always been on my list of games to try out if I could find anyone who would play it with me.

 

 

As for this game that you're reviewing, I had to Google it.  I'm assuming that you're referring to this, but you said that it actually has nothing to do with Risk, so I'm a little thrown off.

That is indeed the game I'm referring to; the actual gameplay has no real resemblance to Risk (aside from maybe the dice combat and moving from sector to sector), but the title makes it sound like it's a Star Wars themed Risk variant like the actual Star Wars Risk games already in existence

 

That LandGrab game definitely sounds interesting and I might look into it.  I was a huge fan of online and computer games when I was growing up, especially RTS games, but I've mostly left them behind now-a-days in favor of board gaming.  No idea why.

 

 

Unfortunately, from the way you describe the game, it doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in, especially if it's the same game that I linked to.  The map sounds a little uninteresting and doesn't add as much depth to the gameplay as the maps I've played on LandGrab.  I'll check out The Emperor's Gambit, but like you, I don't have the funds to be pursuing gaming as a hobby, but I like it when games are on my radar.

"Risk: Star Wars Edition" is much more of a "tactical" game with a couple of fleets fighting it out in space, rather than a full-fled "strategic" war game like Risk or Axis and Allies.  There are times when I feel like playing both types of games, but the map is made for a skirmish not a war so it might not be your cup of tea. 

 

Yeah, board gaming isn't a cheap hobby with it being hard to find a quality (non-card) game for under $30-$40 dollars (and the higher end games can go up to $100 dollars!) 

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