Thursday, November 28, 2013

#9: Risk Legacy (Mark's 100 - 2012)

 
Risk Legacy 

Mark's Ranking
  • 2012: 9th
  • 2010: 65th (Risk: Black Ops)
  • 2005: new
BoardGameGeek
  • rank: 94
  • rating: 7.83
Print Status
  • not in print... but still not difficult to find a copy
Why It's On The List
  • What if a game remembered what had happened during the previous games... and that game told an epic story? That's always been true in role-playing games - but Rob Daviau's brilliant design idea took the core engine of Risk to a whole new & wonderful mind-warping level.
Tips & Tricks:
  • I’m not sure how to extol the virtues of this wonderous Risk reboot without spoiling some of its well-hidden charms, but I’ll give it a shot.

    Risk: Legacy is…
    • …a product of nearly a decade of experimenting with this classic game system. (It incorporates ideas from Risk 2210 & Risk: Black Ops to make the game shorter & yet packed with thematic touches.)
    • …an innovative board game concept – something we don’t see nearly as often as we’d like to think. (The whole “open this pack of cards when this happens” way of changing the game is brilliant.)
    • …a reminder of what was really great about my old RPG days – we’re working together to tell a story about this new world we’re fighting over. (In our case, the founding of Great Humongustan, the DEW line populated with installations left over from the Battle of the Northern Wastes… and most recently, the Cataclysm in Southern Europe.)
    • …gamer catnip. (Let me explain – each time you get to open a new packet, it feels very similar to the “rush” you get when opening a new game or game expansion. And it not only gives you the “new car smell” effect, the added stuff takes the story of the game in a new direction.)
    • …fun even for people who don’t particularly like Risk. (One of the guys in our group – the founder of Great Humongustan – is not a fan of “dudes on a map w/dice” games & esp. not a fan of Risk. Yet he had a grand time playing Risk: Legacy with us… and even commented when he arrived after a game had started that “it was just fun watching you guys play.”)
  • If you choose to buy this here in the U.S., go to BGG and download/print the bonus cards which were not officially released stateside.
  • More importantly, don't spend a lot of time reading about the game before you play it! let the surprises catch you unawares - one of the packet reveals is easily one of the best gaming experiences I've had in the last 10 years.
Extras
  • I'm currently part of the playtest for SeaFall - Rob's new Legacy game design. You can read pretty much all I can I say about it in this blog post from September: SeaFall - Legacy Rides Again!

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If you feel a need to catch up on my admittedly-aging Top 100 as of February 2012 list, you can check out:

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