First Impression: Risk Legacy

Risk, is, of course, an all-time board game classic. While the original may wear thin after awhile, they have produced a fair number of variants. Some are awesome such as Lord of the Rings Risk (Trilogy Edition) and some are really horrible such as Star Wars (Prequel Trilogy Edition). So I am a little skeptical when I saw Risk: Legacy announced recently.

From the picture it looks pretty much like your standard Risk board, right? Well, this game is anything but standard.

The trend in board gaming recently has been a customizable experience. I think this is due in large partly to Settlers of Catan - if you randomize the tiles and the numbers the game never plays the same way twice. The Lego board games are fantastic for this very reason. Even old-school games such as Monopoly have released customizable versions. But Risk: Legacy is a little different.

See, this game EVOLVES over time. Every game a PERMANENT change is made to the game itself that will affect all future games played with that set! This can take the form of writing or stickers on the board itself or on the cards. Two types of permanent influences are Bunkers and Ammo Shortages. These add or take away troop values in regions. There are other "Scar Cards" that are sealed away until you've played a certain number of Risk: Legacy games. That's pretty awesome! If you win a game you can change the name of a continent and you, the player, get bonuses there whenever you play in the future. 

The end result is that your copy of Risk: Legacy will be completely different than anyone else's copy right after you finish playing the first game. Now that's cool.

Still, the buy in is nearly $60... that's pretty steep for me... I'm going to have to wait and see on this one. My gut says yes but I want to see the reviews of those that have played it a few times before I set down sixty clams.