Risk: Review of the Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones ’ending may have been questionable, but luckily you can create your own story that doesn’t end with holes in the 7-season plot.

Risk: The Game of Thrones betrayal puts players in the boots of their favorite Westeros factions. Read the full review below Risk: Game of Thrones.

Risk: Game of Thrones

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TWO CUSTOM-MADE GAME BOARDS SHOWING THE KNOWN WORLD: ...
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Risk Summary: Game of Thrones

each version of Risk is basically the same game, but all themed versions have a different twist.

Game of Thrones, known for having some of the most popular and hated characters, allows you to gain an edge on the battlefield with some of your favorites.

In addition to heroic abilities, players will also play on custom maps of Westeros and Essos and build fortresses to hold off their enemies. The game also incorporates a simple economic system that adds a little more strategy.

If that’s too much and you’re just looking for nostalgia , Risk: GoT works just like the regular Risk edition, but with nicer cuts.

Variations and extensions

There are really only two versions of Risk: Game of Thrones; Skirmish & Deluxe.

Winning Games Moves Game Game of Thrones Risk on the Desktop - Skirmish Edition

Winning Games Moves Games Game of Thrones Risk Board ...

USAOPOLY Risk Game of Thrones ...

What is the difference between Skirmish and Deluxe?

Here we will review the Deluxe version because it is a better game in all respects. The Skirmish edition only has a Westeros board and only 5 different armies. It can only be played as a standard Risk game without any fashion accessories.

Deluxe has 3 play modes, an additional Essos board and 2 additional armies.

If you’re just looking for a risk of disguise, then Skirmish will work for you - but the Deluxe Edition is a better buy in my opinion.

Unpacking Risk: Game of Thrones

At first USAOPOLY (now Op ) really pulled the limits on production value, but before we look at certain components, let’s look at what’s in the box.

2 game boards
315 military pieces
7 power seats
7 game boards
Cards 187
68 special unit tokens
75 gold dragon coins
20 coins to track results
9 Cubes
1 Rules

Now that we know what's in the box, we need to ask ourselves, "How does it fold?"

I’m a freak at the components and it seems that The Op has definitely landed the audience with this. The box is beautiful and is covered with GoT artwork. All the punching chips are of good quality and the play mats are really attractive and useful. They seem a bit loose, but they’re beautiful anyway.

Risk: Game of Thrones has 7 famous factions, each with its own board of players and heroes.

Stark
Baratheon
Lannister
Tyrell
Martell
Targaryens
Ghiscari

The units of each faction are tailored to their faction, which is super cool, and they all have their nice place in the box with the organizer. Everything has its place and fits perfectly. It calms my OCD for the board game when I see that everything is neatly tidied up.

How to play risk: Game of Thrones

Basically, risk will always be risk. For each invasion / encounter you get one red dice per attacker (up to 3) and one white dice per defender (up to 2). Defenders win by a draw and anyone who beats another player in a higher game loses one unit.

Risk: Game of Thrones, however, has some fun new skills and ways to play. There is a built-in economy, forts and heroes that you can tackle over the dice. Even if you are the untouchable dice gods, you will still be able to win with tactics.

3 game modes

Quarrel
Dominion
A world at war

Skirmish mode is basically your standard risk setting. Each player selects a faction / color and maps the territories to determine the starting locations. The actual number depends on the actors, and your starting territories are determined randomly, not the accuracy of the book / film.

If you’ve ever played Vanilla Risk, you’ll be well aware of what’s going on here. At the end of each move, players receive a new territory card if they have conquered at least 1 territory. At the beginning of each move, players can hand over sets of cards and receive bonuses to strengthen their territories according to the number they started at the beginning of the round.

Quarrel

This is basically your standard risk setting, but with a fashionable GoT theme blended into the combination.

In each move, players will:

Strengthen
They attack
Maneuvering
Draw

To boost at the beginning of your turn, add up all the territories you control and all the bonus card sets you can hand out to get more units. Remember that the total number of territories you have at the start of the game divided by 3 (rounded down) is common practice in any risk version. If you have 12 territories, you will receive 4 additional units, if you have 13, there are still only 4 additional units.

Changing cards can also be a big player in change. It's always scary to drop a handful of units on your enemies, Red Wedding style. Make sure you leave enough for the defense because I guarantee you won’t be the most popular person at the table.

Then follows everyone’s favorite part: INVASION! Any territory with 2 or more units can attack an adjacent territory. You can stage your forces and descend like a swarm of grasshoppers on your enemies. But keep in mind that they will be next in line and it may be ... RISK of over-stretching without having enough strength to hold on to what you take.

When you drop a hammer at enemies, you can maneuver or strengthen one of your territories. If the background is full of units doing nothing, you can select 1 territory and move additional units to any connected territory you control. You need to leave at least 1 unit in the starting position, but this is a nice way to move forces after a lot of pressure.

If you manage to occupy at least 1 territory during the move, you must draw a map last. If you break up and take over 5 territories, you still only get one card, so don’t be too eager if it threatens you ... Risk.

Dominion

Dominion is here where the extremely fun Battle of Thrones battles come into play.

You will have the same actions in the same order as Skirmish mode, but you must say "winter is coming" before the attack.

Strengthen
Purchase
Refresh
They attack
Manual
Complete the goal
Draw a map

All similarly named steps work the same as in Skirmish mode, so let’s take a look at the new bits.

In addition to the usual “risky” deal, you can now buy several different bonuses with the in-game fashion coin system built into the game. You know the money the famous world goes around.

“The coin master finds the money. The King - and Roka - waste. "
EtyPetyr “Little Finger” Baelish

Players can buy Maester cards, objective cards and hero cards.

Maester cards are one-time use bonuses that you can drop to your opponents. Maybe they are coming with their backs to the sea and are already tasting victory. What is it? Boom! The Iron Fleet comes with reinforcements.

Objective maps are exactly as they sound. You can buy them and if the requirements on the cards are met, you will earn some bonus points for winning the final game. Towards the end of your turn, you can check to see if you meet any of the objective map requirements you have and hand them over for those sweet spots.

Last and probably most fun are the Hero cards. Each faction has 4 hero cards that give the ability to be used once per turn. They can change the game by giving players extra momentum at the right time. But they are not free. You will still have to pay the cost of the card to activate it. This prevents players from sending them spam at every turn.

Immediately after the purchase phase, there is a refresh phase, which is basically just a reminder that you can reuse all your heroic abilities once per turn. But you still have to pay.

Invasions and clashes work mostly the same as in Skirmish mode. However, there are some caveats.

A world at war

World at War with the same add-on plays the same as Dominion. It is designed for 7 players and uses both boards together, making it a knockdown fight on two continents.

Every port on the east side of Westeros (hangs with me here) connects to any port on Essos. You now have several continents East to West Brawl and the Starks can finally get the damn justice they deserve.

Your first risk game: Game of Thrones

If this is your first game, you’ll probably want to start with Skirmish mode. If you’re very familiar with risk (why not?), You can probably start with additional rules, but it’s always fun to get a feel for the board and the new locations of it all. There is no Australia this time, so this destroys the initial strategies of most people.

Skirmish is the same risk you know and love, but it’s set in Westeros ... or Essos, depending on the number of players.

Risk has always been in my home family. My brother and cousins played up all night and on the weekends and fought for that final territory. We also played on a copy of our parents ’game, so there was no built-in timer for the final game.

With newer releases of Risk, the game has a definite ending. You will need to shuffle the final game in the lower half of the deck territory. Once the card is drawn, the game ends and everyone adds up the final score according to how many territories, ports and castles they control.

Advantages disadvantages

Advantages:

Fun spin on the classics
Individual heroes
Great components
Great artwork

Weaknesses:

RNG
The cards are soft
Skirmish Edition limp

There is no doubt about it, Risk uses a handful of dice to solve the fight. To be successful relies on a little luck in itself. If you’re an avid gamer or if you visit any board game forum, you’ll be overwhelmed by posts or conversations about how this or that game is totally awful because it depends solely on luck.

Sometimes it's fun to roll a dice while hanging out with friends, and Risk risks that. For a player who hates random chance and dice in general, the new powers of the heroes add depth that somewhat mitigates the flaws.

I can’t stress how great the packaging and artwork are. The artwork is amazing and everything looks impressive when everything is set up and around the sitting table is a table full of players. My real complaint is that the cards and boards are in a bad place. If you take care of your games, they will take some time, but the cards are pretty thin.

TL; DR

This is a risk. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise ... but one of them is fancy Risks.

The Game of Thrones edition elevates the classic to a little more by adding themed abilities, characters and bonuses that allow players to plunge into the battle for the Seven Kingdoms and Aces.

If you want a simple makeover, you can take the Skirmish edition, which is just that. The deluxe edition is a version with two boards and 2 armies and adds 7 additional game modes.

Conclusion: a verdict?

I like to put risk in a slightly different category than most “mainstream” Monopoly board games . This is mainly because different versions are always a bit more than just a cheap money conversion.

So far, every version of Risk I’ve played has something new that is thematically related to the topic they’re choosing. Star Wars Risk has a Death Star to deal with, Lord of the Rings Risk has a family going to Mordor, and Metal Gear Solid version that allows you to wage a perfect war in war torn Hideo Kojimo dystopia .

Needless to say, I like a good risk game. Sure, there’s a very “tired” mechanic of rolling dice and sacrificing gods RNG (random number generator), but sometimes it’s just fun to sit at a table and roll dice.

Also, not everything is in the role of 1-6 numbers. There’s a lot of power and ability that can stack odds in your favor, and with the addition of a currency system and hero characters, you can go into battle with a reasonable belief about what’s going to happen ... but the dice are a great balance.

I had many games where a wall of soldiers marched straight towards my fort, only to have a single unit linger long enough to stop the invasion. They are still stronger, but they have lost steam and will not be able to push forward. Even in regular board games, you can experience an amazing gaming experience without a lot of fluff and the GoT version is no exception. I’m really enjoying my new powers and on a few occasions I can get a band big enough to play on both boards in an epic world showdown that’s damn good fun.

Risk: Game of Thrones