In this review the author assumes that his readers are already familiar with the rules to the original game of “Risk” and focuses on the differences between the original and “Risk 2210 A.D.”
Board Game Name: Risk 2210 A.D.
Publisher: Avalon Hill (A subsidiary of Hasbro)
Approximate Retail Price: $30.00
2210 Times Better than Normal Risk
The original game of “Risk” is a classic, and a decent game in its own right. Any new version of “Risk” would need to be extremely innovative, and “Risk 2210 A.D.” does not disappoint. Boasting an awesome theme and even more awesome components, this new version of “Risk” does a great job of further expanding the rule set of the original game.
The Components
To start with, let me just say that the components of this game are truly fantastic. Set 200 years in the future, “Risk 2210 A.D.” includes pieces that fully flesh out this game’s theme of sci-fi warfare. The game includes enough armies to support up to five players, with some of the coolest miniatures I have ever seen in a board game. Each army includes three basic types of army pieces: small humanoid robot warriors, a strike mech reminiscent of an AT-ST from Star Wars, and a large walker mech with a missile pod on each shoulder. Each of these is equivalent to the infantry, cavalry, and cannon pieces featured in the original “Risk.” Each army also has five different commander pieces which have been dry brushed silver over their army’s color, making them really stand out among all the other pieces. The one minor complaint that I have with the game’s components arises regarding the quality of the numerous cardboard counters included, which are somewhat too thin for my liking. Other than that, however, all of the components and artwork of “Risk 2210 A.D.” rise far above the expectations set for any “Risk” game. But do the rules changes work as well?
The Differences
While at its core “Risk 2210 A.D.” retains the same fundamental rule set as basic “Risk,” it also features many additional rules and mechanics. The layout of the map is unchanged from the original “Risk,” with the following exceptions. First, nearly all of the territories have been renamed. For example, 200 years in the future “Brazil” has now become the “Amazon Desert”, the tiny nation of Andorra now occupies the entire Iberian Peninsula, and what once was “Greenland” is now “The Exiled States of America.” Furthermore, there are now numerous underwater cities which can be captured and form more connections between continents, adding more territories to the map and making it extremely difficult for players to “turtle” within any one continent. However, the largest change to the map didn’t involve any changes to the map of the world itself. “Risk 2210 A.D.” actually comes with two separate boards: the standard earth board with the added water territories, and a brand new moon board! Players’ armies can travel between the two boards by launching armies from space stations which they can build on earth to invade the moon. This adds a whole new element to “Risk 2210 A.D.” as players must choose how many troops to devote to attacking the moon, which is easy to capture initially but extremely difficult to defend.
Another major change in “Risk 2210 A.D.” is the addition of energy, which functions as the game’s currency. Each turn players receive energy tokens equal to the amount of troops that they receive, and they can spend energy in numerous ways. Energy is used to buy space stations, commanders, and command cards which have powerful one-time use abilities. As stated earlier there are five different types of commanders: land, space, naval, diplomat, and nuclear. Each commander enables players to purchase command cards from their corresponding deck, and allows armies to roll eight-sided dice instead of six-sided dice under certain circumstances. However, energy also has one other crucial use: bidding for turn order. Unlike the original, “Risk 2210 A.D.” is played over five rounds, with each player taking one turn in a single round. The order in which players take their turns is determined at the beginning of every round by means of a blind energy bid, with the highest bidder choosing whether he wants to go first, second, third, etc. and the other players choosing their turn order depending on how much they bid. In this way a player who chose to go last in a previous round could, by bidding a lot of energy, choose to go first in the next round, effectively taking two turns in a row!
The Verdict
The bottom line is that anyone who likes normal “Risk” but finds it a little too simple will absolutely love “Risk 2210 A.D.” Likewise, anyone who already cannot stand playing the original “Risk” should be warned that despite its numerous changes, “Risk 2210 A.D.” still feels similar enough to the original version that they will probably hate it as well. I adore it.
Game Components Quality: 7/10
Gameplay Mechanics: 7/10
Bargain Factor: 8/10
Overall Recommendation: 7/10
Board Game Name: Risk 2210 A.D.
Publisher: Avalon Hill (A subsidiary of Hasbro)
Approximate Retail Price: $30.00
The original game of “Risk” is a classic, and a decent game in its own right. Any new version of “Risk” would need to be extremely innovative, and “Risk 2210 A.D.” does not disappoint. Boasting an awesome theme and even more awesome components, this new version of “Risk” does a great job of further expanding the rule set of the original game.
The Components
To start with, let me just say that the components of this game are truly fantastic. Set 200 years in the future, “Risk 2210 A.D.” includes pieces that fully flesh out this game’s theme of sci-fi warfare. The game includes enough armies to support up to five players, with some of the coolest miniatures I have ever seen in a board game. Each army includes three basic types of army pieces: small humanoid robot warriors, a strike mech reminiscent of an AT-ST from Star Wars, and a large walker mech with a missile pod on each shoulder. Each of these is equivalent to the infantry, cavalry, and cannon pieces featured in the original “Risk.” Each army also has five different commander pieces which have been dry brushed silver over their army’s color, making them really stand out among all the other pieces. The one minor complaint that I have with the game’s components arises regarding the quality of the numerous cardboard counters included, which are somewhat too thin for my liking. Other than that, however, all of the components and artwork of “Risk 2210 A.D.” rise far above the expectations set for any “Risk” game. But do the rules changes work as well?
The Differences
While at its core “Risk 2210 A.D.” retains the same fundamental rule set as basic “Risk,” it also features many additional rules and mechanics. The layout of the map is unchanged from the original “Risk,” with the following exceptions. First, nearly all of the territories have been renamed. For example, 200 years in the future “Brazil” has now become the “Amazon Desert”, the tiny nation of Andorra now occupies the entire Iberian Peninsula, and what once was “Greenland” is now “The Exiled States of America.” Furthermore, there are now numerous underwater cities which can be captured and form more connections between continents, adding more territories to the map and making it extremely difficult for players to “turtle” within any one continent. However, the largest change to the map didn’t involve any changes to the map of the world itself. “Risk 2210 A.D.” actually comes with two separate boards: the standard earth board with the added water territories, and a brand new moon board! Players’ armies can travel between the two boards by launching armies from space stations which they can build on earth to invade the moon. This adds a whole new element to “Risk 2210 A.D.” as players must choose how many troops to devote to attacking the moon, which is easy to capture initially but extremely difficult to defend.
Another major change in “Risk 2210 A.D.” is the addition of energy, which functions as the game’s currency. Each turn players receive energy tokens equal to the amount of troops that they receive, and they can spend energy in numerous ways. Energy is used to buy space stations, commanders, and command cards which have powerful one-time use abilities. As stated earlier there are five different types of commanders: land, space, naval, diplomat, and nuclear. Each commander enables players to purchase command cards from their corresponding deck, and allows armies to roll eight-sided dice instead of six-sided dice under certain circumstances. However, energy also has one other crucial use: bidding for turn order. Unlike the original, “Risk 2210 A.D.” is played over five rounds, with each player taking one turn in a single round. The order in which players take their turns is determined at the beginning of every round by means of a blind energy bid, with the highest bidder choosing whether he wants to go first, second, third, etc. and the other players choosing their turn order depending on how much they bid. In this way a player who chose to go last in a previous round could, by bidding a lot of energy, choose to go first in the next round, effectively taking two turns in a row!
The Verdict
The bottom line is that anyone who likes normal “Risk” but finds it a little too simple will absolutely love “Risk 2210 A.D.” Likewise, anyone who already cannot stand playing the original “Risk” should be warned that despite its numerous changes, “Risk 2210 A.D.” still feels similar enough to the original version that they will probably hate it as well. I adore it.
Game Components Quality: 7/10
Gameplay Mechanics: 7/10
Bargain Factor: 8/10
Overall Recommendation: 7/10