I recently had another chance to play Risk: Godstorm this past weekend. For this review, I plan to take a different route from my typical style of writing. I will assume people are familiar with classic Risk and therefore won’t delve too deeply into game mechanics except for the rules that deviate from classic Risk or are unique for this version.

My prior experience with Risk has been with the computer version. I have played extensively in college. In fact, my dormitory room was constantly filled with students wanting to play Risk. I never ran out of opponents to play with and the games almost always were with the max number of players with people spilling behind waiting for their chance to play.

Skip ahead several years…my interest in boardgames having blossomed, I saw Godstorm and 2210. I opted for Godstorm because the theme sounded more alluring than 2210. I really liked the shape and size of the box. It was square and not the usual rectangle and more importantly small enough and therefore easier to tote around with.

COMPONENTS

The components are steller…for the most part. I like the new map change. Instead of the typical 7 continents, the map is centered around the Mediterranean Sea. Continents are divided, conveniently by mountain ranges and water, into 6 colored continents. The main board is pleasing to look at. The board depicting the Underworld is not. Whereas the main board had plenty of room to place units, the Underworld board had very little room to place more than several units. The figures and temples are detailed and also pleasing to look at. The problem with my figures was that they had a very strong odor due probably to the paint. The strong odor really put a damper the first time I played with my friends.

The cards, unlike 2210, are poker sized cards which I’m grateful for it. They are, in my opinion, printed on decent cardstock. In addition to territory cards, there is another type of card called Miracle Cards. Each Miracle card has a drawing of a rune unique to each card and these cards add further to the ambiance to the game. In my copy though, there was a misprint. “Blood Coats the Land”, a Death Miracle Card, list a continent as Mediterranea but it is found nowhere on the board. Not a big deal though since you would be able to deduce that it is Europa.

The faith tokens and markers are thick and, unlike the small box version of 2210, painted on both sides. One marker, in particular, looked insignificant and I ended up throwing it away only to realize that it was the maelstrom marker (the swiggly lined shaped marker) for use when you play the Death Miracle card, “The Water Boils”. The map of the Underworld was just a thick cardboard and not the same quality as the main board.

GAMEPLAY

There are some additions to the gameplay that I really enjoyed in this iteration of Risk:

1. The limit to 5 turns. While I had no trouble finishing computer Risk in less than an hour, I’ve heard that the boardgame version could drag on for a couple of days. Both times I played Godstorm, the 5 turns lasted within 3 hours which is my acceptable limit.

2. The 4 gods. They add to what little strategy classic Risk had. I liked that the gods didn’t directly participate in battle (you don’t roll a die for the gods with the exception of godswar) and instead they affect the outcome of battles in other ways.

A. An army attacking with a god of death looking over them prevented the opposing army from entering their pantheon heaven and instead are gone for good.

B. The goddess of magic allows the army she’s looking over to reroll all 1’s whether they are attacking or defending.

C. If 2 gods are locked in a godswar (2 opposing armies with god(s) must resolve the battle of faith first with the loser losing their god in that battle), you would want the god of sky on your side. He rolls an additional die during a godswar.

D. Normally a tie favors the defender. However, if you have the god of war looking over your attacking army, that favor falls to your side.

3. The temples. Each temple gives an additional Faith token as well as reviving one or more unit depending on the number of crypts you control in the Underworld. A defending army may also reroll all 1’s.

4. Miracle cards are further divided into 4 different type of cards corresponding with one of the 4 gods. A player may have only 4 at one time. In my opinion, the 2 most important Miracle cards are from the goddess of magic and the god of death. The former are artifact cards that stay throughout the game unless some effect removes it. The latter are the most powerful of the miracles with the ability to swing the game to the benefactor of that card. Miracle cards can only be played when their respective god is present in one of your territories. Miracle cards can be bought with 2 faith tokens or you can work for it by completing a labor. Each god requires a different labor. For example, to obtain a miracle card from the god of war, you must conquer 3 territories.

5. During each Epoch, turn order is determined by bidding with faith tokens. The one who bids the most gets to decide on what turn he/she will play. The next highest then decides, and so forth. This simple mechanic allows one, more control over his turn and therefore he can think more strategically whether going first, last, or in between is to his benefit.

6.The Underworld. When units are defeated in the Earthly realm, they are not out of the game. Instead they are used to vie for control of the underworld (the only exception being miracle cards that would prevent such thing and the presence of the god of death in a battle). This phase of turn is a decent balancing mechanic. The player who is being clobbered on the Earthly Realm will have more bodies to overrun the Underworld and thereby increase his/her chance to get back into the game. Control of the Underworld is important because not only does it count towards the final tally but by occupying crypts, it allows that player to revive a number of units in relation to the number of crypts that player controls. Also, comtrol of an alter gives a boost to that player during a godswar in relation to the number of alters he/she controls.

7. Faith tokens. The currency that binds the majority of the game mechanics in Godstorm. It is used to pay for gods, miracles, and temples. Number of faith tokens are intimately tied to the number of territories a player controls. Spread the gods’ words and you will be aptly rewarded with both more bodies to throw at your enemies and the ability to call on your pantheon for miracles.

CONCLUSION

Risk Godstorm is a great addition to the Risk family. It made playing Risk on an actual board fun for me. It oozes flavor with its fantasy elements and the mechanics that maintain that feel. Godstorm seems to keep players in the game. It is unlikely to suffer from runaway leader syndrome.

That being said, there seems to the notion that it may be even more random than classic Risk. I think that while the cards tend to be powerful, familiarity with the cards and the additional strategies offered by the gods and the underworld somewhat keeps the chaotic tendency of the game in check. If you look through the miracles, there is a semblance of balance among the cards themselves with cards such as “Your Idol is False (removes a god) and Crops Wither (discards cards forcibly).

The game manages to keep the level of suspense high throughout the game. There are 2 battlefields that are inversely tied to each other. Losing the lead in one will increase the chance to gain the lead in another and give you a stepping stone towards regaining the lead in the other battlefield once again. It is a neat cycle. Tie that with the miracle cards and no player is certain of his position until the end.