Risk Legacy

Yesterday, we went to my husband's friend's house to visit and to play Risk Legacy. The four of us (my husband, our daughter, my husband's friend, and I) were playing some role-playing games together (Labyrinth Lord) but that has petered out a bit and in its place, we've been playing board games. We used Risk Godstorm and then used Risk 2210. Our friend bought Risk Legacy for himself and this is the second time we've played.

Risk Legacy is very different from other Risk games. The goal each game is to earn four stars. You earn a star by taking someone else's headquarters, holding headquarters, or turning in four coin cards. In "regular" Risk, you win by taking over the world. In our first two Risk Legacy campaigns, there were many territories that no one touched, which was very odd to see. The unique part of Risk Legacy is that what happens in previous games affects current and future games. For instance, players write on the board. They sign a special spot when they win a game. They have the ability to found cities and rename continents. My husband's friend got pretty annoyed when I won the first game and decided to rename Australia "Womania". (I admit, it was a pretty lame name, but my defense is that I was ill with a cold while playing the game and not thinking straight.) You "unlock" new rules, cards and pieces when you get to certain stages. You play factions, which gives you certain advantages. I'll try and take a photo of the board the next time we play, to show how different it looks. Another reviewer talks about Risk Legacy here, and the popularity ranking on this site gives it a 8/10. For me, it took some getting used to but everyone else seems to be enjoying it a lot.  Prior winners get a missile instead of a free star at the beginning, making it harder to win twice in a row. Despite this handicap, I was doing quite well until the men ganged up on me to ensure that my daughter won instead of me - they didn't want me christening another continent with a tacky name!