Star Wars Risk - A Public Service Announcement

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I like Queen's Gambit quite a bit better. The options on each card in Star Wars Risk don't really feel like options because there's usually a very obvious way to play your hand. Queen's Gambit offers the players more tactical options to consider for playing out a dealt hand because the importance of each field of battle is better balanced.

I still assume the game's development must have been rushed to meet the Force Friday deadline. Either that or Rob Daviau's development chops were missed.

From what I've experienced so far, what you go with depends on what the opponents choose to do, so in any given game one element or the other may come to the fore. I still see viable reasons to pursue the saber duel and/or the Endor track* it just depends on how the space battle is going.

*Endor is technically required for a Rebellion win, but if the board is wiped of Imperial ships and there are still many rebel craft, it's time to concede anyway.

bfkiller wrote: I like Queen's Gambit quite a bit better. The options on each card in Star Wars Risk don't really feel like options because there's usually a very obvious way to play your hand. Queen's Gambit offers the players more tactical options to consider for playing out a dealt hand because the importance of each field of battle is better balanced.

I still assume the game's development must have been rushed to meet the Force Friday deadline. Either that or Rob Daviau's development chops were missed.

Interesting.
Do you think it would be difficult for armchair hobbyist designers to tweak this satisfactorily?
Or would it be too difficult given what is contained in this version?

Colorcrayons wrote:

bfkiller wrote: I like Queen's Gambit quite a bit better. The options on each card in Star Wars Risk don't really feel like options because there's usually a very obvious way to play your hand. Queen's Gambit offers the players more tactical options to consider for playing out a dealt hand because the importance of each field of battle is better balanced.

I still assume the game's development must have been rushed to meet the Force Friday deadline. Either that or Rob Daviau's development chops were missed.

Interesting.
Do you think it would be difficult for armchair hobbyist designers to tweak this satisfactorily?
Or would it be too difficult given what is contained in this version?

No idea. I've never tried tweaking game rules for any game I've played.

I should add that there are a few aspects of Star Wars Risk that I prefer. Return of the Jedi is much better source material for Star Wars fans, and the game ends pretty much at the right time (I've had games of Queen's Gambit that dragged on for too long, though I've had games of Star Wars Risk that ran too long as well).

I'm with you ^^^ on the Queen's Gambit slogfest. It's a fantastic game that has literally 1 extra hour tacked onto it for no real reason. This game is a hell of a compromise - 85% of the fun in 60% of the time. Like Dark Moon vs BSG.

I can't comment specifically on how it stacks up to Queen's Gambit since I've never had a chance to play that. I still think Star Wars Risk is a hell of a consolation prize. Make no mistake though, Star Wars Risk is NOT a hobby game. This is mass market gold that hearkens back to the glory days of the 80s/90s. The complexity level is below HeroQuest and is much closer to well...Risk. I'm a huge fan of these lighter simpler Ameritrash games...think Thunder Road or even Nexus Ops. This isn't Star Wars Rebellion. It's straightforward, in your face, and it's Star Wars. I love it.

Also it's $17.97 on amazon right now. I can't even order a large buffalo chicken pizza for that price. Fuck, the value of this game is tremendous!

bfkiller - Rob Daviau had very little input on QG.

I agree though, QG is much better although you have to deal with that sluggish mid-game.

This sounds infinitely better than Game of Thrones CLUE. Jeeeeesus does that look and sound terrible. It started as a April Fool's joke a year ago and then someone actually made it.

Why is Hizdahr Zo Loraq a character in this but Jon Snow and Arya aren't?!? Doesn't she kill people all the time?

I really like this one too, but I think it only really starts to open up when both people have played it a bunch. That's not because the game is all that deep, but because both sides have kind of a bludgeoning strategy they can do quickly if the other person isn't paying attention. Being able to anticipate those strategies is a key part of playing effectively, and it's at that point that the card bonuses (especially those for the lightsaber battle) become really important.

The bludgeoning strategy for the Rebels is more obvious right off, which is to rush Endor. But if the Imperials create a meat shield between the Deathstar and the Rebel fleet, and keep pooping out TIE fighters, it's pretty effective at slowing them down. Any card advantage at that point is a big deal.

I do really like this game. I like that the rules are simple enough that my six-year-old can play it and enjoy it, and I like that it's proven to have more depth than its simplicity displays.

This is a better game than Queen's Gambit across the board. It may not be a "hobby" game, but there aren't many designs that evoke their subject matter so well with so little. It really shows that games don't have to have 40 pages of rules, 2000 counters, reams of lame flavor text, multi-mechanic combat resolution and 8 hour play times to be narrative, impactful, and "epic".

I love Rebellion; but this is the one I'd save from a fire- even with it being exponentially less expensive.

One the Best Rating system ever:

What does the Scale-o-matic 6500™ say?
On a scale of Jar Jar Binks to Boba Fett
Star Wars Risk rates as Bossk

Based on this review and the comments below, I just bought this. I can't wait to try it out.

Ouf... the review is a Greedo at best.