Risk: Star Wars Edition Review

Risk: Star Wars Edition has virtually nothing to do with Albert Lamorisse’s foundational “dudes on a map” game. Rather, this title is something of a distillation of the classic Avalon Hill game Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit. But that game was released as a tie-in to the ill-fated Episode I and this game arrives riding a massive, cresting wave of Star Wars rejuvenation and rebirth with the release of The Force Awakens. But it also has nothing to do with that film, despite prominently featuring baddie Kylo Ren on the box, presiding over an awesome space battle illustration that screams classic Star Wars- and specifically, the end of Return of the Jedi.

The Queen’s Gambit attempted to depict the four-layered conclusion of Episode, with card-driven action occurring concurrently and often impacting other areas of the conflict. Risk: Star Wars does the same thing but with the Battle of Endor, as the Rebels attempt to blow up the shield generator in the Ewoks’ neck of the woods in order to enable the fleet to strike the in-construction Death Star II. All while Luke and Vader sort out some family issues under the cackling watch of the Emperor. It seems like a lot to manage in a board game, but this new reduction of the original Craig Van Ness/Stephen Baker/Rob Daviau design results in a lean, no-fat battle game with tons of excitement and detail that tops out around 40 minutes. And that’s a long game.

The board is shaped like a TIE Fighter. In the center is the space battle, where X, Y and B Wings (with some help from the Lando Calrissian/Nien Nunb-piloted Millenium Falcon) battle against TIE squadrons launched from the Super Star Destroyer Executor. On one panel is a track that charts the progress of Han, Chewie, Leia and the Rebel forces advancing on the shield generator. On the other are damage tracks for the Executor and the Falcon along with health points for Vader and Luke. It doesn’t look like any other game out there, and even though the great miniatures and 3D Theed palace from The Queen’s Gambit have no analogue it looks awesome.

Gameplay is card-driven. Each turn, both sides lock in three action cards from a hand. These feature two to three actions corresponding to one of the areas. You flip your next card and choose one of the actions. In space, you move and attack with ships, rolling against simple to-hit numbers based on the ship type being attacked. Clear a sector, and you get to add a face-down card from your deck to your order stack. On Endor, the Rebel player rolls to make progress along the path but the Empire player can place Stormtrooper tokens that increase the roll needed to move forward. Meanwhile, back in the Throne Room, Vader and Luke roll combat dice with the eventual victor getting to add a massive- and sometimes decisive- five cards to their orders for the turn.

There are some additional details. The Executor launches squadron after squadron of TIE fighters and the Imperial player can use the Death Star, in its limited operational capacity, to blast the Rebel Fleet markers from which additional fighters are brought onto the board. The Emperor can zap Luke with Force lightning, an automatic hit. And if Vader’s health falls low enough, the Rebel player can play a card to redeem Vader rather than kill him. The goal of it all is for the Rebels to bring down the shields and get a ship into range to destroy it with a roll of 6. The Empire just needs to destroy everything the Rebels have brought to bear. All of it.

It’s all very simple but also extremely effective in conveying this very specific, three-layered narrative sequence. Splitting the players’ attention between three different conflict areas never becomes overwhelming. Decision points are often quite tough even when you have the flexibility of choosing one of the other options on an action card that aren’t what you planned to use it for. Choosing where and when to apply pressure or drop the hammer is exciting and fun, and Star Wars fans are going to love playing either side of the fight.

With that said, it does feel like the game is definitely built in favor of the Rebels and I think most competent players will see a higher ratio of wins with that side. I don’t think this is necessarily a problem since this is such a light, fun game with a huge scope and lots of moment-to-moment thrills. But it is a factor to be aware of- in other words, let the kids play the Rebels. It’s a great game for Star Wars-loving families like mine, but I think it is definitely best with two players. The team game works fine, but it’s still essentially three or four people playing the two player game.

I love Star Wars, I love Return of the Jedi and I loved Queen’s Gambit. But I think this is actually something of a refinement of the original design. It could be that going “mainstream” with it filed away some of the rougher edges and trimmed away some of the more extraneous bits. Or it could be that it just feels more modern and of the moment with a slimmer figure. And moving the core of the design to an original trilogy setting certainly hasn’t hurt it. Regardless, this is one of the better mass-market games I’ve played in quite some time and lately it’s been one that I’ve been known to just pop out and play with friends and family at the drop of a Stormtrooper helmet. It’s just plain old, accessible fun- much like the original films were.