In 2011 Risk legacy Board games changed forever. The brilliant adaptation of the classic strategy title created a new genre seemingly overnight – the legacy genre. Now, a decade after its publication, Hasbro is developing Risking shadow forces, a spiritual successor created with the help of renowned designer Craig Van Ness. Polygon has the first details of what fans should expect when the finished game comes out in fall 2022.
Risk legacy was developed and designed by Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis who asked a simple question: why throw away board games what happened last time just to start over like Groundhog Day? Therefore, Risk legacy was the first board game with some kind of memory, an experience that evolved over time by adding additional game mechanics in response to events in the game. The players were asked to write on the board; to apply stickers to change maps, characters and locations on the map; and completely destroy elements of the game.
The end result was an action-packed campaign in a box and the reinvention of a classic that was first released in 1957. She inspired games like Gloomhaven, Pandemic Legacy, and even Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile.
Build a legacy
But the plot of the original Risk legacy? Well … it was a little bit outside. User pictureBarbarian-style ‘Mechs went on par with barbarian berserkers, while futuristic armored soldiers lined up to mow down mutants and alien invaders. At the end of 14 linked games, the world that the players had created together was unique, but also largely incomprehensible.
Chris Nadeau, senior director and product development manager on Hasbro’s Avalon Hill team, tells Polygon that his goal this time around was to keep what worked from the original Risk legacy
“One of the most important goals of Shadow forces“Said Nadeau,” should make sure that players not only have the technical play through – the emotional connection to the gameplay itself – but that they also feel like they are telling their own story.
“risk is an interesting game in that it really never had a story, ”Nadeau continued. “The original game is essentially that type of game Napoleonic oil painting that belongs in your great-uncle’s smoking den. […] We could register an IP risk in a way we’ve never done before, or we could make it up. It can be new and original and different. “
Nadeau’s team chose the second option, abandoning Hasbro’s many existing universes in favor of something new.
“It took us enough time to act out essentially all of our fears in the real world,” said Nadeau. “Climate change. The kind of slow decay of society and government. These private companies and the super-rich are doing things like going into space. What if we keep this pace and acceleration for the next 29 years?”
The worldmap
Risking shadow forces will take place in 2050. Humanity has come together to develop a new source of clean energy to colonize Mars. But before the expedition can begin in earnest, a tragedy breaks out. The military and corporations around the world point their weapons at one another. When traditional superpowers are sidelined, powerful warlords take advantage and plunge into the vacuum to fill the vacuum.
The players begin Risking shadow forces by choosing one of these warlords and then playing the same warlord over 15 linked games. Each warlord will have their own backstory that will help define their unique thematic, evolving powers. Perhaps they are very agile and move armies around the map easily and quickly. Or maybe they are very defensive, with bonuses for holding territories and fighting aggressors. These skills are represented by a small deck of cards that can be used during a player’s turn to influence the outcome of a particular battle on the world map.
Next come the factions that are unlike a traditional game of Risk, everyone will have their own skills. Before each game, players will be drafting a faction, similar to drafting cards in a game of Magic the Gatheringso that they never know what combination they will get every time they play. This synergy between a particular player’s chosen warlord and his semi-randomly assigned faction requires new strategies to be developed on the fly.
The skirmish game
Nadeau and his team didn’t stop there. Risking shadow forces includes the traditional game of world domination and a secondary game. To make the action even more personal, individual warlords will take up arms and fight tactical skirmishes between the battles on the world map. Risking shadow forces comes with two double-sided battle boards that players use to engage in these firefights, and this is where Craig Van Ness comes in.
Van Ness is an industry veteran with decades of experience. His greatest claim to fame is as a co-designer of Hero landscape, an elaborate skirmish game first released in 2004. In it, the players take on the role of characters from several different timelines, who compete with unique forces on modular terrain. He also helped shape it Star Wars: Epic Duels. This is the title that inspired the successful board game Unsurpassed, a collaboration between Mondo and Restoration Games that also uses skirmish mechanics. Suffice it to say that Van Ness has the experience to make this style of play sing when it comes to board game battles with small units.
“He’s sitting there with that notebook open, not only writing down the mistakes of the things he wants to look at, but also the possible solutions,” said Nadeau. “He played the meta in his head from the moment he met the mechanic. In a way, it makes Craig move his process right beyond alpha testing. He’s past exploration and debugging as soon as he starts playing. “
but Hero landscape is not Van Ness’ only claim to fame. He is also a co-designer – alongside Daviau and the late Alan Roach – of. known Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit. It’s an obscure, out of print board game based on the climatic final battle of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The Queen’s Gambit is not a single game, but three connected games that take place at the same time. In it, players fight the space battle over the surface of Naboo and also the attack on the Queen’s throne room – complete with a decoy Padme Amidala. At the same time they fight as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn against Darth Maul. The result is an incredibly exciting, networked strategy game that has never been tried before or since.
It’s exactly the kind of experience that it takes to create something like this Risking shadow forces, and Van Ness is very excited about the prospects.
“You take that kind of global map of the world and you go straight to this skirmish game,” Van Ness told Polygon. “Every skirmish game has a different goal. It plays differently. Likewise, the global games play differently. There are some real twists and turns coming from this. Either the setup is different, or the goals are different, or we are introducing new things that you did not expect, or new ways to play. “
Due to the secrecy of legacy games, neither Van Ness nor Nadeau can say for sure what will be in the box when it finally ships next fall. You can say that in addition to 5 unique warlords and over 200 additional miniatures, there will also be four sealed envelopes and one sealed container. One can only guess what is in these sealed packages. The final product has a suggested retail price of $ 68.99. Pre-orders begin on October 23rd, and those who invest money for a copy will be included in the ongoing design process – much like a modern day crowdfunding board game.
For more information on Risking shadow forces, go to Hasbro pulse Community website.