I am staffing Nats this year, but I'm hoping to get some play time before Saturday. I'll have a trunkload of games with me:
- Lighter Fare:
- Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx
- Carcassonne
- Treehouse
- Gang of Four
- The Heavier Stuff:
- Race For The Galaxy
- Dominion
- Power Grid
- Acquire
- Pandemic
- Cutthroat Caverns
- Risk (2008 edition), Risk 2210
I'd realy like to get my hands on a newer game called Dominion, but we'll see.
I'll have it on me and it will for sure be hitting the table at some point if you want to check it out. It's one of the best games of the last couple years -- I still like RftG better, but that's more personal preference, they are both phenomenal games.
I would love to play Risk. Although, you guys would have to teach me the new version of Risks because I have only played the classic Risk.
I have the 2008 revised version of Risk as well. The core game is the same -- the only real change are the victory conditions. As opposed to the simple "annihilate everyone else" of the classic game, there are now objectives (chosen randomly at the start of the game, before placing armies), and at the end of army placement you place a capital in one of your territories. To win, you must claim three objectives while maintaining control of your capital. The major objectives grant you some sort of bonus for the remainder of the game (like an additional attack or defense die). Besides shortening the game up quite a bit, the goals and choosing when and how to acquire them does add a lot of tactical depth to the game -- still not as deep as, say, Axis and Allies, but it also stays a lot more approachable and faster to play. Any game of A&A typically consumes an entire evening, where you could get in 3 or 4 games of the new Risk.
Risk 2210 is a similar reboot -- same core game with a future setting and a lot of tactical improvements grafted on. You have actual money in this one (called energy), and you can use it to purchase special commander units, and to purchase cards that go along with each commander that grant you a wide variety of effects (like nuking your target territory from orbit, decimating the defending army before you even take a shot from land). You even use your energy to bid on turn order before the start of each round. Unlike the classic game, this one has a fixed limit of five rounds of play, after which a score is calculated (based on owned territories and size of army, among other things) to determine a winner.
I'd highly encourage checking out either one if you liked classic Risk. Risk 2008 you can find at any store (even Wal-Mart). I think 2210 might be out of print by now, but there are still a lot of new copies out there on shelves.
