Customer Reviews

Risk Godstorm Game

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Godstrom is set in mythical times with players struggling for control of Ancient Earth and the Underworld. Game play is more like a Risk 2210 variant but much more chaotic and loud, shifting the power among players all the time. You must raise armies, gather faith, summon gods and build temples, perform miracles, suffer plagues, invade territories, fortify, embark from Heaven and invade the Underworld. Au contraire of Risk 2210, Godstorm is a mucho macho Sunday night football type of game. Entire armies can be decimated with one move such as "The Sea is Your Tomb" miracle card that sinks the entire continent of Atlantis along with all armies, temples and gods present. This wham-bam style of game should not be taken seriously or you will not have fun. To sum it up read this line from the rule book: "Table talk, including alliances, threats, coercion, whining, pleading, backstabbing, invocation of the divine wrath of your ancestors and other verbal tirades, is not only allowed, but also encouraged." If you are a Risk fan you will enjoy Godstorm if not skip it, the game is not for you. And for those interested here are more details of the game:

Gods And Miracles - Four gods can be summoned (Magic, War, Death and Sky) to perform miracles such as the sinking of Atlantis, cause the attacking army to win all ties, allow to re-roll all 1s, bring additional armies, make armies move faster, turn back time and cause the game to last a sixth turn, summon a plague, vanish all gods from earth, destroy relics (relics give you extra miracle cards or faith tokens each turn), etc. Gods will not directly fight an army but will duke it out against each other in a godswar if encountered.

Faith - "Money" used to summon gods, buy miracle cards, bid on who start the current turn, purchase temples (temples give you defensive advantages, reinforcement bonuses, and game end points), etc.

The Underworld - Armies lost in battle go to the players "heaven" and then invade to control the underworld. Battles take place on a much too small separate map and you will soon find out that controlling the Underworld has little value plus extends game play way to long.

This game plays for five turns or "epochs" and the player with the most points at game end wins. Strategically Risk 2210 is better but this is a nice twist of the game. If you wish a pure strategy game, play the award winning Puerto Rico board game. But if you enjoy a loud, chaotic, in your face kind of game, then Risk Godstorm is for you. Enjoy!

Being used to playing Classic RISK, this game seemed a big complicated when I first started reading the rules. However, after you read the rules and play 1 game, you will be familiar with how the game works and the added complexity of the game introduces VERY new strategies.

Those that are familiar with Classic RISK will, at first, think that Godstorm is a complete free-for-all, laden with luck. It will appear that there is much less strategy and much more luck. After playing this game many times though, the astute strategist will realize that there is indeed a lot of strategy involved in RISK Godstorm, and that it is not as much of a luckfest as it might first appear to be.

For example, if you never played before and didn't know that the Death Card "Sink Atlantis" was out there, you might have all your forces massed in the continent of Atlantis and then suddenly in a blink of an eye be completely demolished from the game. If you knew that the card existed though, and knew that your opponents knew the card existed and so they were scared to take Atlantis, you might easily take and hold Atlantis with a small number of forces (while your main forces work on another continent). You might also summon your God of Death if you hold Atlantis, and try to work on the Death Card stack, hoping to draw the "Sink Atlantis" card yourself and give yourself some safety from being sunk. However, you still don't want to mass too many forces there and you probably want to mumble something about how bad your cards are and how worthless they are, because if you act happy about the card you drew and then start massing forces in Atlantis, the other players will know that you drew the Sink Atlantis card (if they are smart). Then if they draw the card that allows them to look at and take another player's cards... you're in TROUBLE!

This is just 1 of many examples, but a lot of strategy in Godstorm comes from knowing what cards are out there and playing your cards properly. This element of strategy is non-existent in the Classic RISK. Another example: Suppose your opponent has a relic that he can use once to negate the effects of any miracle card. If you want to use a miracle card against him to really screw him over, you still can, but you need to be smart. What you do is you play a miracle card very enthusiastically and act like you are screwing him over badly, but this miracle card is really only screwing him over a *little* bit. Now you hope he falls for the trap and uses up his relic to negate the effects of that miracle card. NOW you play the card that REALLY screws him over, now that he can't negate the effects of it anymore. Alternately, you might wait and try your best to get the card that allows you to destroy a relic.

If someone has lots of "Sky Cards" you should be aware of this before deciding to attack them, and if you do indeed decide to attack them, you might want to attack them in small battles first and see if you can bait them into using up their defense-oriented miracle cards on those small and meaningless battles. Then if they fall for it, launch your main assault when they have no cards left. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have to be careful not to use up powerful cards just for the sake of using them up in a small and meaningless squirmish(although sometimes you don't want to hold onto a VERY powerful card too long--especially if you have lots of cards because YOU will be the one that gets your cards looked at and 1 taken away from you if someone else draws that particular card).

Regular RISK strategy of massing at the borders and fortifying those positions is still present, and the element of timing is important since the game only lasts 5 - 6 epochs (limited number of turns). Holding lots of territories on epoch 2 does you no good if you only hold a few after epoch 5. Managing your faith tokens is important strategy also.

Ok, I've gone on long enough, but here is the bottom line: This game is NOT a luckfest, it just will initially appear that way to players who are used to playing Classic RISK and haven't had time to catch onto all the nuances of the new game. Since the game is more complex, it will take you a few games and some careful thought before you start to develop your strategy/strategies. A mediocre Classic RISK player who has experience playing RISK Godstorm will *probably* dominate a great Classic RISK player who is playing Godstorm for the first time--and it will appear as if it was luck... but it probably wasn't! It's a great game IMO.

We bought Risk: Godstorm after checking reviews of the various expansions to Risk. Since no-one else owned this one and it was highly rated, we grabbed a copy and have been solidly impressed with the game.

Many of our friends enjoy boardgames so a stimulating strategy title makes for a great social event over a weekend. The game's mechanics are excellent and the various strategies which are possible by combining the "Gods" provide an engrossing experience.

The board pieces are decently built, with a partitioned box for holding the different types. We went a step further by placing them into resealable plastic bags, which works very well. The only 2 complaints which I could think of though, are the fact that 2 races have similarly-coloured brown pieces and the board for the Underworld becomes a little too cramped in the later stages. Whilst there are pieces to represent groups, it is slightly awkard to swap the single and group pieces.

I strongly recommend getting Godstorm to both experienced Risk players as well as anybody who may be interested to try the Risk type of board-games. Godstorm is an interesting and definitely stimulating game, which I wish I'd bought much earlier

I am a borderline fanatical Risk player. I own all editions of Risk, including 2010 and classic. This game is incredibly enjoyable. The addition of the underworld is a pleasant surprise. Now you can take those dead armies and make something happen with them! Battling for control of the underworld is a fun new feature. And the new world board is also set up well. With the plagues, you can potentially have entire routes effectively cut off, so each time you play it is different. If you are the type of person who likes to set up an intense, involved game, and battle your friends for hours (and I mean HOURS) then Risk Godstorm is for you.
I rated it a 5 stars for educational value, because you can learn the Mythology of the various civilizations as you play. Sure, it's not as educational as reading a book, but can you get that from playing checkers? Buy this game and invite me over.

I can't say it much better than the review already in place, but I thought I'd add my two cents.

The game's overbalancing nature may be a turn off for some people, but at the same time it is quite a bit of fun for an established group of people who pretty much play the game like animals either.

What I found particularly enjoyable were the assorted mythological references within the cards and so forth. Having a group well educated in such things I learned a few stories I didn't know, and taught a few myself. I found the experience of playing to be quite pleasing, though the turns take quite a while to go through at first - there is a lot of information there.

If you don't want something so unbalanced you might want to give the Lord of the Rings risk a shot. Having played that as well I found it incorporated a few of the ideas here in something of a more balanced way, resulting in more strategic play (while still offering a few suprises).

Risk is great... just a wonderful strategy filled game.
Lord of the Rings Risk was great as well, adding new elements to spice up the game.
But GodStorm? Wow... just wow... one of the most original games I have ever played. Despite being based on Risk, it takes on a game play of its own where your strategy from Risk will only take you so far. The added elements of actual Gods walking the Earth, miracle cards, and the underworld make for a truly exciting game. Different everytime you play and just as fun. GET IT. GET IT. GET IT.

Even though I'm only 11, I like Risk. Compared to Risk Godstorm, Risk looks easy. It is very complex but fun all the same once you know how to play. It is a great game to play as a family and its not a game that lasts forever like Risk. The Miracle Cards, Gods, and the underworld are a great addition to the game. I play it with my brother a lot. It is COOL!

Forgive the quote from "Jason and the Argonauts" but I couldn't help it.This game is based on what was originally a French game of 'Conquest of the World". Picked up by Parker in 1959 and became a game legend. Now, recent designers have sought to add to the line and have successfully produced "Risk 2210" for the modern generation and now dipping into the past with "Risk Godstorm" where the usual moves can be influenced by the Gods like the battles that occur in Homer's Iliad. Sacrifices are required to attain their attention and the execution of their influence may or may not have major implications. The little statues remind you of "Star Wars" characters like the "Dark Emperor" rather than Nordic, Greek mythology, etc. The game requires some repetitive play to understand the value of the pieces and their plot on the map. So you should not judge the game based on only a few plays. A worthy addition to the "Risk Ring" and as Steve Reeves once said as Hercules "There is a job to be done and a woman to be conquered...the Cretean Bull awaits"! Whatever that meant!

It takes a long time to get the hang of this, but we've stayed up into the wee hours playing it. Actually, we play a modified version since the whole business about defeated armies battling in the underworld is complicated and doesn't seem to add much to the game. The rest of it rocks and we've had players as young as 10 and as old as 70 have a lot of fun with it.

This is a great game for Risk fans! It was quite complicated and we had to repeatedly refer to the instructions but it was enjoyable. This game can last FOREVER though so be prepared for a long night!