For decades now, fans have been arguing over who the better starship captain is. They’ll now get a chance to prove it in Star Trek Risk, a Trek-ified version of the longtime board game favorite.
We all know the Federation’s philosophy doesn’t exactly encourage world domination (although hints about the Star Trek Beyond storyline indicate that Idris Elba’s Krall has some thoughts on that), but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun being your favorite captain and proving your superiority once and for all. Right?
The game provides a scenario to cover why Starfleet captains would be pitted against each other, something about Q (a fan of world domination) and his plot to determine for all time who’s the best commander. Still a stretch for the Star Trek universe, as I can’t see Janeway, Picard, Sisko, Kirk, or even Archer agreeing to these shenanigans, but look: if you like playing Risk anyway, this version seems like it would be a lot of fun. The board features planets and galaxies instead of countries and continents, and you get to move starships and shuttlecrafts around instead of soldiers and horses. And if you’re uncomfortable with captains going head-to-head, just pretend it’s a Starfleet war game.
The game includes a game board; 225 custom starships and shuttlecrafts; 5 Captain’s Logs; 44 Location Cards; 30 Crew Cards; 50 Q-Vent Cards; 14 Q’s Quests; 72 Alien Lifeform Tokens; 5 Manhunt Markers; 2 Wormholes; 107 Command Credits; 50 Tribbles; 5 Dice; and Game Guide.
Star Trek Risk is available now from Amazon and many other retailers.
Clever.
It’s a great idea. But poorly executed back story. This really ought to be set up the same way as classic Risk, with each color representing a different faction — Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Andorians, etc. Perhaps the players are then given the option of which character they want to be. So even though the game play goals are the same, to dominate the board, the philosophies are the same — the Federation wants to spread peace, the Klingons want to dominate, etc. It just makes no sense for Federation captains from different timelines to battle for dominion of the galaxy, even if Q is somehow involved. This almost makes me want to sit down for a good old fashioned game of Risk again!
In the voice of Dr. McCoy, “How can you think of games at a time like this?”
First order of business, survival.
Excellent!
Each colored zone on the board represents a galaxy instead of a faction (Federation, Klingons, Romulans, etc.)? Considering Star Trek occurs in the Milky Way Galaxy it’s an interesting, but nit picky, decision.
I do plan on buying one though!
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10029633-star-trek-online:-kelvin-timeline
The “JJ-Verse” is crossing over with STO. With Joseph Gatt reprising his character from Into Darkness.
2016 will see the release of some far better Trek board games than this one. I hope you plan on covering those too. Starting with Gale Force Nine’s epic boardgame Star Trek Ascendancy:
http://startrek.gf9games.com/Home/tabid/56/entryid/85/star-trek-ascendancy-due-summer-2016.aspx
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!
Risk! Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.
Will I’m admittedly a biased Classic Trek fan, Kirk always wins because he has something the other Captains simply didn’t have – Spock.