When many people think back to memories of playing board games at family gatherings, Risk is a game that has been bringing people together around the table for many years.
The first iteration of Risk was released in 1957 by Albert Lamorisse, a French film director. Parker Brothers bought rights to the game and released the game in 1959 as what we know today as Risk.
Over the years, the game has been released in countless forms and IPs, including Risk: Star Wars Edition, Risk: Doctor Who, Risk: Game of Thrones, and Risk Legacy.
If you, or someone you know, enjoy playing Risk but are looking for games that share commonalities with Risk but offer new kinds of experiences, here are 10 excellent board games to put on your radar.
1. Risk Legacy – The Obvious Choice for Game Most Like Original Risk
While the games included in this list offer some creative alternatives to Risk, if you are seeking out a game with a very close feel to the original but that provides a fresh and innovative experience, the obvious choice for you would be Risk Legacy, designed by Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis.
Risk Legacy at a Glance
| Game Type Science Fiction, Wargame, Area Movement, Card Drafting, Dice Rolling, Legacy Game, Player Elimination, Variable Player Powers | Play Time 60 Mins | Skill/Complexity (2.7 - 5) Medium |
| Age 13+ | Publisher(s) Hasbro | Published 2011 |
| Categories Strategy | Players 3 - 5 | Cost $64.99 approx |
| Our Rating 8.9/10 |
If you are unfamiliar with the term “legacy game,” the term refers to a campaign-style game (played over a series of rounds) in which the game is physically altered throughout the course of successive game rounds. In other words, cards can be written on or torn up, stickers can be applied to the game board and other places, new components can be introduced, and game rules can be significantly altered. At the end of a legacy campaign, the game will look very different in comparison to how it began. Risk Legacy is actually considered to be the original legacy game that started this genre, and received the 2012 Golden Geek Beset Innovative Board Game award.
Risk Legacy is a game that provides players with a sense of discovery as the game continues to evolve throughout the course of the campaign, and for this reason we can’t necessarily discuss the specific changes that are introduced to make this a fun and exciting experience. However, just by opening the game box, you will find envelopes that are to be opened once certain conditions have been met in the game, and blank spots in the rulebook and faction cards where stickers can be placed in the future.
Risk Legacy is a game that provides players with a sense of discovery as the game continues to evolve throughout the course of the campaign.
The only potential drawback to Risk Legacy is the fact that, because it is a 15-game campaign, it requires you to play with the same people over the course of many gaming sessions. With family and work commitments, it can sometimes be a challenge to repeatedly meet with the exact same group of friends or family. However, if you can make it work, this is a very rewarding and memorable game experience you are almost guaranteed to fall in love with.
2. Scythe – An Economic Game with Combat
If you enjoy the map aspect of Risk and trying to control territories, but you are looking for something that offers a different kind of strategic depth, Scythe is a widely popular game that may very well be one that you enjoy.
Scythe is set in an alternate universe of post-WWI Eastern Europe, players take the role of leaders of different nations that are attempting to become the most prosperous by gaining the most gold. It’s an asymmetrical game, meaning that players each have unique abilities that allow them to break the rules of the game in different ways, as well as an engine-building game that provides a satisfying sense of progression.
It’s an asymmetrical game, meaning that players each have unique abilities that allow them to break the rules of the game in different ways, as well as an engine-building game…..
Scythe at a Glance
| Game Type Strategy / Territory Building Area Control | Play Time 90 - 120 mins | Skill/Complexity (3.5 - 5) Medium - Heavy |
| Age 14+ | Publisher(s) Stonemaier Games | Published 2016 |
| Categories Strategy | Players 1 - 5 | Our Rating 9.5/10 |
| Related My Little Scythe Board Game – Ages 8+ | Cost $79.99 approx | Rules Manual Official Rules PDF |
Scythe, designed by Jamey Stegmaier, is an action-selection game in which players on their turn take their action pawn and place it on an action space on their player board in order to activate a particular action. The catch, however, is that players must choose a different action space on their next turn, so planning and timing is crucial in order to maximize actions.
While combat is present in Scythe, it is by no means a primary mechanism or focus of the game. Instead, the game focuses more on players dealing with the possibility of an attack, and acts as a source for strategic decision making in terms of avoiding becoming a target for another player to attack in order to gain resources. In other words, if you are a gamer who doesn’t necessarily like a lot of direct player interaction, you still may very much like this game.
One very interesting aspect of the game is the way that the end-game is triggered. Throughout the game, players will be placing stars on an achievement track for having met certain game conditions. Once a player has placed their final star, the game ends immediately – no player gets another turn. Players then get money for starts they’ve placed, territories they control, and the number of resources they have. The amount of money they receive for each category is directly tied to the amount of popularity points they’ve gained over the game.
Another obvious positive aspect of Scythe worth mentioning is its stunning artwork and unique alternate history theme, most notably the steampunk-esque mechs that roam the game board and are featured in the art on many of the cards and box. The encounter cards in the game, which also feature this stunning artwork, add a minor narrative and thematic element as players must decide what to do when presented with a situation within this world.
3. A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – An Epic Gaming Experience
There’s no secret that Risk is a game that can tend to run on the long side; it’s not uncommon that a game can span for multiple hours and become the prolonged focus of a family gathering. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for some people – and for those who are looking for an epic game that can provide a deep gameplay experience over a relatively long game-length.
Game of Thrones at a Glance
| Game Type TV & Book Theme, Wargame, Fantasy, Bluffing, Negotiation, Area Majority / Influence, Area Movement, Auction/Bidding, Player Elimination, Variable Player Powers | Play Time 120 - 240 mins + | Skill/Complexity (4 - 5) Medium - Heavy |
| Age 14+ | Publisher(s) Fantasy Flight Games | Published 2003 - Latest 2011 + expansions (including 2018) |
| Categories Strategy / Fantasy | Players 4 - 6 (6 Ideal) | Cost $59.99 |
| Our Rating 9/10 | Instructions/Rules Official Rules PDF |
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game is one that you and your friends and family will remember for many years to come. While being a fan of the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice & Fire series is not a prerequisite to play A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, it certainly helps for getting immersed in the game’s theme; namely, political control, conquest, and deceit.
In this game, players each control a major different house from the TV/book series, with the goal of being the first to control seven regions (containing a castle or stronghold), or simply control the most regions once the game ends after 10 rounds. The events players have to deal with and the types of actions and decisions players resolve throughout these rounds are definitely befitting to the game’s theme.
In this game, players each control a major different house from the TV/book series, with the goal of being the first to control seven regions (containing a castle or stronghold), or simply control the most regions……..
In the Westeros Phase, cards are drawn that dictate events and actions that players must deal with. In the Planning Phase, players make secret decisions about assigning order tokens to units on the board (which are placed face down) after spending time negotiating and creating (or breaking) alliances with other players. Then, the Action Phase is all about resolving the actions from the Planning Phase, including engaging in combat to gain control of regions.
Because A Game of Thrones: The Board Game can certainly be a mean-spirited game, with plenty of back-stabbing and alliance-breaking, it’s not necessarily a game for everyone, but if this is aligned with the kind of gaming experience you are looking for, you will likely not be disappointed.
This game can be challenging to teach and learn, but it’s certainly worth the investment if you and your friends and family are willing to put in the time.
4. Small World – A Fantasy-Themed Struggle for Conquest
One aspect of Risk that many people enjoy is moving armies around the board and capturing territories from opponents. While Risk uses a world map to simulate historical armies fighting for territories, some people may be looking for an escape from the real world with fantasy races and make-believe lands.
For those who are looking for a bit of fantasy flair added to their fight for territory on a game board, look no further than Small World, a modern classic area-control game for 2-5 players.
Small World at a Glance
| Game Type Fantasy, Territory Building, Area Majority / Influence, Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Variable Player Powers | Play Time 40 - 80 mins | Skill/Complexity (2 - 5) Light - Medium |
| Age 8+ | Publisher(s) Days of Wonder | Published 2009 |
| Categories Family / Strategy | Players 2 - 5 | Cost $44.99 |
| Our Rating 7.2/10 | Related Small World Underground |
The player count of 2-5 players is definitely worth noting here, because one positive aspect of Small World is the fact that it scales quite well between the different player counts given the fact that each player count has a different map. A 2-player game utilizes a small map, and a 5-player game has an enormous map that takes up a lot more table space.
The main idea in Small World is that players take control of armies of different fantasy races, each randomly paired with a unique ability. On a player’s turn, they conquer territories on the board by placing chits of their race onto the board, and having to pay extra if there are an opponent’s pieces present. If a player’s region is conquered by another player, they lose 1 chit permanently, and then retrieve the remaining chits from that region to redistribute. At the end of a player’s turn, they gain 1 gold for each region they occupy (plus any additional gold as granted by special abilities).
The main idea in Small World is that players take control of armies of different fantasy races, each randomly paired with a unique ability. On a player’s turn, they conquer territories on the board……..
Alternatively, on a player’s turn they can choose to go into decline, meaning that they deactivate their current race by flipping their pieces over to the deactivated side. On their next turn, they get to choose a new race and begin conquering again. While they can’t do anything with a race that is in decline on future turns, they do still receive income for regions that their race in decline occupies.
The game ends after a certain number of rounds as determined by player count, and the player with the most gold at the end of that round wins.
Small World offers a good amount of replayability with the number of races and abilities included in the game, and the fact that races and abilities are randomly paired means that the armies you pick in each game will rarely feel the same. This is also a game that is quite easy to teach, and the light-hearted fantasy theme is one that many people find fun and comical. If this sounds like your idea of a good time, it definitely is.
5. El Grande – A Classic Area-Control Game
For many fans of Risk, nostalgia is a factor that keeps them coming back to enjoy the game – the way the game looks, and the game plays brings back memories of a simpler time. El Grande is an area control game that can also evoke a feeling of familiarity and simplicity; while you may have never played El Grande before, it can still manage to make you feel like you should remember playing it a long time ago.
El Grande at a Glance
| Game Type Medieval, Renaissance, Action Drafting, Area Control, Auction/Bidding, Card Drafting | Play Time 60 - 120 mins | Skill/Complexity (3 - 5) Medium |
| Age 12+ | Publisher(s) Hans im Glück and others | Published 1995 |
| Categories Strategy | Players 2 - 5 | Cost $39.95 |
| Our Rating 8.5/10 |
The goal of El Grande is simple – get the most points by controlling regions on the board over the course of nine rounds. Winning the game, however, is not so simple as it requires you to be very clever in your decision making.
Each round begins with players playing a power card from their hand in order to determine player order and the number of “caballeros” they get to place from the supply into their province. Each player begins the game with power cards numbered 1-13, and once a player has played a power card of one value, they cannot play it again for the rest of the game. The player who played the highest-valued power card gets to go first for the current round, and the player who played the lowest-value goes last. However, the lower-valued power cards allow players to add more caballeros into their province.
On a player’s turn, they select an action card from the public display, which determines both the action they can perform that turn as well as the number of caballeros from their province that they can place onto the game board. Action cards allow players to manipulate the pieces on the board, or gameplay/scoring, in a number of ways. When placing cabelleros onto the board, players cannot place in the same region where the king currently is, but they must place in a region adjacent to the king. Alternatively, players can place cabelleros into the “castillo” – a tower which shields the cabelleros within from public view.
At the end of the round, players secretly pick a region on the game board on their player dial. Then, the castillo is lifted, and players earn points for having the most, second most, or third most, cabelleros in the castillo. After this, players’ cabelleros from the castillos are moved to the region they indicated on their player dial. Then, regions are scored in order as indicated on the scoring track. The player who has majority in the region where the king currently is receives an additional 2 points, and if a player has the majority in the region where their grande caballero currently is, they receive an additional 2 points. The player with the most points at the end of nine rounds wins the game.
As mentioned above, El Grande is a game that simply feels like a classic that has deservedly stood the test of time. It feels like a game you could have been playing as a child with family during the holidays, alongside other games like Risk or Monopoly. It has a classic, outdated look to it, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’ve never tried El Grande, it’s definitely a game that everyone should try at least once if at the very least to appreciate its clean and elegant game design.
6. Kemet – A Combat-Heavy Strategy Game
Combat and fighting opponents for control of territories on the game board is something that many fans of Risk enjoy, and if you are looking for a game that provides a similar feel but with a different theme and some fresh game mechanisms, consider the award-winning game Kemet a worthy pick.
Kemet at a Glance
| Game Type Ancient, Miniatures, Wargame, Action Points, Area Control, Card Drafting, Card Play Conflict Resolution, Hand Management | Play Time 90 - 120 mins | Skill/Complexity (3 - 5) Medium |
| Age 13+ | Publisher(s) Matagot and others | Published 2012 |
| Categories Strategy | Players 2 - 5 | Cost $49.95 |
| Our Rating 8/10 |
Kemet, designed by Jacques Bariot and Guillaume Montiage, is a strategic wargame set in mythical Ancient Egypt. Players take on the role of powerful Egyptian gods deploying troops to gain control of territories on the board by engaging in conquest and combat with other armies in order to prove their ultimate power. The goal of the game is to be the first player to gain 8 victory points (VPs), which players can acquire by controlling temples, gaining power tiles, or attacking other armies and winning in combat.
While Kemet is a combat-heavy war game, it also features game mechanisms that players who normally gravitate toward Euro games will appreciate. For instance, power tiles that players can gain grant them ongoing abilities and give players a sense of progression and focus. Also, the game features an action-selection mechanism in which players, on their turn, place one of their remaining action tokens onto their game board to trigger a particular action, but they can only place on an empty space. This means that players must plan and execute their actions in an effective and efficient way in order to maximize VPs and do better than their opponents.
Actions include gaining 2 prayer points (currency in the game), raising a pyramid (the value of which determines the power tiles they can purchase; also, a level-4 pyramid gives a player who controls that territory 1 temporary VP), purchasing a power tile, recruiting units, and moving/attacking. If a player moves into a region occupied by another player, this initiates combat. To resolve combat, both players play a battle card and add that value to their number of units, bonuses from power tiles, bonuses provided by creatures they control, and bonuses from any divine intervention card they chose to play. The player with the higher value wins the battle and gains a permanent VP.
While there are many more rules and incredible aspects to discuss about Kemet, this is a high-level overview of what the game is like. As mentioned earlier, fans of the combat aspect of Risk will likely appreciate everything this game has to offer, and gamers who may not normally play games that feature high levels of combat may still appreciate some of the engine-building and action-selection mechanisms that the designers managed to integrate into its gameplay.
7. Twilight Struggle – A Historical 2-Player Tug-of-War
Risk is a game all about seeking to gain global dominance through military conquest, and the theme lends itself well to players who enjoy and appreciate military history. However, the game doesn’t specifically reenact any one global conflict and is more of a general military strategy simulation. If you are looking for a game that simulates historical events and even provide some level of education about those events, the two-player game Twilight Struggle is worth considering.
If you are looking for a game that simulates historical events and even provide some level of education about those events, the two-player game Twilight Struggle is worth considering.
Twilight Struggle at a Glance
| Game Type Wargame, Political Action/Event, Area Majority / Influence, Campaign / Battle Card Driven, Dice Rolling | Play Time 2 - 3 hours | Skill/Complexity (4 - 5) Medium - Heavy |
| Age 13+ | Publisher(s) GMT Games | Published 2005 |
| Categories Strategy | Players 2 Player | Rules Manual Official Rules PDF |
| Our Rating 8.8/10 | Cost $49.99 Approx |
Twilight Struggle is a game that puts players in the role of either the United States or USSR over the span of the Cold War (1945-1989). While the game is fairly complex with many rules involved, the basic idea is that players are attempting to be the first player to achieve 20 points, and they gain points by having presence, domination, or control in different regions when specific scoring cards come into play. A player can lose the game if they trigger nuclear war by causing the DEFCON track to reach DEFCON 1 on their turn.
A player’s turn consists of playing a card from their hand to either increase their own influence in a country, or reduce their opponent’s influence in a country through realignment or attempting a coup. Each country has a stability value, which determines how much more influence a player will need than their opponent in that particular country in order to gain control of it. Alternatively, a player can decide to play a card in order to trigger the action listed on the card. If the action on the card is associated with their opponent’s side, however, that action will be triggered if they choose to use that card to conduct operations on the game board.
One really interesting aspect of Twilight Struggle is the scoring track. While most games feature a linear point track that players move up separately, players share the same point marker in Twilight Struggle. The marker starts on 0, and when a player gains points, the point marker will move toward their side of the track. However, if their opponent gains points in the future, that marker will move back toward the opposite end of the track. This means that a player doesn’t necessarily win by only having gained 20 points throughout the course of the game; the point marker can sway back and forth until one player ultimately achieves total domination.
Twilight Struggle is a well-renowned game that at one point held the #1 spot on BoardGameGeek, and has certainly stood the test of time since it was released in 2005 (it currently holds the #10 spot for games overall, and the #1 spot for the war category). It is a fairly lengthy game, but if you are willing to invest the time to learn the rules, it could very easily become one of your favorites.
8. Kahuna – A Quick Two-Player Area-Control Game
While fans of Risk may enjoy the experience of vying for control for regions on a large sprawling map over the span of hours, it’s not always possible to commit that much time. If you find yourself in a situation where you are looking for a quick and light-weight area control game for 2 players, it’s hard to beat Kahuna.
Kahuna at a Glance
| Game Type Abstract Strategy, Area Control, Card Drafting, Hand Management, Network and Route Building, Take That | Play Time 30 - 40 mins | Skill/Complexity (2) Light |
| Age 10+ | Publisher(s) KOSMOS and others | Published 1998 |
| Categories Abstract Strategy | Players 2 | Cost $24.99 |
| Our Rating 7.7/10 |
Kahuna, designed by Günter Cornett, is a card-driven area-control game in which players fight to control islands on a small game board over the course of three rounds. Players gain control of an island by playing cards to build bridges. When they hold the majority of bridges that connect to that island, they place a control marker of their color onto that island; when this happens, bridges of the opponent’s color that attach to that island get discarded. If a player ever loses the majority of bridges onto an island, they lose their control marker on that island. Players can also intentionally remove an opponent’s bridge by playing two cards that correspond with the islands that their bridge connects to.
Kahuna, designed by Günter Cornett, is a card-driven area-control game in which players fight to control islands on a small game board over the course of three rounds.
The game is played over three rounds. At the end of the first round, whichever player controls the most islands gets one point. At the end of the second round, the player with the most islands gets two points. At the end of the third round, the player controlling the most islands gets points equal to the difference in majority markers between them and their opponent. Whoever has the most points at the end of the third round wins the game.
Kahuna is definitely a game that is easy to teach with very straight-forward objectives. While the rules may be simple, and the artwork pleasant to look at, the game does have a fair amount of direct player conflict as players can intentionally remove their opponent’s bridges and cause them to lose majority in islands.
All in all, if you are looking for a fun, but vicious 2-player game with a similar feel to Risk but in a very condensed amount of time, then Kahuna could be a great pick for you.
9. Eight-Minute Empire: Legends – A Quick Multiplayer Area-Control Game
If the previous game on the list (Kahuna) appealed to you in the sense that you are seeking out a game with quick gameplay that provides a similar feel as Risk, but are looking for a game that can play with more than two players, Eight-Minute Empire: Legends could be a good fit for you.
Eight-Minute Empire: Legends at a Glance
| Game Type Civilization, Exploration, Territory Building, Area Control, Card Driven, Card Drafting, Modular Board, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers | Play Time 15 - 30 mins | Skill/Complexity (2) Light |
| Age 13+ | Publisher(s) Red Raven Games and others | Published 2013 |
| Categories Strategy / Family | Players 2 - 4 | Cost $20.99 |
| Our Rating 7.8/10 |
Eight-Minute Empire: Legends, designed by Ryan Laukat, is an area-control game in which players are attempting to control regions and islands on a small modular game board. They do so by placing armies (cubes) and building cities of their city onto the different regions, and by removing opponents’ armies in order to gain majority in a particular region.
The game flow is relatively simple. On their turn, players select a card from a public display and pay the appropriate cost (the first left card is free, and cards become progressively more expensive to the right). The card that they select will dictate which action they take on that turn, as well as potentially provide an ongoing or end-game bonus. Card actions can include placing armies, destroying armies, building a city, or a combination of any of these things. Because money can be very tight in this game, players must make some difficult decisions about taking cards that are less expensive, or spending more money on a card that will provide them a significant benefit.
The end of the game is triggered once a player has gained a certain number of cards (depending on player count), then players gain points for the regions and islands they control, for any end-game bonuses provided by the cards in their display, as well as having the most elixirs on cards in their display. The player with the most points wins the game.
Despite the game’s name, a typical game of Eight-Minute Empire: Legends usually is around 20 minutes – still, a very short game with lightning-quick turns. However, the game does offer some challenging choices to make and has some light engine-building as players gain cards that provide some ongoing abilities within that short amount of gameplay.
Eight-Minute Empire comes in a small box, which makes it a great game to throw in your bag for a family trip in the off-chance that an opportunity arises to play a game.
10. Las Vegas – A Family Area-Control Game
At first glance, you may think that there is absolutely no possible way that a game having to do with casinos in Las Vegas could bear any resemblance to a military conquest game like Risk, but if you play a lot of games with younger family members or people who don’t typically play a lot of games, definitely keep reading as Las Vegas is an excellent gateway game.
Las Vegas at a Glance
| Game Type Casino Theme, Area Majority, Dice Rolling | Play Time 30 mins | Skill/Complexity (1.3 - 5) Light |
| Age 8+ | Publisher(s) Ravensburger, Alea | Published 2012 |
| Categories Strategy / Family | Players 2 - 5 (4 is best ) | Cost approx $29.99 |
| Our Rating 8.8/10 |
At its core, Las Vegas, designed by Rüdiger Dorn, is a light-weight area-control game in which players attempt to gain the most money by controlling different casinos. At the beginning of a round, a deck of money cards is shuffled, and then money cards are flipped over at each of the six casinos until a casino’s value reaches at least $50,000. Then, players take turns in clock-wise order rolling dice in their supply and taking all the dice of one value and assigning it to the casino with the same value. Players continue doing this until all players are out of dice, at which point end-of-round scoring takes place.
At its core, Las Vegas, designed by Rüdiger Dorn, is a light-weight area-control game in which players attempt to gain the most money by controlling different casinos.
The player with the most dice at each casino will get the highest-valued money card at that casino. The player with the second-most gets the next highest-valued card, and so forth. The trick is that if any players are tied for number of dice, those dice cancel each other out. In other words, if three players each have placed three dice, and a fourth player has only placed one die, the player who placed the single die gains the highest-valued money card at that casino since the other three players’ dice were cancelled.
Despite being very light, Las Vegas can still provide a great deal of fun as players fight for control of the different casinos on the board. Players still must decide whether to put a lot of dice at one single casino to guarantee a big prize, or spread themselves thin at multiple casinos in order to attempt to gain some of the 2nd or 3rd-place prizes.
Since the goal of this board game is very simple, the rules are very easy to teach, and the theme is one that non-gamers can enjoy and appreciate as well, it’s hard to beat Las Vegas as a gateway game.
And that’s our Top Board Games Like Risk. If any new games come along that top these you shall see it here in an instant!
You Might Also Like!
