Risk Legacy

1 Overview

Risk Legacy is the legacy version of Risk, designed by Rob Daviau. Players fight to dominate a world map over 15 campaign sessions, with permanent changes to the board and rules after every game. Cities grow, scars appear on the map, new rules emerge from sealed packets. Risk Legacy pioneered the modern legacy game genre -- it was the first mainstream legacy game, inspiring Pandemic Legacy and countless others.

For 3 to 5 players. Ages 13+. Plays in 60 to 120 min per session. Full campaign: 15 sessions.

2 Legacy Elements

• The world map is permanently marked with stickers after each game
• Sealed envelopes and packets are opened based on game events ("First time a player wins with 10+ troops on the map," etc.)
• New rules and game modifications are revealed progressively
• Cities are named by the players who found or conquered them -- those names stay on the board forever
• Cards can be permanently destroyed

3 Factions

Risk Legacy replaces the standard Risk armies with 5 unique factions, each with different starting abilities and upgrades:

• Saharan Republic: Desert survival advantage
• Khan Industries: Mobility advantage
• Imperial Balkania: Fortification advantage
• Enclave of the Bear: Defensive advantage
• Die Mechaniker: Economic advantage

Factions gain permanent upgrades through the campaign as their star count grows. A faction that has won games before is more powerful but also targeted by other players.

4 Base Risk Rules

Risk Legacy uses core Risk mechanics:

• Place troops, attack adjacent territories, defend against attacks
• Combat uses dice (attacker rolls up to 3, defender rolls up to 2 -- higher dice win)
• Control continents for bonus troops each turn
• Win by achieving the mission objective for that session

If you haven't played base Risk, review the Risk rules first.

5 Permanent Changes

After each game, the winning player places a "Major City" sticker on any territory they choose -- permanently boosting that territory's defense. Other stickers mark key events: "Scar" stickers reduce territory capacity, "Bunker" stickers grant defensive bonuses, "Missile" stickers allow long-range strikes. The map evolves visually and mechanically across the campaign.

6 Winning the Campaign

Each session has a specific win condition (revealed at the start). Usually: be the first to hold a certain number of Red Stars (earned by holding specific territories or completing objectives). The overall campaign winner is the player or faction with the most recorded wins across all 15 sessions.

After 15 games, the campaign is complete. Many groups play the "post-legacy" open-ended game on the now-permanently-altered world map.

7 FAQ

8 Strategy & Tips

Win Early Games to Power Up Your Faction

Factions gain permanent upgrades on their faction cards as the campaign progresses. Winning games or meeting specific in-game milestones unlocks stickers you permanently attach to your faction's card. These upgrades persist through all future sessions. Prioritizing faction upgrades in early games compounds into significant advantages in later sessions. If your faction falls behind in star count, other players' factions gain disproportionate power over time with no way to catch up except winning more games.

Defend Cities, Not Territory

Risk Legacy's objective system often rewards holding specific named cities rather than maximum territory count. Spreading your forces thin to maximize territories is a classic Risk mistake amplified in Legacy. Identify which cities you need to defend for your session objective and concentrate forces there, even if it means leaving other territories lightly held. A dense but well-defended city cluster beats a wide but thinly spread empire.

Open Sealed Packets Strategically

Many sealed packets open based on specific game events. Some of these events can be engineered by you. If you know a packet benefits the player who triggers it, consider whether triggering it works in your favor or gives an opponent a powerful card or rule. Early packets tend to provide broad game-wide benefits; later packets often provide targeted faction advantages. Read trigger conditions carefully before acting on them deliberately.

Found Cities at Strategic Locations

When you found a city by placing a settlement sticker on the map, that city exists permanently in every future game of your campaign. Placing cities at high-value strategic locations such as continent entry points and heavily trafficked crossroads provides lasting board state advantages across all remaining sessions. Founding cities at dead-end territories wastes a permanent asset. Cities also provide bonus troops during reinforcement, so positioning matters even more than in standard Risk.

9 Common Mistakes

• Playing the first game without reading envelope trigger conditions. You do not need to know what is inside the envelopes, but you do need to know their trigger conditions. Triggering an envelope accidentally without understanding the event creates confusion and may inadvertently give a strong advantage to the wrong player. Review all envelope labels before the first session.
• Destroying cards early without long-term thinking. Risk Legacy allows permanent card destruction: cards are physically removed from the game forever. Some players destroy cards for short-term tactical gains early in the campaign without realizing those cards are gone for all 15 sessions. Be conservative with destruction in the first 5 sessions unless the benefit clearly outweighs the permanent loss.
• Mishandling the faction power unlock system. Faction powers unlock through star accumulation. Players who forget to check which powers have unlocked for their faction or fail to apply earned upgrades between sessions are playing at a disadvantage they manufactured themselves.
• Treating each session as independent. Risk Legacy is a campaign. A player who sacrifices their current session's game to deny an opponent a faction upgrade or to trigger a specific packet for personal benefit may lose today but win the campaign. Long-term thinking across all 15 sessions is what separates strong Legacy players from players who simply play 15 independent games of Risk.