#1 Best Legacy Board Games: Risk: Legacy
Quick board game facts
- The classic board game, redefined
- The first board game where choices and actions made in one game carry over into the next
- No two games are alike
- Locked off components can be revealed as players win multiple games
- Winning players get to name a continent or found a major city
Players: 3 - 5
Duration: 60 - 90 mins
Why We Chose This Game:
There are few names in the world of board games with the same pedigree as Risk. Risk is the classic game of strategy and world domination that has enabled generations of players to experience the unbridled joy of global military expansion. The legacy version of the game, adapted by the legendary games designer Rob Daviau, is the title that kickstarted the whole legacy genre. It would be fair to say that this updated edition of a classic game is every bit as revolutionary as the game that spawned it.
One of the coolest touches to this new take on Risk is the addition of an adaptable rulebook. The rulebook comes with blank spaces, enabling players to add their own rules and adapt existing ones. In a game about global military conflicts, this mechanic enables the players to simulate their own UN. Like the real UN, laying down or modifying rules can be a way of balancing gameplay or tipping the scales in the favor of individual players. But unlike the real UN, players will actually have to adhere to the new rules that you set.
The goal of Risk: Legacy is not to dominate the world militarily, but instead to earn 4 stars, which is achieved by taking over other player’s HQs or turning over territory cards. Drawing the focus away from simple domination radically alters the nature of the strategies involved and enables players to focus much more on the story that unfolds over the course of each campaign. Fans of Risk will still feel at home, but many players who aren’t fans of the original will find that this version addresses many perceived shortcomings of classic Risk.
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#2 Best Legacy Board Games: Gloomhaven
Quick board game facts
- For 1-4 players; Ages 12+; 60-120 minute playing time
- A game of Euro-inspired tactical combat in a persistent world of shifting motive
- A game with a persistent and changing world that is ideally played over many game sessions
Players: 1 - 5
Duration: 120 mins - 180 mins
Why We Chose This Game:
If you have even a passing interest in board games, you may well have heard of Gloomhaven already, it is one of those games that is regularly cited as one of the best, if not the best, board games ever made. So, let us start by saying that, yes, Gloomhave is good. It’s really good.
This is an epic board game that truly lives up to the epic label. Everything about this game is big and bold and involved. The gameplay is about as close as you can get to a Dungeons & Dragons experience without actually playing D&D. However, unlike most D&D campaigns, Gloomhaven comes with some of the most beautiful miniatures that we have ever used with a board game.
There are 17 playable characters for players to choose from, with their character leveling up and evolving over the course of the campaign in true RPG style. An in-depth and highly-strategic combat system will appeal to players who like their gameplay to be as meaty as possible. Unlike D&D, which features die-based combat, combat in Gloomhaven is decided through the use of cards.
It isn’t just the involving gameplay that makes Gloomhaven so engrossing, however. The universe that players are thrown into is incredibly well thought out and engrossing helped in no small part by the involvement of Isaac Childres who created the game by adapting a D&D campaign.
Given the origins and DNA of Gloomhaven, it is impossible to avoid comparisons to the tabletop RPG. However, there is no dungeon master here and the dice rolls have been replaced with card-based gameplay. This fundamentally changes the nature of the game, to the point where Gloomhaven is much more than just a D&D spin-off.
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#3 Best Legacy Board Games: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Quick board game facts
- For 2 to 4 Players
- 60 minute playing time
- Shape the world, the characters, and even the diseases
- Ever changing elements means that every game will be unique to your group
- An epic twist on the now classic Pandemic mechanisms
Players: 2 - 4
Duration: 60 mins
Why We Chose This Game:
What could be better for a bit of escapism than a board game centered around the outbreak of a deadly global pandemic? In 2020, you would think that this would be the last thing anyone would want to play. And yet, it is a testament to the thrilling plot and intricate design of this co-operative-focused board game that even a very real global pandemic can’t keep us away from this game.
Let’s start with the board itself. The visual design is strikingly reminiscent of the classic film War Games, and the excellent videogame Defcon, which was inspired by the same film. The gameplay of Pandemic has nothing to do with nuclear war, but it does an excellent job of invoking that same sense of actually being involved in the outbreak of a major global event.
The original Pandemic was a smash hit and remains one of the most popular board games out there, the legacy edition builds on everything that made the original such a joy. We don’t want to spoil anything, but the story that will unfold with each session is guaranteed to keep players coming back for each subsequent session. New mechanics have been added that make the game feel fresh, even to those who have played the original to death.
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#4 Best Legacy Board Games: Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Quick board game facts
- The epic follow up to the critically acclaimed Pandemic Legacy: season 1
- Presents a unique spin on the classic Pandemic formula, with players adding supply cubes to the board to ward off the plague
- Embark on a Globe spanning struggle for the survival of humanity filled with dramatic twists and shocking revelations
- Your decisions carry over to future games, creating a unique world every time you play
Players: 2 - 4
Duration: 60 mins
Why We Chose This Game:
Pandemic Season 2 is, naturally, similar to Season 1, but it is more than just “the next chapter.” Whereas the goal of Season 1 is to prevent the pandemic from spreading, Season 2 sees players trying to ensure that infected cities are kept supplied. This means that while Season 2 retains the same setting and story, it feels like a different experience - something that remains unique among board games.
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#5 Best Legacy Board Games: Ultimate Werewolf Legacy
Quick board game facts
- Officially Licensed
- Bezier Games
- 9-16 Players
- Ages 14+
- 60 Minutes Playing Time
Players: 8 - 16
Duration: 60 mins
Why We Chose This Game:
Alongside Gloomhaven, Ultimate Werewolf Legacy is often cited as being the pinnacle of the legacy genre. It is a very unique experience, starting with the high player count. In order to play through an Ultimate Werewolf Legacy campaign, you will need at least 7 other players to join you.
However, if you do manage to scare up enough friends to embark on a campaign, you will be rewarded with an engaging and genuinely social experience. This is one of those rare games where the action is centered on the players themselves, rather than the board. At the start of each game, players are randomly divided into two groups - werewolves and villagers. The werewolves are then tasked with eliminating all the villagers without being detected themselves.
One player will also need to sit out each round in order to serve as the game’s moderator. Their role is akin to that of a dungeon master - they are there to ‘run’ each round and ensure that all the players are adhering to the rules.
Ultimate Werewolf Legacy comes with some game assets, including a beautiful leather-bound diary, which is one of the most beautiful assets we have ever seen included with a board game. There is also a really incredible story that unfolds and every decision the players take will affect the way that it unfolds, but we don’t want to spoil it at all.
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