Product Review: Risk--Battlefield Rogue

A couple weeks ago, I had a 20% off coupon from Half Price Books, and the time off to travel to the nearest store.

One of the games that caught my eye was Risk Battlefield Rogue.  I never heard of, let alone played, Battlefield 4, which was the inspiration for this tabletop version.  Nor did I do any research into either game since I had no idea what I'd find at Half Price Books until I got there.

The store was charging $13.99 for the game, and now that I've had a chance to examine it, I feel I paid too much.

Debuting with little or no marketing fanfare, the game was quietly distributed and sold through Target for $30 back in 2013.  You can now get it for $5.00--$8.00 on Boardgame Geek's Marketplace, but you'll have to pay for shipping and handling as well.  So I don't think I paid that much more than anyone else, unless they find it at a garage sale.

Risk Battlefield Rogue has the worst rating of any item I've seen offered on Amazon.com:  An average of 2.8 out of 5 stars, with 37% of the ratings being 1-star.

The biggest complaints centered on the following:

1. The flimsy cardboard map sections and cards (the plastic soldiers were considered good).

2. Dice requiring stickers to be placed on them.

3. Including "Risk" in the title was a blatant marketing ploy, since the game bears no resemblance to other Risk games.

4. Artwork that looks like 80s vintage computer graphics.

5. The poorly written and confusing rules.

(Image from:  Boardgame Geek)

And speaking of rules:  When I got home, I used copy my game didn't have any.  Fortunately, it was easy for me to find a PDF version that I downloaded and printed.

Despite all the negative reviews there are a few players who like the game, especially ones who've played Battlefield 4, and/or have an "it is what it is" attitude.

I'll probably keep the game for a while, until I actually play it and the session is as bad as the 1-star reviewers say it is.