Review (5/5): If you love the original style RISK, toss it and buy this game.
Like other reviewers here, I backed this game on Kickstarter. As someone else said, it was a very well run campaign. One of the best I've seen. It's a good game, good quality components, has a good price, and it shipped on time (which is a rarity on Kickstarter).
As to why I backed the game and why I love it? Again, as others have said, this is a "RISK killer" game. When I find a game that does the same thing as another game, but better, the old game goes (donated typically). This game is obviously like RISK, however it is different in some important ways.
1. Random Starting Locations: You're dealt two location cards and pick one.
2. You don't fill the board, you only start in your beginning location, so much the board is empty and you must rush to/fight for them.
3. One move at a time. You move from one 'territory' to another one territory at a time. No insanely long turns where someone invades multiple other territories at a time.
4. There are turns and there are rounds. Each player takes multiple turns within each round and one of the very cool things is those turns are randomized, so you don't know when during a round you're going to get to take your turn, which adds a lot to the strategy aspect.
5. You do get cards like in RISK, but they are more meaningful and provide far better options than merely more armies.
6. Water movement exists and how troops move in and battle in or from the water is a good balance of strategic and realistic vs simple.
7. These days it seems hard to find a game that allows for more then four or five players. This allows for up to eight
8. The game is very simple, but very strategic. You can learn to play it in a few minutes, but the subtleties of strategy will likely take some time to see, which allows more people to enjoy the game and helps with it's longevity.
9. Lastly the game has a time limit. After so many rounds you see who is ahead. So no 12 hours marathon games like traditional RISK.