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Risk is a commercial turn-based strategy board game produced by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. It was invented in the early 1950s by the French movie director Albert Lamorisse. Risk shares many characteristics with wargames, yet relative to other war games, it is simple and abstract. It makes little attempt to accurately simulate military strategy, nor does it convey an accurate sense of how large the world is, of how expensive the logistics of long campaigns can be, and of how good or bad luck can turn the tide at crucial moments of a close-fought military campaign.
Overview and most common rules
R1sk is a turn-based game for two to six players. It is played on a board depicting a stylized political map of the world, divided into 42 territories, which are grouped into six continents. To start, each player rolls one die. The player who rolls the highest number plays first and the sequence goes clockwise. Each player in turn places an army on a territory to claim it until all territories have been claimed; following this, the players position among their territories the armies remaining from their starting number of armies (varying depending on the number of people playing; for six, each gets 25; for five, 30; four, 35; etc.).
The game is played by allocating armies to the territories that you control, and then attacking neighboring territories in order to conquer them. The outcome of battles is decided by rolling dice. The attacking player may roll as many as three dice depending on the number of armies in the attacking territory. You must have at least one more army than the amount of dice you are rolling. The defending player can roll up to two, does not need to have one more army than the amount of dice rolled. Taking each players highest roll, the highest roll between the two is successful and must remove an army. A tie always goes to the defender. Same rules apply for the second highest roll of each player.
Each player receives reinforcement armies at the beginning of their turn — the number of reinforcements depends on the number of territories controlled; the number of armies received is that of the total of territories divided by three, discarding the remainder; at least three per turn is guaranteed. Also, bonuses are given at the beginning of one's turn for controlling all territories in a continent or continents(see table below) and for turning in sets of cards (see next paragraph). A large part of the strategic skill of the game lies in deciding how to deploy these reinforcements. At the end of each players turn, they may move any amount of armies into a bordering territories that they also occupy. They may not move more that one territories per turn.
While it is possible to win by controlling all of the territories on the board (in so doing eliminating all other players), this results in a very long game, with a drawn out and predictable end game. Some versions of the rules specify a lower winning target (typically thirty-five territories), or allocate a random, secret, "mission" to each player at the beginning of the game. Possible missions include gaining control of all territories in two or three specified continents, or eliminating another specified player; the first player to achieve their mission wins the game.
Since playing Risk with fewer than three players is not always as engaging as games with more players, some versions of the rules recommend having some territories occupied by "neutral" armies to give the same strategic value and fun factor as an actual three-way game.
Rules and differences
Risk was designed by Albert Lamorisse (a French filmmaker) and released in France in 1957. From the pre-1959 version, Parker Brothers and Hasbro have included many different rules for the game. There are many computer and Internet versions which have different rules, and hundreds of Risk clubs which also have their own "house rules" or competition-adjusted rules. It would be unwieldy to include here all the different sets of rules, or to list every rule or goal that differs from place to place or version to version.
Strategy for standard rules
| Continent | # of Extra armies |
|---|---|
| Africa | |
| Australia | |
| Asia | |
| Europe | |
| North America | |
| South America |
The strategy of Risk is to have the most number of armies in the place where they will do the most good. One of the easiest ways to gain armies is to hold continents. If you hold an entire continent for an entire turn, you receive a number of extra armies, which is dependent upon the continent (see the table to the right).
A common strategy is to secure Australia or South America early in the game and sit back and build up armies, letting the other players kill each other off. Then, when the others are at the weakest, strike. If more than one player attempts to follow this strategy it can lead to an internecine bloodbath. However this strategy will often backfire if the game develops into a stalemate, where all the players build up in larger continents waiting for someone to make a move. The controllers of the larger continents will receive considerably more men than the controller of the smaller continents. Also if a player uses this strategy and another player gains control of the larger continent above them, they will be his or her next target, because they receive fewer men each turn, and are therefore usually an easy invasion.
Another rule of thumb players follow is to never take Asia early in the game; it is the largest continent and the least defensible, and trying to hold it leaves the player open on too many fronts. If a player does attempt to take Asia, they must hold Ukraine, because they have to guard from invasion in 3 different border territories (Ural, Afghanistan, Middle East). However Ukraine only has to have enough forces to invade one of these territories to stifle the player's income of men for that turn.
A good rule is to always take at least one territory per turn, even if you expect to lose it the next. By taking a territory, you gain a Risk card. Combinations of 3 Risk cards can be played in future turns in exchange for more armies (this being a "reward" of sorts for aggression). A sudden influx of armies at the beginning of a turn can change everything. Every turn a player successfully gains another territory, he or she also gains one-third of a new set. For example, if the next set of cards will grant a player 30 armies, then the card earned is essentially worth 10 armies.
After winning a battle, it is tempting to leave a single, occupying army in a territory and push all others into the newly defeated territory. This leads a strong front line with no reserves. If an opponent breaks the leading edge of your advance, he or she can often run deep into your rear area as they only have to defeat a single army in each territory. Leaving two or three armies in each territory will slow your advance, but it minimizes the damage if an opponent breaks through.
Sadly, once a player has become dominant in a particular session, the endgame becomes more or less inevitable. Risk is a game of numbers, and, consequently, the game can "tip" very hard in a player's favor once he or she controls enough territories and continents to build up a steady stream of reinforcements each turn. When this happens, there is very little that can be done strategically to stop them.
Because cards in the standard rules quickly build to high value, some players, in games of 5 or 6 people, manage to play a very effective game by mostly ignoring continents, focusing instead on wiping other players out and seizing their cards. If two or three weaker players with 3 or 4 cards each can be defeated in the space of a few turns, without hopelessly weakening the attacker in the process, he can often win the game, even against strong entrenched remaining opponents.
Politics and alliances
Whenever there are more than two players remaining in the game, alliances will be an important, perhaps the most important part of Risk strategy. There are no rules restricting the formation or break-up of alliances. A good Risk player will use diplomacy to arrange alliances to take down stronger opponents and will similarly attempt to use diplomacy to avoid alliances being made against him/herself.
The importance of this should not be underestimated. This "meta-game" is perhaps the single most important factor determining the outcome of Risk games amongst players who have already grasped basic Risk tactics and strategy.
Many good examples of powerful strategies can be found in the external links section.
Alternate versions
- Risk 2210: a futuristic version of Risk. It is produced by Avalon Hill, another division of Hasbro.
- Risk Godstorm: a version of Risk based on the mythological pantheons of various ancient civilzations, also produced by Avalon Hill.
- Castle Risk: a version that focuses on Europe only, and each player's goal is to protect their castle from attack.
- Risk: Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition: a version of Risk based on the six books that make the Lord of the Rings story, depicting Middle-earth.
- Star Wars Risk: The Clone Wars Edition: Based on Star Wars episodes I, II and III. Strategize to gain control of the galaxy on the side of the Separatists or the Republic. You can play by either classic RISK rules or the Clone Wars variations where altruism pays off.
External links
- Hasbro's official Risk page or Alternative Hasbro Site
- Hasbro's Risk: The Lord of the Rings Game page
- Final Conquest - A free online Risk-based game server
- How to Win at Risk!
- TEG game
- KsirK game, an open-source (GPL) computer-clone of Risk under KDE/Linux
- Risk FAQ - An explanation of the rules of risk, in all their alternate versions. Also includes new ways of playing, and some strategy tips.
- Lux, a Risk game that include online play and multiple maps. Available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
- Risk II Download game information, screenshots, user comments, reviews, and trial download
- TurboRisk: an accurate, freeware version of the game for Windows computers
- jRisk a multiplatform, network-playable Risk game
- Risk 2000: An interesting Risk variant that challenges players to compete for natural resources, build weapons, oversee trades and deals, and race to develop various technologies
- DominateGame: An on-line multiplayer version of the game
- Risk Probability Calculator calculates battle probabilities for both normal Risk and the Lord of the Rings variant
- Risk, Strategies Explained: This site provides comprehensive guides for beginners and advanced users on how to use diplomacy and cunning tactics to win the game. It also provides example scenarios on how standard �tactics� can be used. Global psychological warfare is the ultimate tool at your disposal!