Risk is a Board Game that has a lot of history. It was initially created to be a 90 minutes game, but if you have any experience with it, you know that it can take from 2 hours to a few days to finish the game.
In a variation of Risk for the United States in 1993, it was introduced objective cards that are called Secret Missions with more specific goals that, when achieved, will make you the winner. Apart from not making the game incredibly faster, it did help and players could finish it much faster (i.e. in less than a day :D). This was the variation I started playing, and, for experience, the time it takes to reach the end of the game varies accordingly with the player’s knowledge, strategy and mostly luck.
In any case, if you have played Risk, Risk 2210 A.D. or Risk Star Wars: The Clone Wars Edition, you know that you’ll have to conquer territories, roll dice to attack and defend, and, sometimes, make alliances that can also take you down at any moment. This is Risk, a board game where you make war, advance your troops and have fun at the same time.
Risk Details
Name: Risk
Creator: Albert Lamorisse
Publisher: Hasbro
Year Published: 1959
Category: Territory
Number of Players: 2 – 6
Age: 8 and above
Play Time: minimum of 2 hours
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Game Rules: Click here
Where to buy: Amazon | eBay
Game Components
The components from Risk vary from edition to edition, but you always find very nice plastic miniatures of soldiers, cannons, and horses. You also have two sets of dice: red for attacking and yellow (or black) for defense. Depending on the version you are playing, it also has two more special dices for a specific action in that particular variation.
As you may have guessed, rolling the dice is very important in this board game, so they are all well balanced, given you random results every time.
There is also a deck of beautiful cards with a black background and the countries that you can play drawn on it. If you are playing the secret mission variant, you will also have a deck of different missions in the same style.
The game box also contains the world map with countries representing the territories you can conquer. The final art is very nice with strong colors that stand on the board. It is worthy to mention that the artwork varies a lot from minimalist to detailed depending on the version you are playing.
The game can usually be played with up to 6 players. There are just a few exceptions to this.
Expansions
Risk does not have expansions, but it has a number of different variants and themes. Every version varies the rules a bit, but the core is the same as what we have on the original board game. This changes are due to the nature of the version and are meant to help with the gameplay. Among all the different versions, I can highlight some of my favourites:
- Risk 2210 A.D.
- Star Wars Risk: The Clone Wars Edition
- Risk Halo
- Risk Legacy
- Risk Game of Thrones
- Risk Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition
- Risk The Walking Dead
Game Experience
I already mentioned that the game is long. It really is. If you’re thinking about buying it, you should know in advance that you will need at least an entire afternoon to play with your friends.
Some players like to put some additional rules or goals to make it faster. In my opinion, if you never played it, stick to the basic rules until everyone in your group knows it very well. If you have the need, change or add new rules to the game to make it faster. You also have to prepare yourself to use a lot of strategies, as it’s not always conquering a new territory that will help you win the game. But don’t think that being an amazing strategist will lead you to the victory. As you roll your set of dice, either to attack or to defend, you need a good deal of luck.
Due to what I just mentioned, I believe this game is not for everyone, but if you never played any game in this genre, you should definitely try it at least once. In my experience, the younger you are, the more enjoyable Risk will be.
Interested? Buy it or read more reviews at Amazon.
I never took note of how long a game of Risk takes to finish when I’m playing, but I already ended up it early a lot of times to be able to go to bed or just go home. 😛
16 Comments
Wow, first came out in 1959.Didn’t know that. This has to be the ultimate board game. It can go on for weeks. It’s the bomb and everyone should own one of these and very cheap to buy. Great review.
~Peter
Thanks Peter.
I believe that everyone that likes board games have at least heard of Risk (if not played it).
And the prices are really very good at the moment. Time to buy? 🙂
Hey, great review!! Awesome game I absolutely love it! Some interesting information here!! Thanks!
Thanks Adam. I’m glad you liked it.
Hi love board games and love trying out new ones. Is this game available in South Africa?
Yes, it’s available all over the world. It’s one of the most popular games from all times.
Have fun.
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I
have truly enjoyed your Risk review. In any case I will be subscribing
to your feed and I am hoping you write once more very soon!
Hi Emanuel, thanks for stopping by.
I’m really glad that you liked it. I usually write 2 articles per week, so yes, you’ll see something new very soon. 🙂
Ahh Risk, a game to stand the test of time. I love this game, and how many new themed versions are available.
Haha. It really is a great test. 🙂
What a pleasure to run across this post. I have spent likely 1000’s of hours playing risk with my old highschool friend. We had many different variations including multiple boards.
Man those dice could be frustrating at all the wrong times!!!
I still have a board that has the wood armies.
Wow. You have a classic one. Take care of it because it has one of the best armies from all versions.
Those dice are really frustrating sometimes. Specially when you are attacking with a lot of armies and you still can’t win. 😛
I used to play this game and it lasted even more than 6 hours. We usually played at night and it was actually fun, some times frustrating but we always mixed with good music, some food and drinks, so time didn’t really matter.
And that’s what matters, right? If you are having fun and spending a good time with friends, everything else is all right.
Can some one tell me whats the difference in 10+ , everyone and kids below written in the box. Please somebody reply
Hi Aby,
It refers to the age the games are intended to.
It differs from country to country, but in general ’10+’ means that the game is suitable for children over ten years, ‘everyone’ means that it’s suitable for all ages and so on.
Hope it helps.