Risk, the Game

Risk is a board game in which two to six players attempt to conquer the world. It was originally designed by the French film director Albert Lamorisse in the early 1950s and released as The Conquest of the World by the French company Miro in 1957. Two years later, it appeared in the United States in a somewhat different form as Risk, manufactured and distributed by the Parker Brothers Company. Eventually, Hasbro would purchase Parker Brothers and the rights to the game. Hasbro has continued to manufacture it along with variations, some under the Avalon Hill brand, which Hasbro had also purchased.

The game board is a simplified map of the world, divided into six continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Within each continent are “countries,” which are sometimes combinations of countries, such as Scandinavia or North Africa, or a portion of a single country, such as Western and Eastern United States.

Playing pieces represent six different armies, represented through the years as colored pieces of wood or metal or plastic. There are also dice and a set of cards that depict a troop type and a single country. In more recent versions, there are “secret mission” cards that are used for the secret mission variant.

Before actual play begins, the game must be set up, with each player taking a number of armies depending on the number of players, then allocating these armies to the countries they will initially occupy. After the initial deployment of the armies, players roll a die to see who plays first, and the play begins.

At the beginning of each turn, a player receives reinforcements based on how many countries and continents they occupy. The player can then attack from any [Page 601]country they own into an adjoining country. If they successfully eliminate the defending player's armies by successful die rolls, they can occupy the country. They can attack as many countries as they are able. At the end of their turn they receive a card if they have been successful. At the conclusion of the player's turn, the next player takes a turn. This sequence takes place until there is only one player left, who has effectively conquered the world.

Over the years there have been many variations. These may include random distribution of countries to players based on the cards they are dealt, or not using the cards at all during the entire game. Another variation is to reverse the number of die assigned to players, giving the defender three and the attacker two. Using reserve armies to reinforce an attacked country is sometimes done while another variant limits the number of armies that a player can place in a country. While the game works best with three or more players, variations can be used to make a two-player session more interesting.

As a commercial product of longstanding value, the manufacturers have developed and sold several variations on the basic game, based on a theme or on a movie release. Some variations released (in some cases by Ava-lon Hill, a Hasbro subsidiary) include Risk 2210 A.D., the Lord of the Rings versions, Risk Godstorm, and Star Wars, Clone Wars, Transformers, and Narnia versions.

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