Veni Vidi Vici & Alea Iacta Est

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fun, simple, strategy plus luck, nice looking board.

Cons: Lost pieces, team formation, may take some time.

The Bottom Line: 

This old version of Risk may be the best of the various Risk games. I’ve enjoyed this game for many years.

Author's Review
As a kid I played Risk with my friends and my family many times. As an adult I have played it primarily with my boys who are pretty good at it. My special strategy is to conquer Australia if I have starting pieces nearby and then I work myself up from there. Australia is easy to conquer and most importantly it is easy to hold. You don't gain much by conquering Australia but that is also part of the strategy, others aren't that interested in Australia and will leave you alone. You gain armies slowly, stay out of too much fights, and next you take North America or South America in case you have enough pieces nearby. Don't go for Asia or Europe first. All you are going to do is fight and defend and end up losing your pieces. Well if the others have figured out my strategy then it won't work as well anymore and I'll lose.

In any case this Hasbro version is an old classic version of the game. Risk has dozens of spin off Risk games including Risk 2210 A.D. which is one of my boy's favorites. I am sure most of you have played Risk or one of the Risk spin off games. However, what I have found is that after trying out some Spin off games people come back to the good old version of Risk because of its simplicity and the fact that it is possible to finish the game in an evening. Risk 2210 AD, you may finish sometime in the year 2210, thereof the name.


How to play Risk

Risk is a strategy game that is played by two to six players. However, if you are only two players the nature of the game changes significantly and the strategies you employ need to be different. It is also a lot more fun with more players.

The game consists of a board which looks like a map of the world. The world is divided into various territories that you conquer. Some continents have many territories (Asia, Europe, and Africa) other continents have fewer territories. There is also a deck of card in which each card correspond to a territory. At the beginning of the game the cards are randomly handed out to each player. Each player also receives the same amount of army units that he places on each territory.

At each full turn each player receives a minimum of three army units plus one army unit for every three territories and another specified amount of army units for each continent he owns. The players can place these army units anywhere. Players can attack territories owned by other players if they have at least two army units in a neighboring territory. You battle it out by using dice. The player who conquers the world wins.


Thoughts and Opinions on Hasbro Risk

Teaching kids to conquer the world and wage war may not seem ideal. However, the game is a lot of fun and the resemblance to real war is remote and it is in no sense a realistic war game. The intent of the game is to have fun, not to teach war strategies. You could arguably also call chess a war game.

Unlike chess or checkers the game mixes a good deal of luck with strategy which is both more fun for many people as well as a more realistic reflection of life. The concept of conquering and hording armies is also irresistible.

One of the negative aspects of the game is that players can form a team (or a confederation) which is unfair to other players. This is not part of the game but something that may happen due to human nature. The problem arises from the inherent benefit of forming ad hoc teams against a third party. Basically, I am talking about my boys going against me.

Another thing to watch out for is lost pieces. This board game comes with 360 small pieces. The pieces are hard plastic and solid so they don't break but they may get lost. If you lose a few it is no big deal you can still play. However, if you lose too many or you lose cards than you can't.

Anyway, I have had a lot of fun with this game and so has my family. It typically takes a few hours to play which may seem long. However, it is not as long as some of the spin-off games may take. In the end I think this is the version of the Risk games that is the most fun.