Risk: A game without winners
4.9.2018
Translation: machine translated
Risk is a classic among board games. The game has been around for 60 years and has been brought onto the market in numerous variations. We played the strategy game and came to the conclusion that there can be no winner.
The game principle of Risk is simple. The aim is to conquer enemy territories. To do this, you march to the border with your troops and attack your opponents. Who wins the battle is decided by rolling the dice. If you win, you can annex the enemy territory for yourself.
The board game is equipped with five armies. This means you can play Risk with two to five players at the same time. The armies consist of 40 infantrymen, 12 cavalry units and 8 artillery pieces. The manufacturer states that Risk is suitable for children aged 10 and over. I think this categorisation makes sense, as there are a few rules that young children might not understand.
Different game variants
You can play Risk in different variants. The basic rules are the same for all modes, but the way in which you can win differs. Four variants are listed in the rules: Contract Risk (whoever completes the mission wins), Classic Risk (Last Man Standing), Risk Duel (for 2 people) and Turbo Risk (defend your headquarters).
We played classic Risk. The aim is to conquer the world with your army and eliminate all other players. There were four of us playing, with only one of us already knowing the game. Before our bloody battle could begin, we first had to pick up the game instructions and go through the rules together.
As a non-board gamer, I was very suspicious of the whole thing at the beginning. There were quite a few rules and things that needed to be explained.
After about 20 minutes, we got the hang of it. The instructions clearly regulate who has a turn at what time and how a player is allowed to make their move. However, the rules are straightforward and simple. There are other board games on the market that are much more complicated to understand than Risk.
May the battle begin
Who gets to start is decided by the dice. The player with the highest number starts. The game then continues clockwise. Each player takes a turn and can put their strategy into practice. When it is your turn, the sequence of your action is always the same. Each turn is divided into three phases: Troop reinforcement, attack and troop movement.
Troop reinforcement
Each time you take a turn, the first thing you can do is reinforce your troops. Depending on how many territories you already own and how many continents you have completely conquered, you will receive different numbers of troops as reinforcements. You can then distribute these as you wish among your territories on the game board to strengthen your defence or make your next attack more effective.
Attack
You can attack as often and as long as you like. However, you can also say that you will not launch an attack this round. The attacked area must be directly on the border of your territory. You may only attack with the troops that are stationed in this area. You may attack with a maximum of three units, whereby the defence can hold the position with a maximum of two units. The dice decide who wins the battle. The more units you send into battle, the more dice you have at your disposal. This continues until the attacker or defender has no more troops left in the area. If you win as the attacker, you can annex the opponent's territory and add it to your empire.
I think risk is great as long as my dice rolls are higher than those of my opponents. Unfortunately, this was rarely the case. While I lost colonies by the dozen, Simon marched through North and South America with ease. That and his smug grin still haunt me in my sleep.
Troop movement
The third and final phase of your turn is troop movement. You can move troops from A to B once within your empire. However, only to countries that are directly connected to each other and have no opposing army in between. You may not move your troops through enemy territories. Like the attack, this phase is also optional. If you want to leave all your troops as they are, you do not necessarily have to send your army to new locations.
These three phases are the same for every player and every turn. They are repeated until entire armies are gradually wiped out. If you are the last player standing and have defeated the armies of your fellow players, you have won the game.
I played Risk for days in snowy ski camps or on balmy summer evenings, even though I don't remember ever actually finishing a game.
In our test, we played for about two hours. After a while, Simon was ahead and had already conquered two continents. I already thought that it wouldn't be long before we had to face our defeat. But just two turns later, his continents were overrun and conquered. This back and forth can go on for several hours until the game is finally cancelled and nobody has won, i.e. nobody is the ruler of the world.
Conclusion
Risiko is an absolute classic among board games. It is not without reason that this game has been around for 60 years. The rules are easy to understand and can be grasped after reading the instructions once. It's fun to attack each other and capture other territories. In my opinion, however, it is not the war itself that takes centre stage, but rather the interpersonal relationships between the players. Taking a hard-fought territory from someone and then losing it again after a short time causes tempers to flare and leads to an exuberant atmosphere during the game.
After two hours of back and forth, however, we had to capitulate. We gave up. There was no winner. We would have had to play for another two hours, if not more. Despite this capitulation, I still loved this game. I will definitely dig it out of the cupboard again and spread the board out on the table. Maybe I'll be able to seize world domination in the next battle.
Riding my motorbike makes me feel free, fishing brings out my inner hunter, using my camera gets me creative. I make my money messing around with toys all day.
