Matt Carlson: A Risky Retrospective

There has been a bit of a buzz around an the next version of Risk to be published in the summer of 2008.  Risk: Black Ops is a limited edition preview version that has made a small splash, partly due to its slick nearly all-black pieces and packaging.  I was able to look over the new rules and was struck by a fit of nostalgia that made me contemplate changes to the basic game.  Despite Hasbro’s large corporation persona, one has to admit that their many recent remakes of the core Risk game have made some nice improvements.

The basic Risk game was originally developed and released in France by movie director Albert Lamorisse in 1957.  It was originally called “The Conquest of the World” but when it was brought over to the US by Parker Brothers the name was changed to Risk.  I’m amused that this game that seems to be such a classic American style (player elimination, heavy dice use, plenty of player conflict, wargame themed, etc…) actually originated in France.  The game’s basic formula of territory control, simple dice-resolved combat, and player elimination is a major draw for teen and tween aged gamers.  I enjoyed many a good game of Risk in my high school years and even picked up the first true sequel, Castle Risk when it was released in the mid-80s.  Castle Risk focused exclusively on the European theater and players had to defend their castle territory to stay in the game.

Since that first sequel (more than a quarter century after the original), Hasbro has gone to town on sequels and Movie licensing for the game creating Risk 2210 A.D., Risk: Lord of the Rings, Risk: The Transformers Edition, and several versions of Star Wars Risk.  Most of the new versions can be played in the classic Risk style, but also have a set of rules specifically tied to the game’s license.  Of the group, my favorite is 2210 A.D.  It is the first to make a strong break from the basic Risk formula.  It has a limited number of turns (rather than relying on player elimination) and introduces a number of different leader types onto the board.  Each leader has minor special powers but, more importantly, can be used to power-up special decks of cards associate with that leader.  A Lunar leader allows players to fight on the moon, a water leader allows players to invade into underwater territories, while the nuclear leader gives access to some very powerful cards that have somewhat randomized effects.  The new rules allow the game to end in a timely manner (removing the need for player elimination) and provide variety among all the players’ armies as each player can emphasize a different aspect of combat.  As part of the card-purchasing aspect of the game, players are given a type of currency which brings in a bit of economic management to the game.  All of these changes tend to make the game play faster and provide more decisions for players throughout the game.

Strangely enough, Risk is coming full circle with the introduction of Risk: Black Ops.  In the new game, players play a fairly standard game of Risk but are able to collect objective tokens by meeting specific qualifications.  The first player to collect three objectives while keeping their capitol is declared the winner.  The objectives can be either minor and major and provide a small (or slightly better) benefit to the player who collects them.  Minor objectives include things like controlling 8 cities, controlling all of Europe, or taking control of 4 cities in one turn.  These can provide a player with benefits such as a extra troop movement or an airfield which will help with combat in nearby territories.  Major objectives include things like controlling two different continents, 11 cities, or taking over at least two enemy capitols.  These grant special powers such as a (permanent) extra die on offence or defense, or two additional troops each turn.  These objectives hearken back to the original French version which included a “Secret Mission Risk” version where players who accomplished their secret mission (such as destroy all yellow troops) would automatically win the game.  Europe has long had this variation in the game, it was only introduced into the standard U.S. version in the early 90s.  The newest version, Black Ops, tones down the secret missions somewhat while simultaneously making all the objectives clear.  This helps to prevent a player from accidentally handing another player the victory (by eliminating the yellow player for them) but also lets all players at the table be able to evaluate which player is in the lead.  This means the game has more of a “pick on the leader” mentality but a wise player will just have to take that into account and not pull too far out ahead.

Due to the insanely fast pace of a decent game of Risk on the computer, I am spoiled so that I can hardly bear to play standard Risk face to face.  However, the many unique versions of Risk do provide a nice variety of gaming for the appropriate group (ie. whenever I get a few students together for an afternoon of light wargaming).  In addition to its sleek black-themed packaging, Black Ops looks to be an option due to its improved winning conditions (complete three missions rather than eliminate all other players) without resorting to a limited number of rounds.  (Such as Risk 2210 AD where strange end-game effects tend to kick in during the last turn.)

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*Special thanks to Risk’s Wikipedia entry for some of the background information in this article.

© 2008 Matt J. Carlson

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Nice article on the first board game to which I was ever addicted.  Of the spin-offs, I’ve only ever tried Lord of the Rings Risk, but had to break of the game early, as it was extremely slow paced and very random, from what I can remember. Risk 2210 AD sounds interesting, though. I once had a computer game version that had several historical scenarios.  You could build fortresses to defend your borders better, employ generals (who had historical names that matched the scenario you were playing), different types of terrain (you would randomly lose soldiers in the mountains and deserts each round), and even rebels who would take over when your forces were too weak.  I always thought it would be great to see some of those things in a board game. Posted by Jeff Allers on Feb 23, 2008 at 04:33 AM | #

Lord of the Rings Risk is not in my top favorites of Risk.  2210 AD is very similar to GodStorm both of which might be considered different games than Risk but have similar mechanics. I hear Transformers is a pretty balanced version, I personally enjoy the Star Wars: Clone Wars version because the Empire player has to decide when during the game he/she wants to use Order 66 to try to take over all the Rebel’s territory.  Do it too soon and your odds of getting territories are slim, do it too late and you’re already too far behind to catch up. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Feb 23, 2008 at 11:39 AM | #

"Risk.” What a great name for a game of this type!  Parker Brothers/Hasbro/Milton Bradley have always had some of the best design graphics around.  And I think they used to have great, original concepts for games.  In fact, go to Boardgame Geek and look up “Summit”.  I always thought with a rework and update of the rules, this might actually be a good base concept as a game to play. Anyway, I think they should make a true, dedicated Risk: Black Ops.  How about a board that just has the Middle East/Western Asia, divided by regions, not countries?  And have a mission based game based entirely on things like diplomats to rescue, or controlling a certain facility within a black ops region… etc?  How cool would that be?  Make it a cool brown and black board similar to what you see in Call of Duty 4.  Ooohrah, baby.  : ) Hasbro, you publish that and I promise not to demand royalties for the idea! (LOL) Peace.  Ryan B. Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Feb 23, 2008 at 12:31 PM | #

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