Rating:  -
been playing this game for over 30 years now. My son has come to love it as well. The only thing that I wish they would do is add a few more of the single pieces to the game. It seems when you get to the point of "stepping on your opponent" I never have enough of the single army pieces and end up robbing another color not being used to make up for the shortage. a mild annoyance is all. Love the game though.
Rating: -
RISK is a classic strategy board game and great for beginners. The rules aren't complicated and with a couple of friends you'll be spending a lot of time trying to conquer each others territories. The rules of RISK are simple. Every player controls territory on the map, meaning they have one of the plastic soldier figures in one of the spots on the board. At the beginning of a players turn they gather reinforcements in accordance to the number of troops they have, if they conquered an entire continent, etc. On the board there are places to keep track of these numbers so it is easy for the players to reference. Battles are decided by rolling dice, so there is an element of luck involved. But the number of attackers is different from the number of defenders so careful planning and positioning of troops is also important. The objective of the game is simple. Conquer all territories or be the sole player with troops on the board. There are also different types of rules you can follow, such as mission RISK, where players must complete certain number of missions given to them by mission cards to win the game.
My only complaint is that I think that the cavalry and artillery units are useless. They only exist to prevent over crowding or to replace a certain number of units that are in one territory. For example, a cavalry unit equals five soldiers, while an artillery equals ten soldiers or two cavalry units. But there are enough soldiers to occupy the whole map and various positions that players will rarely turn to replacing the soldiers with the cavalry or artillery pieces at all.
In general, RISK is a great game. If you're looking for a strategy game and haven't played one before, then pick this up! Even as a veteran strategy board game player, I find this game a great way to pass the time. This also makes for a great party game because the more players playing RISK, the more engaging the game becomes.
Rating: -
I love the game of Risk. We played it incessantly as kids (although one could argue that a single game qualified since it takes 2-4 hours to play and the more you cheat the longer it takes) and I wanted to introduce my nephew to it.
I wanted the version with the little army men so that the 3 and 4 year old could play with the extra little figurines while the 8 year old and I played the actual game. That wasn't quite as successful as I'd hoped... ;)
The primary con to the little action figure version: It's much less intuitive which pieces are "more" armies than others... it's a bit random (the cannon was one value and the cavalry was another. without looking at the game I couldn't tell you which was 5 and which was 10). Since my nephew was entirely new to the game it was hard to explain why one piece was worth more than another.
That said, he was plenty old enough to play the game despite the 10 and up rating on it.
If you've never played Risk, it's a great game that's worth playing. I'm sure it teaches all sorts of strategic thinking and basic math skills but really it's mostly worth it because it's FUN. Given that the version with the little guys is ~$10 more expensive and it doesn't add anything to the game-play you could buy this version or the more basic version.
Rating: -
It's not so easy to pickup at first, but once you understand all the different rules you'll be hooked.
Be prepared to spend hours if you play world domination.
Rating:  -
I have not much to add that previous 4- and 5-star reviews have not already said. Except this:
I hesitated getting this game because of the complaints that too much of the outcome turns on a random roll of the dice. Some reviewers complained that luck or chance was more important than strategy. (See the 1-star or 2-star reviews).
I found this NOT to be the case. It is true that the outcome of individual battles are governed by rolls of the dice. However, the overall success in this game does involve a significant amount of strategy. That is, there are plans and strategies you or the child can develop, which must be viewed in the grand scheme of the entire game, that can help you win. This is true, even if you do lose a good number of battles because of unlucky dice rolls.
In fact, a number of real-life military conflicts confirms that having the most soldiers does not necessarily guarantee a quick or clean victory. I don't mean to get political here, but check out world history during the past 50 or 60 years and current events, not just involving the U.S., but around the world.
My 8-year old and 10-year old children love this game. They recognize that pure luck determines the outcome of battles. But this only forces them to focus more on the bigger picture -- what countries to focus on, how to limit another player's ability to move from one continent to another, how many soldiers to put into one territory, when is it advisable to retreat and regroup somewhere else.
We have played two games of Risk so far. Each game took about 3 or 4 days to finish. I was surprised that my kids were not put off by this.
CONCLUSION: This is not a real-life battle simulator. But it is a good introduction for children to learn how to develop long-range planning.
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