(download) Risk board game
by Amanda Nettgen
(USA)
Quick verdict
Game:
Risk board game for PC
Download from:
RealArcade (FULL FREE version!)
Rating:
3.5/5
Risk the PC version plays just like the favored board game, but sans a lot of set up. It’s the classic strategy game that asks you to take over the world.
What's it about?
When you download the Risk board game, you’ll get a menu that’s very simple and straightforward: only Play, Options, Rules and Quit are displayed along with the moving red Risk logo. The announcer will greet you with "Ah, there you are, General!" and "In your own time, General" if you take too long selecting an option.
Use your sword cursor to hit Play, and it will immediately prompt you for your general name (military general that is, not some form of what you call yourself). Then add any mix of computer players and real people, for a total of two additional commanders besides you. The computer generals all have quirky personality descriptions.
The only option with this download Risk board game is that you can either choose to play the traditional way and stake your own starting territories, or select Random Deal to have them automatically generated for you (for a twist or to be more fair).
Screen tutorials guide you along as you play, with the option to turn them off at any time (although there aren’t too many). You begin by distributing your 14 starter units across the map on the countries you want to claim (there are 42 lands in all). Computer troops and/or human players will follow suit.
Having trouble with the Risk rules? Click here to open a Risk board game rules explanation with VIDEO!
As a bonus, you’ll also get 20 reinforcements to lie down before you even start your first turn. You get one army unit for every three territories you control, with a minimum of three guys each new turn.
On your go, click on a country you control that has two or more soldiers, then select a neighboring enemy territory you wish to go to war with. You get an amount of dice to work with equal to your number of reinforcements, with a maximum of three dice to roll.
Defenders, on the other hand, are only allowed to guard with up to two dice. You may retreat if you’re the one pushing the attack and are losing men (sometimes the battle happens so fast that you won’t be able to, though).
Battles in the download Risk board game consist of dice showdowns (complete with skirmish sounds), with players losing one reinforcement for each dice roll that was lower than their opponent's. In the event of a die, the defender of the nation that is being fought wins. The person (or AI) with the highest role after all the opposing men have been defeated ultimately claims the territory in question.
Keep attacking as much as you want, but realize you’ll start losing men without a chance to deploy more until your next turn.
At the beginning of each turn, you’ll gain reinforcements based on how many territories you presently occupy and if you can cash in Territory Cards or not. A Territory Card is awarded when you have overthrown at least one nation during a turn and are collected at the end of each battle sequence (it doesn’t tell you when computer players get Territory Cards for some reason).
You need three of a kind (cavalry, infantry, or artillery) or one of each to gain a bonus four reinforcements; some Wild Territory Cards do exist.
The beginning of your turn is your main chance to try and recover some lost ground; send more reinforcements to Europe, for example, when you realize you’ve only got one guy left there. As you gain more and more territory, your reinforcements will skyrocket, and Territory Cards become crucial.
Continue playing the download Risk board game in this manner, with dice showdowns and the goal being to wipe out your competitors. The game is over when someone has eliminated all other opponents and can join the villainous ranks of conquering the world. A status screen will pop up that sys how many turns you won in (in took me just nine for a surprisingly lengthy game), how many men you lost, and how many men you killed.
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Pros and cons
This PC take of risk is "jolly good", as the announcer would say. It’s best for Risk lovers to play by themselves, as with multiplayer, the PC version loses a lot of the physical magic possible only with the board edition. There are Automatic Rolling and Quick Battle options, although you might prefer to watch each dice wars as they happen.
While it explains the rules decently, the download Risk board game offers no strategy tips. (But Boardgame Beast does! See the Risk board game strategy guide at Operation Genius! Ed.)
You’ll have to go online for those or learn from experience, although I can say it’s best to pick on neighbors who aren’t your own size; that is, when the odds are in your favor (you have four soldiers, while he only has one). The British-inclined host gets annoying with repetition.
The verdict
The download Risk board gameis great if you don’t have anybody to battle with, wish to play a quick game of Risk without set up, or want to practice against computers. I still think a lot of people will prefer the more hands-on board game, though.