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»Risk«: What actually became of the popular board game?

2022-12-27T19:20:00.435Z


Hours of dice tossing for world domination: is it still playable today? We have tried it for you and present modern alternatives.


Enlarge image

An older edition of »Risk«

Photo:

Diana Doert / DER SPIEGEL

"Risk"

I still remember my first game Risk.

I had just turned 13 that summer, and my father and uncle were missing opponents at the table.

After I had won the first game straight away, I was explained verbosely why I had won.

Even after my second win, there were benevolent comments about my luck with the dice.

Luckily, the fact that I wasn't allowed to play the next time because "the topic isn't for 13-year-olds" didn't harm my enthusiasm for board games.

What was it again?

We strive for nothing less than world domination!

We don't have it one size smaller right now.

And how do you win this domination?

With a lot of luck with the dice and endless battles.

There are different variants that you can play.

Secret orders can be given at the beginning of the game and whoever fulfills theirs first wins.

Or you play the classic version, and whoever conquers the world wins.

Basically, you always do the same thing: distribute armies, attack countries, be victorious or be defeated - and then do the whole thing all over again.

Is that still good today?

no

Today's edition comes with a few changes.

It starts with the fact that countries are no longer "conquered" but "liberated" since there was trouble with the Federal Testing Office for writings harmful to young people in the eighties because of such military formulations in the game description.

Secret orders and a very useful two-person version also prevent endless dice.

A luck-based war game, "risk" still remains.

It's nice to play a round or two for nostalgic reasons, but since there are so much better Conquest games out there, it's better to try something else after a game of Risk.

Hasbro;

2-4 players;

from 8 years

For those who want to expand the game board but want a bit of variety, there are a few more games that can rival "Risk."

Here is our selection:

»Small World«

What's the matter?

The world is finite, and so are our fantastic peoples.

In "Small World" we start by creating a people, consisting of a race and a special ability.

You can choose from old fantasy acquaintances such as dwarves, elves, halflings, trolls, orcs and many more.

These are combined with abilities such as "flying", "plundering", "forest" or "underworld".

For example, you can create your very own »dragon tamer trolls« or »diplomat orcs«.

Well equipped, it then happily expands on the game board.

When it is your turn, you try to defeat your opponents and expand your sphere of influence or – and this is the trick – let your people perish.

Because in contrast to other games, the peoples can only spread to a very limited extent here.

If you have no more tiles from your people, the decline is heralded and you get a new one.

As long as the old people still occupy space on the game board, you continue to collect points for them in each round, while you work diligently with the new gang on their expansion.

Depending on the number of players, the game ends after a certain number of rounds.

Whoever has collected the most points by then wins.

Is that any good?

I've hardly played a game over and over again with more enthusiasm.

The trick that we have to give up our people at some point and the expansion comes to a standstill so quickly turns a lengthy positional warfare on the game board into a varied, strategic affair.

The numerous possible combinations of the different races and special abilities give »Small World« a high level of replay value.

Each new composition leads to a different strategy.

You'd love to play a game there.

And another one.

And another one.

Days of Wonder;

2-5 players;

from 8 years;

Authors: Philippe Keyaerts

»Cthulhu Wars«

What's the matter?

It's getting dark in the world.

Of course, anyone who has read one or the other work by HP Lovecraft has known this for a long time.

The great old ones will rise, and then it's vinegar with the world as we know it.

From now on, chaos will reign.

In »Cthulhu Wars« we are fortunately on the right side.

We play a faction of the great old ones and would like to have power over the whole world.

However, the way to get there is challenging.

We need 30 doom points and six spell books.

Although the rules of the game are learned quite quickly, the game has a lot of depth.

Because the different factions follow different mechanisms, you not only have to plan your own moves, but also keep an eye on the other future world rulers.

Until a faction has met the victory conditions, the game always plays out in the same way.

As long as we still have power, we carry out actions in turn.

Then we get more power according to our previously acquired strength, and we look at who gains victory points through which actions.

As long as no faction meets the conditions for victory, the slaughter will continue.

Is that any good?

Rarely has the apocalypse brought so much fun.

The comparatively simple rules make it easy to get started.

But since you need a few rounds of the game to get a plan from your own doomsday troop, and at the same time you have to keep a close eye on your fellow players, you have a lot to discover.

In addition, the factions on the game board are quite close from the start, so clashes are not long in coming.

Anyone who likes to paint miniatures can also look forward to a long, full winter with the mass of large and small detailed minis - and to the end of the world.

Pegasus games;

2-4 players;

from 12 years;

Authors: Sandy Petersen

»Twilight Empire – Fourth Edition«

What's the matter?

The next level of escalation in terms of global strategy games is a small quantum leap.

Nothing is small in »Twilight Imperium – Fourth Edition« or »TI4« for short.

Not the instructions, not the playing time, not the mass of game material and certainly not the complexity.

In view of the topic, however, this is also justified.

After all, our galaxy is pretty much on the rocks right now, and such an empty throne is too much of a lure for all of us to sit peacefully on our planet.

In order to get closer to ascending the throne, we need victory points, whoever has ten of them first wins.

It may take a few hours until then.

Choose a faction, build a fleet, fly off and above all: lots of bargaining!

You won't achieve victory with pure weaponry alone.

The 17 different factions to choose from all play differently, so the replay value is huge.

Is that any good?

If you like it epic and don't shy away from superlatives, you're in good hands here.

But those who are more of the “silently tinkering with the strategy” type will probably have less fun.

The constantly changing interests lead to all sorts of exciting and fragile alliances.

With the necessary foresight and sufficient diplomacy, however, the path to the accession to the throne is very entertaining.

Finally, a small note.

If, like me, you're prone to occasional bouts of overconfidence, my advice is to take the time to read the rules.

My idea that I already know the game and just "just brush up on the rules" was complete nonsense.

Somewhere in the middle of the game instructions I gave up and postponed the reading to a day with a much larger time window.

So be warned: Nothing works like that with »TI4«.

fantasy flight games;

3-6 players;

14 years and older;

Authors: Dane Beltrami, Corey Konieczka, Christian T. Petersen

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-12-27

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