Margaret Durbin 2008-12-01

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

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.

Charles 2008-08-15

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

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.

Brian's Dad 2008-07-26

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

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.

Carlton Marks 2008-02-13

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

This is a game that take a great deal of time to play, but it causes your mind to work as you progress through the levels.
The sudden turn of events will always keep the players on edge.

Coliwobbles 2007-11-17

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

We bought this game of risk to replace our old game, which was lost in a move. There are several differences in the new risk and the old risk. One difference is the mission cards. At first I was disapointed that the mission cards were not the same as the old risk, but after playing a few games, I admit that it is just as much fun. The other difference with the game is the lack of army boxes. The old game came with a clear plastic box to store each army color in. This game does not have boxes, just wells in the box to store each color. The clear boxes were quite useful during the game as you spend a lot of time taking armies out and putting armies in the box as you lose or gain reinforcements. I find the lack of boxes a pain as pieces fall on the floor etc. when you just have them piled on the table. However, it is still a great game and we are happy with this version.