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Players: 3 to 6
Playing time: A long, long, long time
This classic board game has allowed everyone the opportunity to take over the world since 1959.
Players must place armies on the 42 territories at the beginning of the game. After all the territories have been claimed, each player must decide how to reinforce his or her position with the rest of the armies. At the beginning of each turn -- even the first turn -- the player gets a number of reinforcements depending on the number of territories he or she controls at the beginning of the turn. Players use a mix of strategy (placement of armies) and luck (rolling of dice) to capture territories and defend the territory they already control. At the end of the turn, if the player has taken a territory, he or she gets to pick a Risk card. These can be turned in to receive even more armies that the player can use to take over the world. The game is for three to six players, and there are variations for expert players and variations for shorter games.
This game can take quite a long time, depending on the number of players and the skill of those playing. The game makers, Hasbro/Parker Brothers, have designed a few time-saving devices for shorter games. There are rules for two players, a game where the objective is to capture the other players designated capital territory (while still controlling your own), and a game where the objective is to complete a designated secret mission before the other players complete their own.
Risk is one of my favorite games. It's always fun to try to take over the world. I like to play the normal rules with a few of the variations for expert players (fortifying your position is always nice at the end of a turn and turning an attack die to six once per turn is always helpful.)
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