Are you a fan of Risk?

Risk is a famous war strategy game played in many households. In fact, some families have generations who have played the game, parents playing with their children as their own parents did with them.

Yet, you might be surprised to learn of its origins in France, and how long it took to reach the modern version in North America.

The creation of Risk

Risk was originally a French game called La Conquete du Monde, (Conquest of the World in English). A fitting title!

It was invented in the 1950s by Albert Lamorisse, a French filmmaker, otherwise best known for his award-winning film, The Red Balloon.

La Conquete du Monde was quickly snapped up by French board game maker Miro who initially distributed the game in France.

Miro then sold the game to Parker Brothers who introduced it to North America in 1959,  renaming it to the more catchy “Risk” we know today.

Well sort of. In fact, Parker Brothers renamed it Risk: The Continental Game. They later renamed it Risk: The Game of Global Domination, which is strangely similar to the original name.

Castle Risk

For decades Risk remained essentially unchanged until Parker Brothers introduced Castle Risk. Although the attack / defend mechanism is similar, this is a different version of Risk with spies, admirals, generals and, of course, castles.

The objective is to capture all your opponents’ castles.

One of the most exciting features is the diplomat card which can force a temporary truce between warring parties.

This new version of Risk appears to have prompted Parker Brothers to rethink their strategy and consider other versions of the classic game.

Acquisition by Hasbro

Parker Brothers was originally a family-owned business, but was acquired by General Mills, who later sold it to Tonka.

Hasbro acquired Tonka, including its Parker Brothers, in 1991. This brought Risk, and other famous board games, such as Monopoly, into the Hasbro family.

It’s difficult to say what the impact of this was, but it’s really under Hasbro that the many different versions of Risk have taken off.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Secret Mission Risk

Secret Mission Risk lets players win the game without capturing all their opponents’ territories, but by achieving an objective that is particular to them. It’s an option on the standard game and not something that has to be used.

However, it really helps change up gameplay and make it more interesting. Each secret mission needs its own strategy, which needs to be modified as the game plays out.

Risk in Europe always had secret mission rules, but Parker Brothers hadn’t included this option in the North American version.

In 1993 Hasbro introduced secret mission rules to North America, giving us the game we know and love today as Classic Risk.

Risk in the ‘00s

The new versions of Risk really started to take off around the turn of the century. They include:

• Napoleon Risk - a version of Castle Risk
• Risk 2210 AD
• Lord of the Risk Risk
• Risk Star Wars
• Risk Europe
• Risk Junior - ideal for younger players

Many of these games have different gameplay to the standard version of Risk, offer more diversity to an already varied game.

Risk Today

Today's classic game keeps many of the same rules and gameplay as early versions, with a similar map.

The latest version was updated in 2008 by Hasbro.

Ironically, and quite scarily, the map in Risk today shows the region that had been historically marked as “Ukraine”, now marked as Russia.

Other War Strategy Games

Risk isn’t the only war strategy game, and other games, perhaps inspired by Risk, are also popular. These include:

• Axis & Allies
• Eclipse
• Dominion
• Small world
• Warhammer

Of course, many of these games are vastly different to Risk, but the idea of a war strategy game is a common theme for all of them.

Playing Risk

Risk remains an awesome game to play. Simple enough for children to pick it up quickly, but with exciting twists and strategic thinking needed.

It’s faster than Monopoly, especially in Secret Mission Risk, and the perfect game when you have an hour to spare.

What’s more, there are so many versions of Risk, and other War Strategy games out there, that there’s no real reason to avoid them.

So, pick one, and start playing!

Jason McKee loves playing board games with his family and friends, and has enjoyed them since he was a child. Jason has set up Boards Cards Dice to talk about his game experiences.