How to Play Risk - The Rules & Strategies of Risk

Published on 4th September 2023 by Jimmy Bennett

Risk is a board game that has lasted the test of time, now being hailed as a classic and the first modern war game. Many players are just discovering Risk now for the first time. With so many different and themed editions of the board game, it’s no surprise either.

This handy guide will teach players how to play Risk, letting them immerse themself in the strategic game of world domination.

But first, here’s a little history of the Risk board game:

The History of Risk - When Did Risk Come Out?

It might come as a surprise, but Risk was actually invented by a French filmmaker, not a retired general or military historian as you might expect. Albert Lamorisse came to fame in the 1940s with a series of short films, and would later go on to do feature-length movies as well. He created the original version of Risk in 1957, which was then called “La Conquête du Monde” or in English, The Conquest of the World. It was then acquired off of Lamoisse by Parker Brothers who made some tweaks to how the game is played before releasing Risk as we know it now in 1959.

Fast forward to the present day and there are countless variations of the game. From digital versions that let you play online with players around the world, to film and TV variations there’s so much choice for players who love the game.

Before You Start Playing Risk

Before you start playing your Risk board game, there are a few questions you might like to know the answer to:

How Many People Can Play Risk?

Risk is accommodating to a variety of different players, catering for between 2 and 6 players. If you want an intense and tactical head-to-head experience, a 2 player game will challenge you to match your wits. Meanwhile, a 3 or more player game will add more unpredictability and variables into the game, potentially making for a more chaotic experience.

How Long Does a Game of Risk Take?

Risk is well known for being a game that can last a very long time. Due to the element of chance involved in the game, the length can vary drastically, however playing time is expected to be anywhere between 1 and 8 hours, although most games would expect to last between 1 and 3 hours.

Is Risk a Strategy Game?

Risk is, without a doubt, a strategy game, challenging you to form and develop a game plan before enacting this at a grand scale. However, great strategy alone might not be enough to win a game of Risk, although it will certainly help. Because attacks and defences are made with the role of dice, there is an inherent element of luck involved in the game.

Can You Form Alliances in Risk?

The rules of Risk make no mention of forming alliances. Therefore, it is perfectly legal to form an alliance with another player during a game. On the flip side, there is therefore nothing in the rules to protect a player alliance and there can only be one winner, often meaning that it's only a matter of time before alliances are broken and players turn against one another.

How to Set Up a Game of Risk

Before players begin their turns in a game of risk, a set-up stage must be undertaken. The first step of this involves players choosing their player colour. Then players will be dealt their starting infantry pieces, the amounts of which will vary depending on the number of players:

Two players: 40 infantry

Three players: 35 infantry

Four players: 30 infantry

Five players: 25 infantry

Six players: 20 infantry

At any time during the game, players can represent larger amounts of infantry with alternate pieces. A cavalry piece counts as 5 infantry, whereas a cannon will count as 10.

Players should then roll the dice, with the person who rolls the highest being the first to place an infantry piece on the board. Players will then take it in turn clockwise, placing one piece on a territory of their choosing. Once all 42 territories have been claimed, players are free to place their remaining pieces wherever they would like within their territory. There are no limits to the number of infantry that can be on a territory.

Players will then remove the secret mission cards from the deck before shuffling it and placing them face down next to the board. This will form the draw pile for players for the rest of the game.

Now the game begins!

How to Play Risk

The player who went first during the setup stage will be the player who goes first. There are three stages to every turn in Risk: placing armies, attacking and fortifying.

Can You Form Alliances in Risk?

The rules of Risk make no mention of forming alliances. Therefore, it is perfectly legal to form an alliance with another player during a game. On the flip side, there is therefore nothing in the rules to protect a player alliance and there can only be one winner, often meaning that it's only a matter of time before alliances are broken and players turn against one another.

Placing Armies

To work out how many infantry a player can add to their army at the start of their turn, add up your total number of territories and divide by 3, rounding down to the nearest multiple of 3. Regardless of how many territories are held, players will always be allowed to place at least 3 infantry pieces. If a player controls an entire continent, they will receive a bonus to the number of pieces they receive to place. These bonuses are:

Africa: 3

Asia: 7

Australia: 2

Europe: 5

North America: 5

South America: 2

Later in the game, players will accumulate cards, which can then be traded in to receive more infantry pieces. If a player has 5 or 6 cards at the start of their turn, one set has to be traded in.

In order to trade in your cards for troops, you must have three cards with matching icons. If a card has all three icons on it, it can be used to match with any of the icons. How many pieces a player receives for trading in their cards depends on how many card sets have been traded in:

First set: 4 Infantry Pieces

Second set: 6 Infantry Pieces

Third set: 8 Infantry Pieces

Fourth set: 10 Infantry Pieces

Fifth set: 12 Infantry Pieces

Sixth set: 15 Infantry Pieces

After the sixth set, the number of troops gained will rise by 5 each time.

If one of the cards you’re trading in has a territory you own on it, you will receive two additional troops that must go on that territory. However, this can only apply once per set.

Attacking

After all the player’s pieces are on the board, they enter the attack phase of their turn. Players don’t have to attack during their turn if they don't want to and can jump straight to the fortify phase if they prefer.

Players can attack any territory that their territory shares a border with, or that is connected with a dashed line for regions across the sea from one another. A player must have at least 2 pieces in the territory they are attacking from to launch an assault.

When beginning an attack, a player should announce the territory they are attacking as well as the territory they are attacking from. The outcome of the attacks is decided by rolling dice.

The attacker can decide how many dice to attack with but must have that many free pieces in the attacking army to allow it. For example, if they are attacking from a territory with only 2 pieces, they can only use 1 die. The defender gets the choice of rolling 1 or 2 dice but equally must have as many pieces as dice rolled.

Players should say how many dice they are using as they do each roll and should roll at the same time. The values rolled are compared in order of highest vs highest. If there is a tie, the defender wins. Players remove pieces for each die that beats their die. Between each roll, the attacking player can decide whether to continue or to break off the engagement. If they destroy all defending pieces, they take the territory.

Once the territory is taken, they can decide how many pieces they place there but must leave at least one behind where they attacked from. If they attacked with multiple dice on the last turn, they must place at least that many pieces on the new territory. If a player captures at least one territory, they can draw a Risk card from the deck. Players will never draw more than one card a turn.

If during your attack you take a player's last territory, they are eliminated from the game and you will acquire all the cards they had accumulated to that point. If that pushes the amount of cards you hold over 6 cards, you will have to immediately trade a set in.

That concludes the attacking phase.

Fortify

Fortify is the final phase during a turn of Risk. This phase lets players move any amount of their troops into any adjacent territory, however, this can only be done once per turn. One piece must always remain behind in the territory that infantry is being moved from.

How to Win a Game of Risk

The mechanism to win a game of Risk is incredibly straightforward. You must eliminate all enemy players and hold all 42 territories on the board. A player is knocked out of the game when they lose their last remaining territory and their final piece is removed from the board. In the end, there can be only one winner.

Risk Pro Tips and Tricks

The great thing about Risk is that it is not a solved game. There is no one strategy that will guarantee you a win every time, letting you experiment with different strategies and techniques in order to play and win the game. However, there are some Risk tips and tricks that we can share with you that could improve your chances of winning the game.

Have a Strategy

If you’re a fan of strategy games, you’ll know that playing reactively usually means a one-way ticket to a loss. It’s always best to work with a strategy in mind, working to achieve larger objectives that will bolster your forces and lead to victory. This can be made up of a series of shorter-term goals that will help keep your focus during a game.

Try to Anticipate Your Opponent Strategies

Every pro Risk player will be working towards some kind of overall strategy or game plan, whether this is following a series of short-term objectives or working toward a long-term plan. Some of these can be more obvious, such as them trying to claim a continent, whereas others may be more subtle. Try to work out what your opponent is doing and frustrate them by countering their aims.

Have a Back Up Plan

Strategies that put all your eggs in one basket are incredibly easy. If you commit all your forces to take a continent, only to fail and lose most of your forces, you may never recover. Therefore, it’s good to weigh up the risk vs reward of every situation and have a backup plan in case your primary stage unravels. Keep some forces in reserve so that if your enemy takes an outlying territory, you have the strength for a successful counter-offensive.

Be Weary of Alliances

Alliances can turn the tide of a game, countering a powerful player who threatens to monopolise the board. But they are also fraught with danger. If you make a gentlemen’s agreement to leave each other alone and leave your borders undefended, there will be nothing stopping your current ally from invading that territory. However, making an alliance and then attacking your ally when they’re at their weakest could give you the momentum to attain victory.

Wait to Turn in Your Cards

The more sets of cards that are turned in, the more troops a player will receive for turning them in. Therefore, you don’t want to be one of the first to turn in your cards, as this will give you very few troops. This has to be balanced though. If you wait too long and concede too many troops and territories, trading in your cards might not be enough to turn the tide.

If you’ve never played Risk before, it's a layered and involving game that will provide challenges, entertainment and rewards in equal measure. Fans of board games, tactics and strategy that have yet to play this game should give it a go and discover how much Risk they’re willing to take.