Wednesday, 19 August 2015

The Best Strategic Game Board Game: Risk

By Cheryll Tefera


There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme (e.g. checkers), to having a specific theme and narrative (e.g. Cluedo). Rules can range from the very simple (e.g. Tic-tac-toe), to those describing a game universe in great detail (e.g. Dungeons & Dragons) - although most of the latter are role-playing games where the board is secondary to the game, serving to help visualize the game scenario. Even though the rules in 'Risk' strategic game are simple to understand, it doesn't take away from the fact that it is extremely interesting & addictive once a player gets hang of it. The way to play this game is straightforward, eliminate rest of the players on the world map. The main idea is to overwhelm your enemy with power, but the means of doing this are as varied as the players who love the game. It can be done with diplomacy or it can be done with brute force. The crux of the game is to weigh all the possibilities in your head and use percentages to come out with the best possible solution at that pertinent moment.

Players are eliminated when they lose all of their troops on the game board. Players must be skilled in troop deployment and must be aware of the underlying probabilities present in the game. When finished attacking and before passing the turn over to the next player, a player has the option to maneuver any number of armies from a single territory occupied by the player into an adjacent territory occupied by the same player. This is sometimes referred to as a "free move".

The board is a guide of the world separated into six main-lands included 42 domains. Players might just move between adjoining domains, except for couple of regions over water. If an attacker occupies a defender's last territory, the defender is eliminated from the game and the attacker acquires all of the defender's Risk cards.

There are three main phases to a player's turn: getting and placing new armies, attacking, and fortifying. The board can be simplified by turning it into a graph where the territories are the nodes and the lines between nodes are the potential paths that can be taken from territory to territory. One key to victory is control over continents. Players that hold continents at the beginning of a turn get bonus reinforcements in an amount roughly proportional to the size of the continent. Thus, the key positions on the board are the territories on the borders of continents.

The board can be disentangled by transforming it into a diagram where the domains are the hubs and the lines between hubs are the potential ways that can be taken from region to region. One key to triumph is control over main-lands. Players that hold main-lands toward the start of a turn get extra fortifications in a sum generally corresponding to the span of the landmass. In this manner, the key positions on the board are the domains on the fringes of main-lands.

There are two ways to determine the initial territories: Have each player roll a die (Standard Rules). The player that rolled the highest value will choose an open territory and place one soldier in it. Moving clock-wise, each player will select an open territory until all territories are occupied. Once players have claimed all the 42 territories on the board, players place their remaining armies onto territories they already claim in any order they choose.

Second way is to Deal out the deck of cards (Alternate Rules). Entire deck of card is used minus the two Wild cards and then each player needs to place one of their army pieces in each territory according to the cards they are holding. Turns should be taken to do this. The key disadvantage to attacking is that you usually lose armies as you gain territories; and even if you are lucky enough to not lose any armies in your battles, in a sense you become weaker with each territory you win since your armies are now dispersed over a larger number of territories. This gives the opponent more territories to attack with a greater chance of success.

When the sum total of what regions have been guaranteed, players continue to put the rest of their beginning troop assignments one by one in a clockwise manner. A mismatch in army strength is especially valuable early on. This means that you should try to redeem your Risk cards for reinforcements early on, when reinforcements count for more. That mismatch doesn't mean as much later on. The beginning troop distribution per player is subject to the quantity of players taking part in the game.

For a game with such simple rules, Risk can be an intricate, even beautiful game. It is fun, intense and requires skills that will also benefit the player in the real world. Keeping the advice set down here in mind, the best way to learn the game is, like everything else, through experience. 'Risk' boats of numerous exciting versions all over the web. Every version is unique and demands aptitude and luck to be at your forte!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment