RISK!

[kz_blogorambling]

Kidlet's school has the game Risk available for aftercare, and after playing it there he begged us to buy it. I felt some reluctance because my memory of the game from childhood involved long, drawn-out games that never ended. My husband caved, and I have since used that excuse to avoid it every time my son asked. "Get your father to play; he's the one who agreed to buy it."

Well, for some reason I agreed to play a few weeks ago. Why did I wait so long? We are loving it. I almost bought a second game so kidlet and I could play without disturbing the 3-person game that awaits Mark's return from GDC. We decided, instead, to write down the locations of all the armies and reset the board. Now we're in the midst of a heated 2-person game. I have not had a dining room table for weeks, and we're changing around bedtime routines to accommodate more playing.

I find myself wondering this morning if I should just cede Africa and focus on other continents, or keep fortifying Egypt to keep the kid on his toes.

Comments

[sauronwrap.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth ... we bought Risk before Christmas, based on my recommendation (I used to play it in high school a lot). Everybody loved it, but we ran into the long-drawn-out games, too.

There are several computer versions available, and we wound up buying one of those, too. I think it was $20 from Big Fish Games. Anyway, we haven't played the board game since. The computer version is much easier, for several reasons -- you can play against computer generals (up to five), the game is MUCH shorter, and there aren't pieces flying all over the place when somebody accidentally rolls the dice on the board.

[sauronwrap.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Africa? Unless you've got a lot of armies to spare, stay away from Africa, Asia or Europe until later in the game. They have too many entry points or are just too big to justify the number of armies you've got to throw into them.

[crankyasanoldma.livejournal.com]

The kid has it about all sewn up, but I've got a stronghold there. I can't decide how long to keep being a thorn in his side.

[sauronwrap.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see.

In that case, I like to keep fortifying juuuust long enough to distract them. Then finally let it fall. In the meantime, you've manuevered another army into an attack position near the continent, so once they think they've FINALLY gotten you out of there, you attack from someplace else and crush their spirit.

I mean, if parents don't do this for their kids, where will they learn it? (This is in no way promoting gundy's comment below, though.)