The 10 Best Risk Board Games

Groups that meet every week get the most out of Risk Legacy, a campaign where each game leaves a mark on the next. Winners sign the board, cities get founded, and sealed packets open new rules as the story moves along. Most games end in about an hour, because the first player to earn four stars wins. The changes are permanent stickers and ink, so each copy plays one campaign, and a new group needs a fresh box.

For a first copy, Hasbro Risk is the place to start: the familiar world map, plastic armies and dice battles, plus a rulebook with four ways to play. Secret Mission and Capital Risk end much sooner than a fight for the whole globe, and a two-player variant adds a neutral army. A dragon token brings a wild card into battle. A full game can still run for hours, and the plastic armies can feel flimsy.

Middle-earth fans should look at Risk Lord of the Rings, which swaps the globe for a map that runs from the Shire to Mordor. Good and evil sides face off, while leaders, strongholds and adventure cards add twists. The Fellowship's trek across the map sets how long the game lasts, so it doesn't drag on. It seats four at most, and the team mode can end very early.

Big groups have a home in Risk Game of Thrones, which seats up to seven when you join its maps of Westeros and Essos. Each player commands a noble house with its own sculpted army, and player boards and cards give every side a few tricks. A smaller Skirmish mode on one map suits fewer players. The box carries a 17-plus age label, and the full setup needs a big table.

Risk 2210 A.D. sends the war into the future, with fights on land, under the sea and on a moon board. Each army hires commanders, spends energy on command cards and races a five-turn limit, which stops the game from dragging. Renegade Game Studios reissued it with clearer tokens and resealable bags. It plays best with a full table, falls flat with two, and still fills a long evening.

Shelf space and looks come first with Risk Vintage Bookshelf Edition, which packs the game into a cloth-bound case that sits among your books like a hardcover. Inside, the board copies an early-1990s design, the armies are molded plastic, and a tray holds every piece in place. Secret mission cards come with it. The rules are the classic ones, so the long games and dice luck come along too.

Nostalgia drives Risk The 1980's Edition, which brings back that decade's board art and the Roman-numeral army pieces many players remember. Winning Moves makes it and says it isn't an exact replica, so some details differ from the original. It seats up to six, and the age label starts at eight, which opens it to younger players. The rules are the classic ones, with long games and players knocked out early.

Adult fans of the cartoon will get the jokes in Risk Rick and Morty, where factions led by characters from the show fight for control of the board. Each leader has a special power, and a second board, Rick's battery, adds its own goals. Units are cardboard tokens instead of plastic armies. It needs at least three players, and the publisher labels it for 17 and older.

Two players who want a tight duel should consider Risk Star Wars Edition, a card-driven battle over Endor, the Death Star and the space fight around it. Its design comes from an older Avalon Hill game, not the classic map. The Board Game Show rated it among the best games Hasbro had put out in a long while, and it wraps up in under an hour. Anyone wanting world conquest will find something different.

Young kids can start with Risk Junior, a pirate version for ages five and up where ships fire dice from a lever launcher. Players race to grab islands and treasure, and Hasbro says a game takes under half an hour. The rules skip card sets and big armies, so there's little planning to it, and luck decides most turns. The dice and tokens are small parts, so keep them away from toddlers.