Risk for iPhone. Original Global Strategy Game without many Bells and Whistles

RISK The Official Game

RISK The Official Game

Risk [rating: 3.5/5]

We played a lot of board games in my family from Scrabble and Monopoly to Trivial Pursuit and Game of Life and it was a tradition to get a new family board game from Father Christmas each year which we would play on Christmas Day afternoon. However, this tradition never extended to one of the most renowned board games in the world, namely Risk.

When asked to review EA Mobile’s version of Risk on the iPhone my only expectations where of those I’d heard about the game rather than experienced directly. Subsequently I think I come to the game with a relatively unique perspective on the game.

The game starts with a suitably military feel about it, from the squaddies running into battle, tanks and military music the scene is set and you are left under no illusion that you are going to getting involved in a mighty battle.

For those expecting to get into some 1st or 3rd person perspective shoot outs will be in for a surprise as Risk is a strategy game where your ultimate goal is to rule the world. You can start the game with the computer setting your starting territories and troop placement or you can set them manually. As a beginner to the world or Risk I opted for the random placement.

Talking of being a beginner the game includes a decent tutorial that covers the basics of game play and takes you through the 3 steps that make up each turn. First you need to draft your troops and the number of troops you’ll have to deploy will be based on the number of territories and continents you have under you control.

Next up is the attack phase where you can march into neighboring territories. It’s not quite as easy at it seems though as you have to choose whether the attack will be a skirmish, total war or a retreat. The success or failure of each attack is controlled by the roll of the dice and as such nothing is guaranteed. A skirmish will give you more control over your attack while as the name suggest ‘All Out War’ is a do or die maneuver.

Your final step is the fortify step where you get to move your troops between your own territories and then it’s the next players turn, be that a computer controlled player, or a real person via either Pass N’ Play on a single device or using multiple devices on a local wireless network. One trick that has been missed here is the inclusion of a online multi-player option either in real-time or even via a play by mail type option. As a game that concerns global domination being able to play the game globally would have been a great addition.

The game play process is repeated until your domination is complete, or in my case my surrender was complete! It took me 4 games until I finally got the hang of how to make successful inroads into my opponents lands but the hard work paid off with a feeling of achievement especially when I won my first game.

There are limited extras to the game as I have seen in similar titles and as this is based on a board game it suggests that it is a simple port of the game and this could be limiting to gamers expecting extra features and options. The game does include it’s own version of achievements though and claiming all 12 of them would be an achievement in itself.

At $1.99 some players may be a little disappointed by the lack of options but the game does play well and it’s actually made me want to go out and get the board game version of Risk to play too!

Pros

  • Simple tutorial for beginners
  • Risk on the road
  • Authentic gameplay

Cons

  • A challenge for the color blind players
  • No online multi-player
  • Limited options

Reviewed on an iPhone 4

Price: $1.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:Jul 22, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.4.88
Size: 8.3 MB
Languages:English, French, German, Spanish
Seller:Electronic Arts
© 2010 Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

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