iPhone App Review: Risk

September 9, 2010 - By Tom Edwards

Risk was always one of those board games that was off limits to me growing up. The main excuse I was given was that it was more of a “complex” game than games like Monopoly or Battleship. Indeed, Risk is a little complex for a classic board game (as evidenced by the “ages 12+” guideline instead of the usual 7 to 9 most classic board games start at), but I think in reality it was the cost (Risk, even today, lists for at least $9 more than other classic Hasbro board games) and that you needed three people to play – the kiss of death for an only child. EA’s release of Risk for iPhone eliminates many of the stumbling blocks someone looking for an introduction to Risk might have, but is it enough for long time fans of the original?

From a visual standpoint, the game is appealing. It is full of color (from the map to the player characters) and uses imagery to show things like troop movement and battle. The game has a warlike feel, with sounds of bombs, explosions, and gunfire as battles take place. The game also vibrates when your territories are attacked, giving you a “heads up” in case you start zoning out while the other players take their turns.

Gameplay is simple and well done, but still hindered by the iPhone’s small screen. To move or attack, one needs only touch the originating territory and then touch the final destination territory. That said, a map of the World on the iPhone screen can be a little tough to navigate, and with no ability to zoom you may run into some “accidental choices”. For beginners, the tutorial is a good introduction to the game and helps you to understand both how the game itself is played and how the commands work, but experienced gamers just looking for how to do commands may find the tutorial frustrating as you have to follow the directions exactly in order to finish it.

Experienced Risk players will appreciate the speed one can start and complete a game in. While the board game takes 5-15 minutes to set up and anywhere from one to six hours to play, A game of Risk on the iPhone can be completed in as little as 10 minutes. The entire process of selecting countries and setting up troops can be skipped (randomly placed by the game) and CPU-controlled opponents finish turns in a few seconds, leaving only you to drag the game out.

Issues are minimal. Risk cards are completely hands-off; when you can play them you’ll be given the option to, and the game will select the best possible combination to do so. You can’t see your cards otherwise. Unlike games like Monopoly which allow for some “house rules” flexibility by giving options for some of those tweaks, there are no options to amend any rule here, so if you’re used to playing with your own house rules it may take you a bit to readjust your strategy.

FTW: Loyal to the original game, quick gameplay, appealing visualizations

WTF: Lack of game options, inability to zoom game map

FINAL VERDICT: Overall, the benefits outweigh the negatives, and Risk provides a good gaming option for fans of the original board game or just those looking for a fun strategy game. At $4.99, Risk falls in line with other Electronic Arts releases and shouldn’t scare off loyal fans of the board game, but EA would be wise to release a limited “free” version of the game (limiting the player to x amount of turns, maybe?) to bring in those who are “on the fence” about the game or who have never played Risk before. The five dollar price point won’t get too many experimental gamers who don’t know whether or not they’re going to like the game, or even if they’ll figure out how to play what has been described by some as a very complex board game.

Electronic Arts’ Risk for iPhone is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices running iOS 3.0 or later and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store.

Note: Risk is also available for other smartphone devices, such as BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile, and Palm Pre. Versions for these devices may include a ‘Try Before You Buy’ demo version. More information on other devices supported can be found here.