Risk
Disclaimer: This is an independent, unofficial guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro. Risk is a trademark of Hasbro. This guide explains the classic 1993 World Domination rules in our own words; editions differ, so follow the rules supplied with your set. Visit Hasbro’s official Risk website and instructions for the publisher’s rules.
Risk is played on a world map divided into areas called territories. Each player puts armies of one colour on the map. On your turn, you add armies and can roll dice to try to take territories from other players. You win when you control all 42 territories.
This guide uses the classic World Domination rules for three to six players in Hasbro’s 1993 rulebook. Other editions and the two-player game have some different rules.
Read the board
The 42 territories belong to six larger groups called continents. A territory belongs to whoever has armies on it. Its printed colour shows its continent, not its owner. Every territory must have at least one army once setup is finished.
Two territories are neighbours if they share a border or have a connection line printed between them across the sea. Armies can attack across either kind of connection. Being close together on the map is not enough.
Pieces and setup
Use the board, one colour of army pieces per player, five dice, and the cards. Place your army pieces directly on the territories you own. Their colour identifies the player; their combined value tells everyone how many armies are in that territory.
On sets with soldier, horse and cannon pieces, these represent 1, 5 and 10 armies respectively. For example, one horse and three soldiers on Peru mean you have 8 armies in Peru. You can swap five soldiers for one horse without changing the army total. A larger piece is simply a way to keep count; it has no extra fighting power. Some editions use different shapes, so check your set’s piece values.
Our examples use numbered markers to keep the diagrams easy to read: A · 5 means player A has five armies in that territory. In the real game, you would show that total with army pieces of your colour. Add pieces when you gain armies, remove them when armies are lost, and move them between territories when the rules allow.
Keep the cards with territory names and the two cards showing all three army symbols, called wild cards. Set aside any cards that give a player a secret task. Those are mission cards, and are not used in this version.
| Players | Armies each |
|---|---|
| 3 | 35 |
| 4 | 30 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 20 |
- Count out your starting armies. Keep the rest beside the board for later.
- Choose who starts. Everyone rolls one die; highest goes first. Re-roll a tie for highest.
- Claim the empty territories. Starting with that player and going clockwise, place one army on an empty territory each turn until all 42 are taken.
- Add the armies you have left. Keep taking turns placing one army, now on a territory you already own, until everyone has placed their full starting allowance.
- Prepare the cards. Shuffle the territory and wild cards together into a face-down pile. Nobody starts with cards. The player who claimed the first territory takes the first turn; continue clockwise.
1. Add new armies
At the start of every turn, including your first, count your territories, divide by three and ignore any remainder. Take at least three armies, even if you own fewer than nine territories. These new armies are called reinforcements. Put them on territories you already own.
If you own every territory in a continent at the start of your turn, add its bonus too. You can split your new armies between several territories or put them all in one.
| Continent | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Africa | 3 |
| Asia | 7 |
| Australia | 2 |
| Europe | 5 |
| North America | 5 |
| South America | 2 |
For example, 14 territories give you 4 armies. If those include all of South America, add 2 more: 4 + 2 = 6 new armies. Cards can also give you extra armies; their rules appear below.
2. Attack, if you want to
Choose one of your territories with at least two armies and an opponent’s neighbouring territory. Say where you are attacking from and which territory you are attacking. You are the attacker; the other player is the defender.
- Attacker: choose 1, 2 or 3 dice. You need at least one more army in your starting territory than the number of dice: 2 armies for 1 die, 3 for 2 dice, or 4 or more for 3 dice.
- Defender: choose 1 or 2 dice. You need at least 2 armies in the territory to roll 2 dice.
Both players announce how many dice they will use, then roll at the same time. Put each player’s dice in order from highest to lowest. Compare the highest on each side: the lower number loses one army. If the numbers are equal, the attacker loses one army. If both players rolled at least two dice, compare the second-highest pair the same way. Do not add the dice together. An unpaired die does nothing.
In this example, the attacker rolls 6, 3, 2 and the defender rolls 5, 3. First, 6 beats 5, so the defender loses one army. Next, 3 ties 3, so the attacker loses one. The attacker’s 2 has no partner. The territories finish with 4 attacking armies and 2 defending armies.
You can roll again if you still have enough armies, attack somewhere else, or stop. You do not have to keep attacking until one side is defeated.
When you take a territory
When the defender loses its last army, the territory becomes yours. Immediately move armies into it from the territory you attacked from. Move at least as many as the number of dice you rolled in that final attack, and always leave at least one army behind. You may then attack again, including from the territory you have just taken if it has enough armies.
This close-up shows Peru attacking Brazil with three dice and removing Brazil’s last army. Moving three armies into Brazil leaves two in Peru. Moving four would also be allowed; moving only one or two would not, because the last attack used three dice.
3. Finish your turn
If you took at least one territory this turn, draw one card after you finish attacking. You get just one card, even if you took several territories. Keep your cards hidden from the other players.
You may now make one move between two of your own neighbouring territories. Move as many armies as you wish, but leave at least one behind. This final move is called fortifying. You can do it even if you did not attack. After that, your turn is over.
Moving three armies from Peru to Brazil changes their counts from 5 and 2 to 2 and 5. No dice are needed: both territories are already yours.
Exchange cards for armies
Each territory card shows a soldier, a horse or a cannon. Three cards with the same symbol, or one of each symbol, make a set. A wild card can complete a set with any other two cards. At the start of your turn, you may exchange a set for extra armies. With five or six cards, you must exchange at least one set; you may exchange a second if you have one.
| Set in the game | Armies received |
|---|---|
| 1st / 2nd / 3rd | 4 / 6 / 8 |
| 4th / 5th / 6th | 10 / 12 / 15 |
| 7th onwards | 20, then 25, then 30… |
If two sets have already been exchanged, your set is the third and gives you eight armies, even if it is your first exchange. If a card you exchange names a territory you own, put two extra armies on that territory. If several qualify, choose one. This territory bonus is limited to two extra armies per turn in these rules.
When you take a player’s last territory, that player is out and you take their cards. If that leaves you with six or more cards, immediately exchange sets until you have four or fewer, placing the new armies on your territories before continuing. Stop exchanging as soon as you have four or fewer cards, even if you still have a set. With fewer than six cards immediately after taking the eliminated player’s cards, wait until your next turn to exchange. Drawing your usual card at the end of a turn does not trigger an immediate exchange.
Winning and your first few decisions
There is no points total to count. In this version, you win as soon as you own every territory. A large army or a complete continent helps, but neither wins the game by itself.
- Look at the borders before adding armies. Armies surrounded by your own territories cannot attack an opponent from there.
- Count what will be left behind. Taking three territories means leaving at least one army in each. A force can become spread out even when its attacks succeed.
- Know when to stop. Once you have earned a card, consider saving the armies you have left to defend your new territory.
- Plan for a bad roll. More armies give you more chances, but dice can still go against you. Do not rely on winning every comparison.
Other versions
Some editions let the final move follow a chain of territories you own, rather than a single connection. Card bonuses and starting armies can also differ. Use the booklet supplied with your set if it differs from this guide.
The classic two-player rules add a third colour of armies that neither player owns. A version called Secret Mission gives each player a hidden task to complete instead of requiring the whole map. Both need their own setup rules.
Rule references
These are original teaching illustrations. The world map uses public-domain geographic data from Natural Earth, with simplified divisions inside the larger countries. The close-up examples use the same geographic outlines and numbered army markers. No commercial board or card artwork is reproduced.