This here is a custom board I made for the greatest, most perfect game known to man (that I know of). The one that ships with the game is too small, and any game that deals with global domination needs space (this one is 2 x 3 1/2 feet). In fact, a game like this demands a board no less than imposing, which is why my next stab at making a Risk! board will be the size of a playground merry-go-round, which will also make the craps rakes I made (to give the game a more war-room like feel) more useful. Anyways, if you look you'll notice that I changed some of the names, doing away with the less memorable "directional continent" names in favor of more regionally specific ones. I also added some additional islands to make the map more complete (e.g. Cuba, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, etc.) and gave each territory its own font.

That's right, I improved perfection.

North America

Observations

Ain't nothing wrong with North America; the game mimics real life in this regard. It's a strong continent, but not as ambitious as Asia. However, if you find you have a stubborn and tenacious South America owner to your south, you'll be kinda stuck, as Europe and Asia are big battles to pick. Nevertheless, there are a good number of options when it comes to expansion, yet you're not seen as an immediate threat with the Atlantic Ocean and the side of the board providing visual padding; the game, again, mimics real life.

Name Changes

Northwest Territory -> Yukon Territory

Even though Northwest Territory is a real name of a Canadian province, it's a boring one. I kept "territory" because it makes it sound uncharted and dangerous, but switched to Yukon because Yukon sounds colder (second only to Klondike) and there's a reason Calvin and Hobbes write poems and visit the Yukon, chief among these reasons: it's not named Northwest Territory.

Eastern Canada -> Quebec

A boring directional continent name. I went with Quebec because I only listened to Ween when I made this. Plus, who wouldn't want to attack Quebec?

Western & Eastern United States -> Pacific and Atlantic United States

I understand that the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are not properties of the United States (even if they act like it sometimes), but names like Western Frontier or Colonial America seemed too hokey. I didn't want to get laughed at and went with an unobjectionable substitute.

South America & Africa

Observations

There's a reason why I grouped these two together other than because they fit nicely together in the photograph; it's because these are the two continents I go to at the start of the game. I don't know what this says about the people I play with (or Americans in general) but most view these territories as weak. I've already established that this game mimics life, and since Africa is the birthplace of life, only a fool would not put his or her pieces here first. A more logically centered argument would be that they provide a number of choices for movement and are relatively easy to manage. People naturally want to control a continent (and the game incentivizes this), but instead of going after one big one, it is more manageable and less threatening to other players to go after two adjacent smaller ones... so, after the first few rounds, you'll either be able to gauge people's intentions and move to an area of lesser resistance, or, and this is usually the case unless you're playing with a large amount of people, find yourself in charge of two continents and the game's early leader. All this falls apart though if Europe decides to bifurcate your armies early on, but Europe is usually so busy fending off Asia and North America that they won't come looking for a fight over the peaceful Mediterranean. But like I said, this position will allow you to move laterally, and, worse case scenario, limp towards the later rounds. In other words, this collective area is the thinking man's Australia.

Name Changes

North Africa -> Sahara

Africa is loaded with directional names for no good reason. Can anyone tell me why this shouldn't be named after the Sahara???

Central Africa -> Congo

It's shaped like the Congo, so I renamed it Congo.

East Africa -> Sudan

This one was a little harder to choose. Ethiopia? Somalia? Kenya? These are all good names and good types of coffee. The country of Sudan takes up the largest portion of this territory though, and the name fit nicely, so it won.

South Africa -> Zimbabwe

Like Northwest Territory, South Africa is a legitimate name, but loses big time on creativity. Zimbabwe wasn't the easiest fit typographically, but is so pleasing to say (yet simultaneously spooky sounding) that it was going in there even if I had to hyphenate it.

Europe

Observations

As much as you may love European beer or writers or painters or movies, stay away; Europe has refused to be under single rule for all of history and we may never see such a scenario until life begins to mimic Risk!

Name Changes

Great Britain -> United Kingdom

A very minor change. I blame the Irish blood in me for doing it. An even better choice would have been British Isles.

Western Europe -> Gaul

This was the hardest name to choose and one that I'm not 100% behind. I couldn't bring myself to simply pick either France or Spain and lump the other with it, and also couldn't find an older regional name that fit ideally for both countries. In the end I went with Gaul because compromise is also part of the game.

Southern Europe -> Balkans

Because it makes sense and because I couldn't rightfully name it Italy or Greece without pissing off the other.

Northern Europe -> Germania

I wanted to use the Danzig font in this project. Germania was the only thing that seemed appropriate for that.

Asia

Observations

A lot of people over-eagerly set out to dominate Asia from the start. And while it's true that the game will inevitably all come down in either the Middle East or Afghanistan, many an empire fell because they tried to own those territories too early on (hello, Rome; hello, England; hello, USSR). It shares too many borders for early control and too many other players are going to try and win a territory in order to get a card, so you'll never be able to get the bonus armies for controlling all of Asia outright. Plus, someone always hunkers down in Australia and tries to amass a large army and their only way out is through you. Attempting to corral Asia makes it extremely difficult to grow.

Name Changes

None

Australia

Observations

Unless whoever takes the first lead in Asia desperately wants Australia too, and thus makes it their first campaign come hell or high water, then Australia is a safe place to start off. It used to be my go-to strategy, but have since abandoned it, as the game-play is very repetitive and inherently un-risky.

Name Changes

None, although I did debate on changing it to Queensland or Victoria or The Outback. Instead I decided to keep it West and East Australia since it's most accurate and because I could make it look appealing in the process.

Google Sites

Report abuse