How to play Risk

What you need

• The tri-fold board: 6 continents split into 42 territories
• 6 sets of armies in different colors. Each set has infantry (1 army), cavalry (worth 5) and artillery (worth 10)
• 5 dice: 3 red for the attacker, 2 white for the defender
• 56 cards: 42 territory cards each showing infantry, cavalry or artillery, 2 wild cards, and 12 Secret Mission cards that you remove for classic play

You can swap 5 infantry for a cavalry, or 2 cavalry for an artillery, whenever the board gets crowded.

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Set up the game

1. Each player chooses a color and counts out starting infantry: 35 each with 3 players, 30 with 4, 25 with 5, 20 with 6. Two players use a special setup with neutral armies (see Variants).
2. Everyone rolls one die. Highest places one infantry on any territory to claim it.
3. Going left, each player places one infantry on an unclaimed territory until all 42 are taken.
4. Then, in turn, each player adds one infantry to a territory they already hold, until everyone has placed all their starting armies. There is no limit on how many can stack in one territory.
5. Remove the Secret Mission cards, shuffle the remaining 44 territory and wild cards, and place them face down as a draw pile.
6. The player who placed the first army takes the first turn.

Many groups speed up step 3 by dealing out the territory cards instead. That is a common shortcut, and the Secret Mission rules in the same booklet use a deal, but the classic setup claims territories one at a time.

Playing Risk

Each turn has three steps, always in this order.

1. Get and place new armies. Count your territories and divide by 3, dropping any fraction. You always get at least 3. Add any continent bonus for continents you fully held at the start of your turn. Add armies from a card set if you trade one in. Place all of them on territories you hold.
2. Attack, if you want. You may attack any enemy territory adjacent to one of yours, or joined by a dashed sea line (Alaska and Kamchatka connect across the board edge). The attacking territory needs at least 2 armies. Announce both territories, then attacker and defender announce their dice and roll together.
3. Resolve the battle. The attacker rolls 1, 2 or 3 red dice and must have at least one more army in the territory than dice rolled. The defender rolls 1 or 2 white dice, and needs at least 2 armies there to roll 2. Compare the highest die of each side; lower loses one army. If both rolled 2 or more, compare the second-highest pair too. Ties go to the defender. You can keep attacking as long as you like and switch targets freely.
4. Capture. When the defender's last army falls, you must move in at least as many armies as dice you rolled in that final battle. You must always leave at least one army behind.
5. Earn a card. If you captured at least one territory this turn, draw exactly one card at the end of your attacks. Never more than one per turn.
6. Fortify. Optionally, move as many armies as you want from one territory into one adjacent territory you hold, leaving at least one behind. That is the "free move," and you get it whether or not you attacked.

You win by eliminating every opponent and holding all 42 territories.

A sample round, turn by turn

Three players: Red, Blue and Green. Red holds all four South American territories plus 9 others, for 13 territories.

Red's turn. 13 divided by 3 is 4 (drop the remainder). South America is held in full at the start of the turn, so add its board bonus of 2. Red has 6 armies to place and puts them all in Brazil, which now has 9. Red attacks North Africa (Blue, 3 armies) from Brazil. Red rolls three dice: 6, 4, 2. Blue rolls two: 5, 4. Six beats five, so Blue loses one. Four ties four, so Red loses one. North Africa has 2, Brazil has 8. Red rolls again: 5, 5, 1 against 6, 2. Blue's 6 beats 5, Red loses one; 5 beats 2, Blue loses one. North Africa is down to 1. Blue now can only roll one die. Red rolls 4, 3, 3 against Blue's 2 and takes North Africa. Red rolled three dice, so must move in at least 3; Red moves 5 in and leaves 2 in Brazil. Red draws one card. As a final step Red fortifies, moving armies from Venezuela into Brazil to guard the gap.

Blue's turn. Blue has 11 territories: 3 armies. Blue holds a set of three infantry cards and trades it in. It is the first set traded in the whole game, so it is worth 4. One card shows Egypt, which Blue holds, so 2 extra armies go onto Egypt. Blue places 9 armies in total and attacks North Africa back.

Green's turn. Green has 14 territories (4 armies) but lost Australia's last territory to Blue earlier, so no continent bonus. Green decides not to attack, fortifies Siam from India, and passes. No card, because nothing was captured.

Reinforcement math, worked out

Risk has no points, but the arithmetic of reinforcements decides most games.

Territories: 11 territories give 3, 14 give 4, 17 give 5. Below 9 territories you still get 3.

Continent bonuses are printed on the board. On the classic board they are Asia 7, North America 5, Europe 5, Africa 3, South America 2 and Australia 2. Check your own board, since some editions differ.

Card sets are 3 of a kind, one of each design, or any 2 plus a wild. The value rises with every set anyone turns in: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, then 5 more each time (20, 25, 30). If you hold 5 or 6 cards at the start of your turn you must trade at least one set. A traded card showing a territory you hold gives 2 extra armies placed on that territory, with a cap of 2 such extras per turn.

Worked example. You hold 20 territories including all of Europe, and you trade in the fourth set of the game with one card showing a territory you own. 20 ÷ 3 = 6, Europe adds 5, the set gives 10, the matching territory adds 2. Total: 23 new armies.

Beginner strategy tips

1. Take a small continent first. Australia has a single entry point and South America only two, so they are cheap to hold. A steady +2 every turn adds up.
2. Stack borders, not interiors. Armies on a territory surrounded by your own land do nothing. Push them to the edges where they defend or attack. The rulebook says the same.
3. Capture one territory every turn. Even a weak conquest earns a card, and cards become your biggest army source later.
4. Respect the odds. Three attacking dice against two defending dice favors the attacker a little, but only with a solid stack. Attacking with 2 armies into 3 usually wastes armies.
5. Do not overextend. A long chain of single-army territories invites every neighbor to take cards from you.
6. Watch players near elimination. Knocking someone out hands you their cards, which can mean a big trade on the spot. Others will be looking at your weak neighbors the same way.
7. Break bonuses. Taking just one territory from an opponent's continent cancels their bonus next turn.

Common mistakes and rule disputes

• Ties go to the attacker. Wrong. Ties always go to the defender.
• Adding the dice. Dice are compared highest to highest, then second to second. Totals mean nothing.
• Attacking with every army. One army must stay behind, so 4 armies can roll at most 3 dice.
• Drawing a card for each capture. One card per turn at most, no matter how many territories you took.
• Fortifying across the map. In the classic rules you move from one territory to one adjacent territory only. Moving along a chain is an expert variant.
• Defender choosing dice after seeing the attack. Both sides announce dice before rolling and roll together.
• Ignoring the forced trade. Five or six cards at the start of your turn means you must trade a set.
• Elimination card overflow. If an opponent's cards push you to 6 or more, trade immediately until you have 4 or fewer. Below 6, wait for your next turn.

Variants and house rules

Official, in the same booklet:

• Two players. Each player and a neutral color get 40 infantry. Deal the territory cards (without wilds) into three piles of 14 to claim territories. Players alternate placing 2 of their own armies and 1 neutral army. Neutrals never attack or reinforce, and the opponent rolls for them when they defend.
• Capital Risk. Each player picks a secret headquarters; capture all opposing headquarters while holding your own. Shorter options for 4 to 6 players need only 2 or 3.
• Secret Mission Risk. Each player gets a mission card and wins on completing it.
• Expert variants. Card sets grow by only 1 army each time; fortifying along a connected chain; a 12-army cap per territory; re-rolling one die with a matching territory card; a once-per-turn "commander" that turns one attack die to a 6.

House rules (not official): fixed card values (always 5 per set, for example) to stop late-game snowballing, and a time limit where the player with the most territories wins when the clock runs out.

Teach it in 5 minutes

1. "Goal: wipe everyone off the map."
2. "Every turn: get armies, attack if you want, then make one move."
3. "Armies: your territories divided by three, at least three. Bonus if you own a whole continent, it's printed here."
4. "Attack from a territory with at least two armies into a neighbor. You roll up to three red dice, always one fewer than your armies. Defender rolls up to two white."
5. "Line up the highest dice, then the next. Higher wins, ties go to the defender. Each loss removes one army."
6. "Take a territory, move in, and at the end of your turn draw one card. Three matching cards trade for extra armies, and that number keeps growing."
7. "Last, one move: shift armies from one territory to a neighbor."

Ages and group size

Ten and up is right; younger players handle the dice fine but get frustrated by long games and elimination. Four or five players gives the best mix of alliances and danger. Three players is tense and quicker. Six players can run four hours and leaves eliminated players sitting out, so consider Capital Risk with big groups. For a first game with new players, plan on at least two and a half hours, or agree on a stopping time in advance.

Check yourself

Questions about this game

Sources and edition notes

Hasbro classic Risk world conquest; card trade-in and initial army procedures should be checked against the exact printed edition.

Rules re-checked against the Hasbro 00044 instruction booklet October 2026. Continent bonus values are taken from the classic board as reproduced in Hasbro's 1959 rules. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing. House rules above are labeled and are not part of the official game.

• Hasbro: Risk board game instructions
• Hasbro: Risk 00044 instruction booklet (PDF)
• Hasbro: 1959 Risk rules with continent bonus table (PDF)

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