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Risk Rules in Plain Words

These are the official rules, rewritten in plain words. The box rules win any argument — this page just makes them easy to read.

What the game is

Risk is a game of world conquest. The board is a map of the world split into 42 territories. You command an army, take over territories by rolling dice in battle, and try to wipe out every other player until the whole map is yours.

Players: 2 to 6. Ages: 10 and up.

What is in the box: the world map board, 6 sets of army pieces in 6 colors (small pieces are worth 1 army, and larger pieces stand for 5 and 10 armies so big stacks stay tidy), a deck of Risk cards showing territories and army symbols, plus wild cards, 3 red attack dice, and 2 white defense dice. Some sets also include Secret Mission cards for a variant game; this page teaches the standard game.

Setting up

Each player picks a color and takes that army.
Count out your starting armies. It depends on how many play: 2 players get 40 each, 3 players get 35 each, 4 players get 30 each, 5 players get 25 each, and 6 players get 20 each.
In a 2-player game, pick a third color nobody is playing. That is a neutral army with 40 pieces. It never attacks — it only sits and defends.
Every player rolls one die. The highest roll goes first.
Take turns claiming land: on your turn, put 1 army on any empty territory. Go around the table until all 42 territories are claimed. In a 2-player game, also place the neutral army's pieces, 1 at a time, on empty territories as its turns come around.
Keep going around, adding 1 extra army at a time to territories you already own, until everyone has placed all of their starting armies. You may stack as many armies as you like on one territory.
Shuffle the Risk cards and set the deck face down beside the board. Remove the Secret Mission cards first if your set mixes them in and you are playing the standard game.

How a turn works — three steps, in order

Every turn has the same three steps. You cannot change the order.

Step 1 — Get and place new armies (reinforce). Count the territories you own and divide by 3. Drop any fraction. That is how many new armies you get — but never fewer than 3, even if you own very little land.
Add continent bonuses: if you own every territory in a continent, add its bonus — Asia 7, North America 5, Europe 5, Africa 3, South America 2, Australia 2. The bonus is also printed on the board.
You may also turn in a set of Risk cards for extra armies (see cards below). Then place all of your new armies on territories you own, in any mix you like.
Step 2 — Attack, as much or as little as you want. You may attack from one of your territories into a touching enemy territory (one that shares a border, or is joined by a dotted sea line on the map). Your attacking territory must hold at least 2 armies, because 1 army must always stay behind.
Battle by dice: the attacker rolls 1, 2, or 3 red dice — never more dice than the armies attacking. The defender rolls 1 or 2 white dice — 2 only if they have at least 2 armies in the territory.
Match the highest red die against the highest white die, and the next highest against the next. For each pair, the higher number wins and the loser removes 1 army. On a tie, the defender wins — the attacker loses that army.
If you wipe out the last defending army, you take the territory. Move in at least as many armies as dice you rolled in that last battle (you may move more), still leaving at least 1 army behind. Then you may keep attacking, from there or anywhere else, as long as you have armies to fight with.
If you wipe out a player's very last army anywhere on the map, that player is out of the game — and you take all of their Risk cards.
Step 3 — Fortify, once. Move armies from one of your territories to one other territory you own that touches it, or that is linked to it through a chain of your own territories. Leave at least 1 army behind in the territory you take from. This one move ends your turn.
If you captured at least one territory during your turn, draw exactly 1 Risk card — one card per turn, no matter how many territories you took. Then the player on your left goes.

Risk cards

A set is 3 cards: 3 of the same symbol (all infantry, all cavalry, or all artillery), one of each symbol, or 2 cards plus a wild card.
Sets are worth more as the game goes on. The first set anyone turns in is worth 4 armies, the second 6, then 8, 10, 12, 15 — and each set after that is worth 5 more than the one before. The running count is printed along the edge of the board.
If a card in your set names a territory you own, you get 2 extra armies, and they must be placed on that territory.
You may turn in a set at the start of your turn, before placing armies. If winning someone's cards gives you 6 or more, you must stop and turn in sets right away until you hold fewer than 6. If you start a turn holding 5 or more cards, you must turn in a set that turn.

How you win / how the game ends

The game ends when one player owns all 42 territories and every rival army is off the map. That player wins. This can take hours — Risk is famous for it.

Official rule or house rule?

The turn goes reinforce, then attack, then fortify: Official. New armies always come first, attacks second, and the fortify move is always last. You cannot attack first and place new armies afterward.

You can fortify as many times as you like: House rule. Officially, fortifying is one move at the very end of your turn — armies out of one territory into one other connected territory you own. Then your turn is over.

Ties go to the attacker: Wrong. On tied dice, the defender wins the pair and the attacker loses an army. That edge is built into the game on purpose.

You draw a card for every territory you capture: House rule. One card per turn, maximum, and only if you captured at least one territory that turn.

You must attack if you are able to: House rule. Attacking is always your choice. You may get your new armies, skip fighting entirely, fortify, and pass.

Armies can move through a country you do not own: Not in a fortify move. The path between the two territories must run only through land you own — and for an attack, the two territories must touch directly, border to border or across a printed sea line.

Common questions

Can I attack with only 1 army in a territory?

No. One army must always stay behind to hold the territory, so you need at least 2 armies to attack from it — and at least 4 if you want to roll the full 3 attack dice and still leave one behind.

What is the fewest new armies I can get on a turn?

Three. Even if you own fewer than 9 territories, the rules round your count up to a minimum of 3, before any continent bonus or card set.

When I capture a territory, how many armies must move in?

At least as many as the number of dice you rolled in the final winning battle — and never so many that the territory you came from is left empty.

Can I keep attacking after I fortify?

No. Fortifying is the last thing you do. Once you make that move, your turn is finished.

Do I have to turn in cards as soon as I have a set?

Not always. You must turn in a set if you begin your turn with 5 or more cards, or if taking a beaten player's cards pushes you to 6 or more. Below that, waiting is legal — but the armies are usually worth more now than later.

Source: Hasbro, Risk game rules, standard U.S. edition (the World Domination game; rules text as printed in Hasbro's U.S. Risk instructions, 2003 edition and carried in current sets). Read in full and rewritten in our own plain words. Sets differ in small ways, such as exact piece counts per army value; the turn order and battle rules taught here are the standard game.