Any good Risk-like games?

[The Boston Dangler]

i'm looking for a risk-like strategy game. maybe you guys have recommendations?

i've played WarLight which is well done, until the AI difficulty just slams you. i like a challenge, but this just feels way too stacked.

 

[Craig234]

Man, there are, but I'd have to take some time to find them. I remember seeing reviews of games that pointed out risk elements.

Just googling on game review and risk might find some.

If you can't find any I'll do some googling.

 

[CottonRabbit]

Europa Universalis 3

 

[walkur]

If you want it simple: try to find a copy of Axis and Allies (digital version of the boardgame)

If you want to spend hours upon hours upon hours on 1 single playthrough... try the hearts of iron series

Might also want to take a look at crusader kings.

Empire: Total war is also an option. If you use autocalc for the battles the game speeds up significantly

 

[alangrift]

If you want it simple: try to find a copy of Axis and Allies (digital version of the boardgame)

If you want to spend hours upon hours upon hours on 1 single playthrough... try the hearts of iron series

Might also want to take a look at crusader kings.

Empire: Total war is also an option. If you use autocalc for the battles the game speeds up significantly

The Total War series is definitely one to get.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If you're going to get a TW game, get Shogun 2 or Rome 2 (when it's out in September).

Company of Heroes 2 is kind of risk like in that it's very territory oriented. It's real time though and therefore much faster pace obviously : p

 

[Craig234]

Board game but look at:

http://www.amazon.com/toys-games/dp/B005J146MI

 

[frozentundra123456]

Europa Universalis 3

Yea, this, or any of a horde of similar games. March of Eagles is a recent title in the same vein. Or even try the Civ games or Total war games.

My grandson is really into this type of game. I have tried to get into them, but so far havent, mainly because I am just not good at them.

Edit: I always seem to just end up with a stalemate and dont know what to do.

 

[darkewaffle]

Civ has a decent Risk feel to it, you can set games up to start at more advanced ages if you're more interested in just going to war than building your country.

 

[Lorne]

Warlock : Master of the Arcane, Its a distant rellative but its fun with a very vesitile setup.

 

[WiseUp216]

Board game but look at:

http://www.amazon.com/toys-games/dp/B005J146MI

That looks awesome. Sadly, I don't think enough people I know would be interested.

 

[darkewaffle]

That Risk Legacy does sound pretty cool, I can think of one friend who'd play it though lol.

 

[JamesV]

They just released Risk not long ago on Steam... but the only multiplayer is local hot-seat. Talk about the greatest blunders in gaming...

Someone else mentioned Axis and Allies, and the old game is pretty good, but the flaws of the AI are soon apparent, so it is easy to win. This is my favorite Risk-type game; played the board game for hundreds of hours, and I wish they came out with a great version of this for the PC.

I wouldn't call any of the Total War games, Civ games, Age of Wonders, or other similar partly turn based games anything like Risk. Risk strategy comes from not having a ton of detailed things to do and check, but a quick (most important facet of Risk imo) high level war game where the info you need is gotten by simply looking at the map, and not going into multiple other screens and so on.

That looks awesome. Sadly, I don't think enough people I know would be interested.

Hey! I'm in Cleveland. I'd play that with you.

 

[Jeffg010]

Rise of Nations had a risk like game but you controlled the armies in real time.

 

[Ricochet]

Dawn of War Dark Crusade has a risk like element to it. It's my favorite of the series.

 

[Dankk]

Board game but look at:

http://www.amazon.com/toys-games/dp/B005J146MI

Me and my friends are currently playing that. It's a really cool innovation on the traditional Risk formula.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Small World is supposedly a good gateway game after you've played Risk.

http://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1cqy80/what_game_replaces_risk_gateway_not_a_terribly/

I picked it up a couple of weeks ago but still haven't had a chance to play it yet.

There was a kickstarter for a Steam version of the game:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daysofwonder/small-world-2-the-return

 

[Revolution 11]

Hearts of Iron, enough said. The choice is between HOI2 and HOI3 gameplay.

Subjectively, HOI2 is a better WWII game while HOI3 is the better simulation. If you want HOI2 style gameplay, Darkest Hour is the latest greatest game out there.

For the best classic Risk experience, I prefer Hasbro Interactive's 1997 title, Risk, on the PC and Playstation. The best mode there is Ultimate Risk.


Risk = http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=6674
Hearts of Iron 2: Darkest Hour = http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/darkest-hour
Hearts of Iron 3 = http://www.heartsofirongame.com/

 

[you2]

silly question removed.

 

[BladeVenom]

Besides Axis and Allies another old classic boardgame that was converted to PC was Diplomacy. I never tried the PC version, but the mechanics are fairly simple. Negotiations and deals with other players are more important than than the tactics.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i just saw risk 2012. seems a bit too streamlined, and that map is a joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZoUiubVug

 

[Sulaco]

LOT'S of games that haven't been mentioned here, somewhat unsurprisingly.



Gary Grigsby's World at War, and its spin-offs, are probably the closest to what you're looking for, outside of Axis and Allies.

http://www.matrixgames.com/games/WorldAtWar/main.asp

In a similar playstyle, just with different scenarios, there's Gary Grigsby's War Between the States, a civil war themed game, and War in the East, which focuses on the Eastern Front of Europe in WWII.


Then there's slightly more complicated games, like Making History: The Calm and the Storm, which is like Risk Plus, or Hearts of Iron Lite. Not too in-depth that it can be learned in a few hours.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/6250/

Moving up the "complication ladder", there's the AGEOD games. Very dated interface, and board game 'graphics', but as solid, in-depth turn based strategy as you'll find. These focus on specialized areas of history and geography, so little in the way of "world conquest" like Risk, but very good nonetheless.

Pride of Nations is one of the newest and most popular, focusing on the Victorian age.
If you enjoy that engine and gameplay style, there are several entries covering Napoleonic warfare, WWI, American Civil War, even the American Revolution

Also worth a look in the turn-based Grand (WWII) Strategy is Strategic Command Pacific Theater, a very deep and intricate sim of WWII Pacific warfare.

Finally, and perhaps most recommended, are the various Paradox Interactive games. These are easily some of the deepest yet most enjoyable/accessible of any of the Grand Strategy games. Among the best are :

Europa Universalis III (IV is due to be released in just over a month)
Rome (NOT Total War)
Victoria 2
Sengoku (feudal Japan)
March of the Eagles (Napoleonic wars, almost exclusively combat oriented)

and finally, Hearts of Iron.

Quite simply, there's nothing better at what it does. No strategy game is a deep, intricate, or does all that it does as well as it does it, like the Hearts of Iron games. Period.

Be warned though, they are quite complex. This is nothing like Civ or Total War. Watching a few Let's Plays on Youtube is probably essential for getting the hang of it.

I highly recommend Hearts of Iron III, with the latest patches and expansions. Darkest Hour, a Hearts of Iron 2 expansion/spiff-off is excellent as well and slightly more user friendly, but learning HoI3 with it's intricacy and versatility still makes it the better game overall.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

whoa, posting like a boss

 

[RFE]

There is basically a free version of Axis and Allies, which is far better than the retail version. Its called Triple A. There are several other maps that you can download and play (different time settings like 1939/1942/Napoleonic Empire, more countries, imagined scenarios, etc):

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=18278.0

 

[Possessed Freak]

Besides Axis and Allies another old classic boardgame that was converted to PC was Diplomacy. I never tried the PC version, but the mechanics are fairly simple. Negotiations and deals with other players are more important than than the tactics.

I have yet to see a SINGLE good computer interpretation of the complex interactions in Diplomacy. Several paradoxes are possible in the board game rules that I don't think officially got resolved. Basically you have to hope the perfect storm of moves don't happen in a game.

Plus talk about an amazing amount of options for a coastal unit's turn with all the possible convoy actions (granted most would never happen, but if a chain of ANY naval units exists then a convoy IS possible). The drop down menu for a convoy would be massive. Think of all the support actions possible per space. Again, most would never happen, but they are legitimate moves.

I absolutely love Diplomacy and had a nice fun game 3 weeks ago (since I knew how to play I got stuck playing Austria-Hungary in a 7 player game). I had all of Austria, all of Italy and I was pushing into Germany and France ... and I still lost to Turkey (I had an agreement with him to just push North and since I had no armies to keep him in, he just rampaged unopposed). I earned a new nickname that game "Silver Tongue".