Risk Board Game Rule Clarification: Losing Players Can't Simply Declare Annexation

Never get involved in a land war something something

Photo by Dave Photoz on Unsplash

At a meeting of neighbors this week, a majority of those participating in a protracted game of the beloved Hasbro title Risk agreed that players may not simply annex other players territory.

The disagreement began when Pete Tinn — in danger of losing his holdings on the game board after an ill-advised attack on the Ukraine region from his Ural region — declared out loud that Ukraine’s forces actually wanted to be his, and so shouldn’t continue winning the conflict. A conflict which, it should be noted, Tinn is the aggressor.

There is no provision in the game for annexation, let alone for holding a vote of nonexisxtant inhabitants. Yet Tinn has stuck firm, even holding a celebration of the successful annexation “vote.”

"It’s absolutely bonkers,” said Zed Lenskey, Tinn’s neighbor and current holder of the Ukraine territory. “You can’t just say our territory is yours. That’s not how anything works.”

Tinn pointed out that he’d not merely said the territory was his, but had instead “declared” it, which, he claims, is different. He also printed out a number of what he called “ballots,” but didn’t apparently bother to fill them in.

Janice Stall-Tenberg, with holdings in nearby Scandinavian regions of the board, sided with Lenskey. “Zed’s right. Nobody thinks this is a thing, and even Pete’s got to know that.”

“This all comes down to one simple fact,” said Lenskey. “We were in the process of kicking his ass, and we aim to continue.”