RisiKo! Challenge Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective of the Game
• 1. Components
• 2. Setup
• 3. Reinforcement Phase
• 4. Combat Phase
• 5. Strategic Movement Phase
• 6. Card Phase
• 7. Elimination of a Player
• 8. Time Limit and End of Game
• 9. Sdadata
• 10. Final Score
• 11. Limit on the Number of Armies
• 12. Players at the Table
• Territory Values
• Variant: Kingmaker
  • Setup of the Kingmaker Variant
  • Kingmaker Points
  • The Challenge Card
• The Objective Cards

Objective of the Game

Be the first to achieve your secret objective, or obtain the highest score at the end of the game.

1. Components

A game board (piano di gioco) showing a world map divided into 42 territories, belonging to 6 continents.

On each territory is a number representing its Conquest Value (Valore di Conquista), which is used at the end of the game to determine the winner.

• 15 dice in five different colours (corresponding to the colours of the armies).
• Two plastic containers in which the dice are thrown during the game, called "Battlefields" (Campi di Battaglia).
• A deck of "Territory" cards (carte "Territori"), made up as follows:
  • 42 cards, each showing one of the territories on the game board and the symbol of one of the three army types (infantry, cavalry, cannon).
  • 2 "Joker" cards (carte "Jolly"), distinguishable from the others by the presence of the symbols of all the army types and the absence of a map.
• A deck of 16 "Objective" cards (carte "Obiettivi").
• A deck of KingMaker cards, used to play the variant of the same name described at the end of the rulebook.
• 5 metal tins, each containing the armies of a different colour.
• 5 armies, one in each of five different colours, each made up of small tanks (each worth one army), large tanks (each worth 5 armies) and flags (each worth 10 armies).

2. Setup

2.1 First, separate the cards into the three different decks and leave in the box those whose back reads "Kingmaker", which are used only if the special rules described at the end of the rulebook are played.

2.2 Place the game board in the centre of the table and the two Battlefields at the two ends.

2.3 At the start of the game, each player throws one die. The player with the highest score is the first player (primo di mano). The other players sit clockwise from the first player according to the score obtained with the die. In case of a tie, the tied players throw again until their seating positions are determined. Each player, in playing order, chooses their preferred colour and takes the corresponding tanks and dice.

2.4 Each player receives a starting supply of armies that depends on the number of participants:

• 35 armies if playing with 3
• 30 armies if playing with 4
• 25 armies if playing with 5

2.5 The first player takes the "Territory" deck, removes the two "Joker" cards and shuffles the remaining 42 cards thoroughly, then proceeds with the initial distribution of territories, giving the players one card at a time, face up, starting from the player on their right and proceeding anticlockwise. Note that the direction of card distribution is the reverse of the direction of play.

2.6 The player who receives a card places one of their tanks, taken from their starting supply, on the corresponding territory. The cards distributed in this phase are set aside.

2.7 During the distribution of cards the rule known as the "50%" rule must be respected, which serves to prevent a player from receiving more than half of the territories of the same continent. If the card drawn would give a player possession of more than half of a continent, that territory is assigned to the player seated to their right. The next card is used to determine the territory for the player who was skipped. If this card too would lead to a violation of this rule, it is assigned not to the player seated to the right, but to the player seated two places after, and then the distribution resumes with the skipped player.

2.8 When all the territories have been assigned to the players (and occupied with a tank), the two Jokers are taken back, added to the Territory deck, the deck is shuffled thoroughly and placed face down near the game board.

2.9 Each player is now assigned an Objective card, on which the territories that each player must conquer to win the game are shown in red. It is important that players keep these cards secret and never show them to opponents.

2.10 Once this operation is complete, the initial placement of armies phase begins: starting from the first player and proceeding in clockwise order, each in turn takes 3 armies from their starting supply and places them on the board to reinforce their territories. Each player is free to place these three armies wherever they wish: they may place them on different territories, concentrate them all on the same one, or place two on one territory and the third on another.

2.11 This operation is repeated until each player's starting supply is exhausted (during the last round fewer than 3 armies may be placed).

2.12 Once the preparation phase is complete, the game may begin with the turn of the first player. Each player's turn is divided into 4 phases, which must be carried out in exactly the order described, and at the end of which the player passes the turn to the next player clockwise. The game phases of each turn are:

• Reinforcements (Rinforzi)
• Combat (Combattimenti)
• Strategic Movement (Spostamento strategico)
• Card Acquisition (Acquisizione Carta)

3. Reinforcement Phase

3.1 Each player on their turn (including the first player) takes as many armies of their own colour as the number of territories they occupy on the board divided by 3 (rounding down).

Example: the player whose turn it is occupies 14 territories, so they are entitled to 4 armies (14 ÷ 3 = 4.6, rounded down to 4).

3.2 If the player occupies all the territories of a continent, they are entitled (on each turn) to a certain number of additional armies for each continent occupied, as shown in the following table (also reproduced on the game board):

• Australia (Oceania): 2 armies
• South America: 2 armies
• Africa: 3 armies
• Europe: 5 armies
• North America: 5 armies
• Asia: 7 armies

3.3 The player whose turn it is also has the possibility of playing a set of three cards (tris di carte) to obtain further reinforcements. The cards are won by occupying the opponents' territories, as explained below. The combinations valid for forming a set of three are only those shown on the following page:

Sets of three (tris) and the armies they yield:

• 3 cannons: 8 armies
• 3 cavalry: 8 armies
• 3 infantry: 8 armies
• 1 infantry, 1 cannon and 1 cavalry: 10 armies
• 1 Joker plus 2 cavalry: 12 armies
• 1 Joker plus 2 cannons: 12 armies
• 1 Joker plus 2 infantry: 12 armies

3.4 If the set played includes a card showing a territory owned by the active player, the player receives 2 additional armies for each of these cards.

3.5 Cards played to obtain reinforcements are discarded and, when the deck runs out, they must be shuffled again to form a new deck to draw from.

3.6 The reinforcement armies obtained in this phase may be placed on territories occupied by the active player without any limit on number, provided they are all placed before the combat phase begins and within the limit on the number of armies described below.

3.7 No set of three may be played outside this specific phase of the game.

4. Combat Phase

4.1 Once the reinforcements have been placed, the active player may launch their attacks. The player considers their position, the strength of their neighbours, their own secret objective, and decides whether and against whom to make one or more attacks.

4.2 The purpose of an attack is to eliminate the enemy armies from the neighbouring territories in order to allow one's own armies to occupy the opponent's territories.

4.3 The player is not obliged to attack on every turn, but has the obligation always to leave at least one army as garrison on every territory in their possession. In other words, they may not attack starting from a territory garrisoned by a single army.

4.4 There are two ways to attack an opponent's territory:

a) By land: if the territory from which the attack is launched borders the opponent's territory.

b) By sea: following the dashed line that joins the two territories by sea (the one from which the attack is launched and the one attacked). Since the board represents a world map, it is possible to attack from Alaska to Kamchatka and vice versa.

4.5 The attacker announces aloud the name of the territory attacked and the one from which the attack is launched. If they omit this announcement, the defender may ask for the dice to be thrown again. Each attack involves the use of a maximum of 3 tanks, and for each tank used the attacker throws one die. The attacker is always obliged to use the maximum possible number of tanks.

4.6 The defender, in turn, may throw a maximum of 3 dice, even if they have more than 3 armies defending the attacked territory, and they too are always obliged to use the maximum possible number of tanks.

4.7 When the two players have thrown their dice, the scores obtained are compared according to the following criterion: the highest score obtained by the attacker is compared with the highest score of the defender; then the second-best score of the attacker is compared with the second-best score of the defender; and finally the third and last score is compared.

4.8 If the attacker's score is higher, the defender must remove one of its armies from the attacked territory (returning it to its starting supply). Otherwise, it is the attacker who must withdraw one of its armies from the territory from which the attack was launched. In case of a tie, the defender always wins.

4.9 Scores are never added together: they are always compared in order of magnitude. If the defender has fewer than 3 dice to throw, because fewer than 3 tanks are defending the territory, the attacker has the possibility of making the best use of its higher scores.

4.10 A defender may find itself, during an attack, with fewer dice than its opponent. The reverse cannot happen to the attacker: an attacker may never launch an attack if the number of dice it can throw is lower than that of the defender.

4.11 The attacker may continue the combat and renew the challenge to the opponent as many times as it wishes, until the enemy armies on the territory of interest are destroyed. After each throw of the dice, however, it has the option of interrupting the attack. The active player may launch as many attacks as it wishes, but always from a single territory to another adjacent territory, respecting the rules described above.

4.12 If after an attack the active player throws the dice without making any declaration, it is understood implicitly that this is a continuation of the previous attack. In no case may the attacker change its mind or cancel an attack after throwing the dice, whereas the defender is always obliged to defend and has no possibility of avoiding the attack.

4.13 The attacker may not combine the use of armies present in different territories in a single throw of the dice. It is, however, free to attack first from one territory and then from another with separate throws, provided that at each throw it explicitly declares this choice. If the attacker declares only the territory from which it intends to attack, it is implicitly understood that the attack will be carried to the same enemy territory attacked previously.

4.14 There is no fixed order for launching attacks, so the active player may challenge, one or more times, all of its opponents.

Dice examples (Esempi di giocata). The illustrated examples show the following outcomes (the dice values in the illustration are not reproduced here):

• Example 1: two pairs of dice are compared. The attacker loses one army and the defender also loses one army.
• Example 2: one pair of dice is compared. The attacker loses one army.
• Example 3: the attacker throws three dice and the defender throws one. The defender loses one army.
• Example 4: three pairs of dice are compared. The defender loses one army and the attacker loses two.

4.15 When the attacker destroys all the armies on an enemy territory, it must occupy the territory with the armies that took part in the last battle (that is, the last throw of the dice).

4.16 It may, however, move from the territory from which it launched the attack, as many armies as it wishes, respecting the rule of the Minimum Garrison described below. The territory just conquered may be used as a base for a further attack.

5. Strategic Movement Phase

5.1 On its turn, each player may, whether or not it has launched an attack, move some or all of its armies from one territory to another adjacent territory that it owns. It may make only one strategic movement of its choice (on each turn) and must always leave at least one army on the territory from which it has moved. Once the player decides to carry out the strategic movement, it may no longer launch attacks and its turn is considered concluded.

5.2 A player may never leave, following a voluntary move, a territory bordering an enemy territory and garrisoned by a Minimum Garrison of fewer than 2 tanks. This rule applies to any movement of tanks, including the strategic movement.

5.3 The only situation in which it is possible to leave a single tank garrisoning a territory bordering an enemy territory is when there are 4 tanks on the territory and an attack launched with 3 tanks is won. In this case the rules require that the tanks moved into the conquered territory be at least equal in number to those used in the last attack (in this case 3).

5.4 The strategic movement irrevocably concludes the combat phase of the active player. A player may not change its mind after carrying out the strategic movement.

6. Card Phase

6.1 At the end of its turn, if the player has conquered at least one enemy territory, it is entitled to draw one card from the Territory deck.

6.2 Regardless of the number of territories conquered during the turn, a player may never take more than one card per turn.

6.3 If a player takes a card without being entitled to it, it must show it to everyone, return it to the deck and shuffle the deck.

6.4 If a player forgets to take the card at the end of its turn, it may take it before the end of the next player's turn. If it forgets to do so, it loses any entitlement.

6.5 When a player takes a card it must declare aloud how many it holds, including the card just drawn from the deck.

6.6 A player may never have more than 7 cards in hand.

6.7 If it has already reached this limit, the player loses the right to draw a card from the deck until it has played a set of three in its reinforcement phase, thereby reducing the number of cards in its possession.

6.8 A player may not voluntarily discard any card: the only way to reduce the number of cards in its possession is to play a set of three to obtain additional reinforcements.

7. Elimination of a Player

7.1 When the attacker destroys the last army on the last territory of an opponent, it also takes possession of that opponent's cards. The loser is then definitively eliminated from the game. This dramatic event (for the loser) cannot occur before the end of the fourth turn of the game.

7.2 If the cards of the eliminated player would bring the number of cards held by the winning player above the limit of 7, the winner must draw at random only as many cards as do not exceed that limit, discarding the others. (If the active player already held 7 cards, it could not take any.)

8. Time Limit and End of Game

8.1 Before the game begins, a time limit must be set (in Official Tournaments it is normally fixed at 90 minutes).

8.2 If a player reaches its secret objective within the set time limit, the game ends immediately with its victory. If instead the time limit is reached without a winner, play continues using the method called "sdadata".

9. Sdadata

9.1 When the set time expires, the round in progress will be the "penultimate round" and the following round will be the last.

9.2 At the end of the last round, the game follows a particular procedure, called "sdadata". The player who concludes its turn, before passing the turn to the next player, throws two dice; if the score obtained is equal to or less than 4 (called "closure at 4", chiusura al 4) the game ends immediately. This procedure is repeated until the end of the round, and at each complete round the value is raised by one point, up to 7. After the first complete round with "closure at 4", one is played with "closure at 5", then another with "closure at 6". When the "closure at 7" is reached, play continues without raising the value any further.

9.3 This procedure is repeated until a player "closes" the game, with one exception: if a player conquers more than two territories in the course of its turn, it does not throw the dice to check for closure. In practice, conquering more than two territories in the same turn automatically means the game continues for at least one more turn.

9.4 The "sdadata" procedure begins with the player who plays the last turn of the last round (so the game could end exactly at the end of the last round). Naturally, the game may end at any moment if a player reaches its secret objective.

10. Final Score

10.1 If the game does not end with a player reaching its objective, victory is determined by assigning a score to each player, according to the territories occupied.

10.2 For the purposes of this score, only the occupied territories that are part of the secret objective count; the others count for nothing, even if they had strategic importance during the game.

10.3 To make calculations easier, the values of the individual territories are shown on the game board and on the Objective cards. The board also shows the total value of each continent.

10.4 In case of a tie between two or more players, the values of the territories occupied by the players outside their objective are also considered. If the tie persists, the reverse order of play applies (the player who played last prevails over the others, then the penultimate, and so on).

10.5 For the purposes of any ranking, if a player reaches its objective before the end of the set time limit, it is awarded 100 points.

11. Limit on the Number of Armies

11.1 Games valid for an Official Tournament must be played with a maximum number of usable tanks (carri), which is usually fixed at 120 or 130.

11.2 If a player is found to have on the board a total number of armies above the limit, it may face penalties, which may vary from tournament to tournament.

12. Players at the Table

12.1 Official Tournaments may be played with tables of four or five players. Games for three players are technically possible (and are provided for in this rulebook), but they may only form part of particular tournaments that provide exclusively games with this number of players per table.

12.2 Ranked (Con classifica). In each game the players earn points, which together form a general ranking given by the total accumulated by each player. This method allows each player to play several games and is advisable when the number of participants is not very high and several days are available for play (even spread over a period of time). It is certainly the best method for informal tournaments among friends, but it requires a constant number of players at each table to avoid disparities in scores. Likewise, the duration of the individual games must always be the same.

12.2.1 In these cases it is possible to award a "Victory Prize" (Premio Vittoria) to the player who has won the game. This Victory Prize may never exceed 100 points.

12.2.2 If the tournament provides tables with a different number of players (4 or 5), the Victory Prize for tables of 4 players must be 20% lower than that of the games played by 5 players.

12.2.3 In ranked tournaments it is possible to take into account only part of the scores, "discarding" the worse ones, provided that the number of valid scores is always not less than 2/3 of the total.

12.3 Knockout (Ad eliminazione diretta). In this case the winner of each game goes directly on to the next round, and so on up to the final. This is the method usually used when there are many participants or only a small number of days available. For the tournament to run smoothly, it is important that the total number of tables is always a multiple of the number of players expected in the final. For example, if there are 100 participants and, for organisational reasons, a final for 5 is desired, there will be a first elimination round of 20 tables each with 5 competitors, followed by a semifinal of 5 tables each with 4 competitors.

Territory Values

Values of the territories, as printed on the game board and in the rulebook. Territory names are kept as printed in the Italian original.

Territory	Value	Territory	Value
Afghanistan	4	India	3
Africa del Nord	6	Indonesia	3
Africa del Sud	3	Jacuzia	3
Africa Orientale	5	Islanda	3
Alaska	3	Kamchatka	5
Alberta	4	Madagascar	2
America Centrale

Variant: Kingmaker

The following are the rules for a special game variant called Kingmaker.

This variant is not adopted in Official Tournaments, but it may be an interesting alternative to the traditional rules.

To play this variant you must use the special Kingmaker deck of cards.

Setup of the Kingmaker Variant

Before the actual game begins, but after the preparation phase, you must give each player one "Challenge" card, one card showing the tank of the colour chosen by that player, and one card for each colour in play.

For example, supposing there are 4 players and the red, yellow, green and blue tanks are in play, each player must receive one Challenge card, one red card, one yellow card, one green card and one blue card.

All the other Kingmaker cards must be returned to the box.

Before the first turn of play, each player must secretly distribute its coloured cards, holding them face down. Each player must give one of its cards, face down, to one opponent, keeping one for itself. In this distribution phase, a player may not give an opponent a card matching that opponent's colour, and may not keep the card matching its own colour.

When all the players have completed this operation, each takes the cards that were given to it by the other players and adds them to the one it has kept.

If the operation has been carried out correctly, each player will hold as many cards as there are players in the game, and no one will hold a card of its own colour.

At this point the game may begin, and play proceeds exactly as described in the rules, up to the moment when the game points must be calculated, based on the territories conquered and the secret objective.

Kingmaker Points

The game points of each player are divided by the number of participants, rounding down. This value represents each player's Kingmaker Points.

Suppose the game ends with the following final game points:

• Yellow 45, Green 38, Blue 22, Red 15

The Kingmaker Points are then:

• Yellow: 11.25, rounded down to 11
• Green: 9.5, rounded down to 9
• Blue: 5.5, rounded down to 5
• Red: 3.75, rounded down to 3

At this point, each player must choose one of the colours represented by the Kingmaker cards it holds, reveal all the cards of that colour, and add to its game points the Kingmaker Points of that colour, multiplied by the number of cards.

Example:

• The yellow player reveals one green card, so it totals 9 Kingmaker Points (9 x 1). Added to its 45 game points, this gives a final total of 54.
• The green player reveals 3 blue cards, so it totals 15 Kingmaker Points (5 x 3). Added to its 38 game points, this gives a final total of 53.
• The blue player reveals 3 yellow cards, so it totals 33 Kingmaker Points (11 x 3). Added to its 22 game points, this gives a final total of 55.
• The red player reveals 2 green cards, so it totals 18 Kingmaker Points (9 x 2). Added to its 15 game points, this gives a final total of 33.

The winner of the game is therefore blue, with 55 points.

In case of a tie between two or more players, the player who obtained the better game points wins. If the tie persists, the reverse order of play applies.

The Challenge Card

The Challenge card allows the active player a special move. The player is free to play this card at any moment of its turn, but before throwing the dice for an attack. From the moment this card is played, the active player wins all dice comparisons in case of a tie (in practice it enjoys the advantage normally given to the defender). This special bonus remains active for the whole duration of the combat, but it is used up at the moment the player decides to interrupt it, even just to make another attack.

Each player may play this card only once in the whole game, for a single attack, and before the "sdadata" phase begins.

This card is part of the Kingmaker deck and is intended for use when playing this variant, but nothing prevents it from being used in a classic game. The use of this card is in any case not permitted in Official Tournaments.

The Objective Cards

Note: the sixteen Objective cards are illustrations only, each a world map with the territories to be conquered shown in red. They are not reproduced as text.

The sixteen Objective cards are numbered 1 to 16. Each one is dealt to a player in the setup (see 2.9) and shows the territories that player must conquer.