50 free Risk trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Risk was invented in 1957 by a French film director, Albert Lamorisse, as La Conquête du Monde, and has been wrecking friendships over a 42-territory map of the world ever since. Parker Brothers brought it to America in 1959, Hasbro inherited it in 1991, and it has since spawned everything from Castle Risk and 2210 A.D. to Risk Legacy, the game that invented the legacy genre. These 50 questions cover the rules and the lore: how many dice each side rolls, who wins a tie, why everyone grabs Australia, what the Golden Cavalry is for, which card combinations earn reinforcements, and what happens when you inherit too many cards from a player you eliminate. Then the history: the wooden cubes and Roman numeral pieces, the 1993 secret missions, the futuristic 2210 A.D., the Star Wars editions and the Hutts, Risk Godstorm, RisiKo! and the Italian defender's third die. Easy questions cover the inventor, the territory count and the continents; the expert tier asks about print runs, the retailer behind the bookshelf edition, the licensee that reissued the 1959 game and the number of attack routes on the current board. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation. Play it solo or print it for game night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who invented Risk?
Albert Lamorisse
He released it in France in 1957; Parker Brothers bought it and published it in the US two years later.
Q 02Lamorisse, who invented the game, was better known for what profession?
Film director
The French director also made the 1956 short The Red Balloon.
Q 03In which year was the game invented?
1957
It has since been inducted into three halls of fame, most recently the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2021.
Q 04Under what French title was the game first released?
La Conquête du Monde
The Conquest of the World became Risk: The Continental Game when Parker Brothers released it in 1959.
Q 05Which American company bought the game and released it in 1959?
Parker Brothers
Hasbro acquired the Parker Brothers brand in 1991 and now sells it under Hasbro Gaming.
Q 06The standard board divides the world into how many territories?
42
There are also 42 matching territory cards in the deck, plus two wild cards.
Q 07The territories are grouped into how many continents?
Six
Holding a whole continent earns bonus armies at the start of each turn.
Q 08The standard game is for how many players?
Two to six
With two players, a neutral third army is set up that only ever defends.
Q 09What is the goal of the standard game?
Occupy every territory on the board
European editions give each player a secret mission instead, which makes for a much shorter game.
Q 10How many dice may the attacker roll at most?
Three
The standard set has three red dice for the attacker and two or three white or blue for the defender.
Q 11Under standard rules, how many dice may the defender roll at most?
Two
Rolling three against two still gives the attacker a slight edge, but only just.
Q 12When both sides roll the same number on a die, who wins the tie?
The defending side
That edge is offset by the attacker's ability to roll more dice.
Q 13Which continent can be defended by heavily fortifying a single territory?
Australia
Either Siam or Indonesia will do it, which is why players rush for it early.
Q 14Asia, the hardest continent to hold, has how many access routes?
Q 21The game was retitled 'The Game of Global Domination' in which year?
1975
The 1959 release had been called Risk: The Continental Game.
Q 22In which year did Hasbro acquire the game's longtime American publisher?
1991
The game has since been rebranded under Hasbro Gaming.
Q 23The first variant, Castle Risk (1986), used a map of what?
Europe
Each player defended an 18th-century castle; it flopped financially but seeded ideas used later.
Q 24In which year were the European 'secret mission' rules added to the US edition?
5
South America has just two, North America and Africa three each, and Europe four.
Q 15How many wild cards are in the Risk deck?
Two
Each shows all three symbols, so it matches any two other cards to make a set.
Q 16Each territory card shows one of three symbols: infantry, cavalry and what?
Artillery
Three of a kind, or one of each, can be traded for reinforcements at the start of a turn.
Q 17In the 1993 edition, a cavalry piece represents how many units?
Five
Infantry stand for one unit and artillery for ten.
Q 18What does the Golden Cavalry piece track?
The next card-set trade-in value
Each set traded in is worth more than the last, so the marker climbs as the game goes on.
Q 19Which combination of territory cards can be traded in for reinforcements?
Three with the same symbol
One of each symbol also works, as does any two plus a wild card.
Q 20A player left with six or more cards after eliminating an opponent must do what?
Trade in sets immediately
They keep trading until they hold fewer than five, then may carry on attacking.
1993
The same edition brought in the plastic infantry, cavalry and artillery pieces.
Q 25Which futuristic 2001 edition from Avalon Hill added moon and ocean territories?
Risk: 2210 A.D.
It also added commander units and an energy economy, and won awards.
Q 26Risk 2210 A.D. lasts only how many 'years', or turns?
Five
The winner is whoever has the highest score at the end of the last year, not the last player standing.
Q 27Which 2011 edition began the genre where each play permanently alters the board?
Risk: Legacy
Five factions, each with its own pieces and rules; a sequel, Shadow Forces, followed in 2022.
Q 28Risk: Factions (2010) let players fight as soldiers, zombies, robots, yetis and what?
Cats
The Electronic Arts video game also had a classic mode with the standard rules.
Q 29Which noted designer created Risk Express (2006)?
Reiner Knizia
Players roll combinations of infantry, cavalry, artillery and generals to capture territory cards.
Q 30Risk Godstorm (2004) is based on what?
Mythological pantheons
It came from Avalon Hill, the same Hasbro division behind 2210 A.D.