On a (thankfully) lighter note, I mentioned a while back that I'd scored a copy of Risk: Black Ops, a game that just oozes cool out of every one of its tiny cardboard pores. I had a chance to play it a few weeks ago, and I was suitably impressed. This game is engaging, fast, light, and fun. It still maintains the general mechanics of Risk that will be familiar to anyone who's ever turtled in Australia, but it puts some significant spins on those mechanics and adds a few new tweaks. The result is - well, frankly, it's excellent. What I've found interesting, though, is the small number of copies that have started to hit eBay. I've been following the auctions, mostly out of a sense of curiosity but perhaps with an eye towards persuasion - what price would copies of this command, given that there are a mere 1,000 in existence? And would it be enough to convincer me to part with mine? Well, I wasn't disappointed - the first round of auctions closed over the weekend, with each one ending over $500. Two months ago, if you'd have told me that I'd be holding in my hands a copy of Risk valued at over $500, I'd have probably laughed at you, but here we are.

Still, mine won't hit the auction block, at least not yet. I'm enough of a collector to know that if I dump this copy, then I can forget about ever getting my hands on one again. And I do think it's worth keeping, even if Risk has been long surpassed by others on my list of favorite games. This version is simply stunning visually - it has an ultra-modern, minimalist approach that just works.

Ok, so it looks fantastic - how does it play? As I've already mentioned, it's an overwhelming improvement over original recipe Risk. If you've ever played the game, you're probably familiar with some of Risk's characteristic problems - it's too random, it's too dependent on dropping cards for a big army, it's too easy to get eliminated, and overall, it's just too long. I'm happy to report that the new version fixes many of these flaws. The big changes:

• Objectives: Objectives are probably the biggest change. There are eight objectives available for each game, ranging from things like "Conquer North America" to "Control two of your opponent's capitals" to "Capture at least ten territories in one turn". Completing an objective will award you with a bonus, such as an extra die for attack or defense or a free movement during your turn. Also, completing three objectives wins the game.
• Capitals and Cities: Cities are placed randomly at the start of the game. When determining the number of troops that are drafted at the beginning of a turn, each city counts towards the total territories controlled (in other words, it's now territories plus cities instead of just territories). This essentially doubles the strategic value of territories with a city. Also, each capital adds one to your total (in other words, capitals count as three territories for determining number of troops). This means that every game will be different because the map changes by virtue of city and capital placement.
• Cards: Cards now show either one or two stars. No more collecting sets - you can trade cards in at any time, receiving an amount of troops proportional to the number of stars on the cards. This means that there's no longer a strategic advantage to being the last player to turn in cards.

The net effect of these changes is to make the game much more aggressive. Players will have to attack and take territories, and the rewards for doing so are significant. More aggressive play, plus the addition of the objectives, results in a much tighter, fast-paced game that can realistically be played in 60-90 minutes.

A new retail version will be published this summer using these same rules. If you're at all a fan of Risk, and especially if you've played and enjoyed any of the variants (2210, Star Wars, etc), then I recommend giving this one a try - even if you can't get your hands on the uber-cool Black Ops version. For my buddies and I, it's transformed Risk from a game that would always get preempted by something more meaty to something that can serve as a quite satisfying warmup to, say, War of the Ring. Risk is finally back in my rotation.

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