Saturday, June 07, 2008

Parker Brothers Continental Game Risk!

I love board games, and I am always on the look out for fun and interesting new games to add to my collection. I recently found this 1959 edition of Parker Brothers Risk! at a local thrift shop.
I wasn't that interested, as the box was in pretty rough shape, but I kind of giggled when I saw it. It reminded me of a joke Triumph the Insult Dog made at the premiere of Star Wars episode 1, about Star Wars geeks playing risk in their parents basements. While chuckling to myself, I realized I had never actually played Risk! before and decided to have a look at the game.
When I opened it up, I was first, amazed to see that all the parts seemed to be there. And instead of little plastic parts, all the markers etc were made of wood, and were all stored in little clear plastic boxes that were inset into the book for safe keeping when the games was put away. I then opened the game board and realized this was well worth my $2.
The game board is a map of the world, and, although my geography is not great, I was a little confused by Canada. On the map, is Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Northwest Territory. Then it all began to make sense. All these years I have wondered why, every time I watch a TV show where they ask Americans about Canada, they always seem to know Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, but can't seem to name any other Canadian provinces. I now realize it is because they have learned their Canadian geography from the map included in the game Risk!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool - what a great find. Is amazing how much the board design has changed.

SB

Ronn Roxx said...

I have to admit, I have never played Risk (at least that I can remember), so I have no idea what the current game board looks like, but this older one is certainly a great 'period' piece.
You gotta love the shale with the "Donald Duck" sailor hat!