Conquer the Seven Kingdoms in ‘Game of Thrones’ Risk game

Have you ever watched HBO’s smash series “Game of Thrones” and thought, “I could do a lot better than all these so-called ‘kings’ at taking over the Seven Kingdoms”?

If so, you’ll soon get a chance to put your armies where your mouth is thanks to a new “Game of Thrones” version of the classic board game Risk, due to be released this August.

The WSJ’s Speakeasy blog got an early look at the game, which has two separate game boards and 650 pieces.

“There is a War of Five Kings game in Westeros for three to five players that features the Houses Martell, Stark, Baratheon, Lannister and Tyrell,” explains writer Barbara Chai. “A two-player game allows you to contest the rule of Ghiscari slavers in Essos, featuring Houses Targaryen and Ghiscari. Finally, combining the two maps with seven players allows one to combat all seven Houses.”

Chai says the new “Game of Thrones” version of the game will have lots of extra goodies. There will be character cards that let you use special powers from the lead members of each house.

“For example, a Daenerys Targaryen card can be played when declaring an invasion, and lets you replace all six-sided dice with eight-sided dice,” she says. “The Cersei Lannister card can be played if you conquer three or more territories in the turn, and allows you to draw an extra territory card.”

There will also be Maester cards that let you use “the wisdom of a Maester in battle,” as well as gold dragon coins that will act as currency.

The original board game Risk first came out in 1957 in France as La Conquete du Monde, or World Conquest, and features a world map that players attempt to conquer with pieces representing armies. Dice rolls determine which armies win and which ones lose. When all of an opponent’s armies are defeated in a particular country, the challenging player can move troops in and take it over. The goal, of course, is world domination.

The new “Game of Thrones” Risk game, which joins a and now for sale, is expected to sell for $74.95 (about £50 or AU$100, though international availability wasn’t mentioned). A small price to pay for the Seven Kingdoms, indeed.