The object of the classic board game Risk is a simple one: total world domination.
This is great and all, but what if you don't particularly want to topple the government of every nation and grind their former citizens under your iron heel? What if all you really want to conquer is something decidedly more manageable--like your hometown?
Such was the goal when Mac Stutzman and Luke Costanza created Havoc Boards. The game takes Risk, tosses out the standard world map and replaces it with 15 other options ranging from major American cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, DC and San Francisco to the United Kingdom to the campus of their alma matter, the University of Rochester.
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Stutzman and Costanza were just a pair of Risk-loving fraternity brothers when they grew tired of always playing on the same map game after brutal, agonizing, friendship-destroying game. So, when they graduated and moved to the Boston area, they drew up a map of their new hometown and started playing on that.
Now, they've launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough money to start selling Havoc Boards to the public.
In addition to offering all the boards in standard cardboard and engraved wood, anyone who donates over $500 to the Kickstarter gets the opportunity to commission his or her own map. Want to play a Risk game of the shopping mall where you spent the majority of your tweenhood? You could totally do that. Just remember: holding the Orange Julius is the key to controlling the food court.
The Huffington Post asked Stutzman how he'd approach a game on the San Francisco map.
"If I were playing the San Francisco Bay Area board, I'd start in the corners and build up because they have the fewest choke points," he explained. "I'd capture Berkeley and then move south from there."
Havoc Boards don't come with any pieces or dice, so you'll need a regular version of Risk in order to actually play. However, if you're even considering funding a Kickstarter just to be able to invade the area in your city where all the hipsters live, there's a pretty good chance you already have a board stashed away somewhere.
Check out some of the Havoc Board maps:
