I Am In Total Support Of This Idea

 

For too long now, the great and esteemed country of New Zealand has been missing from the game board map of Risk™!  First published in 1957, players the world over know all about the benefits of camping out in the very defensible antipodean land of Australia, but they may not be aware that just to the right is the beautiful and great 'land of the long white cloud' – New Zealand.

Check out this wonderful site detailing the many other influencers, media and entertainers who are not aware of New Zealand existing on the map. We can only assume this is because of NZ not being on the Risk board they played when they were children themselves. 

You may ask 'what's so special about New Zealand?' – to that I'd say, what isn't special about New Zealand? New Zealand is home of The All Blacks rugby team – one of the most successful sports franchises in history. NZ is renowned as the home of Hobbits and Middle Earth (which I note you made a version of Risk™ of, but that doesn't count). NZ is a true force in global politics and are not only a current member of the United Nations Security Council, but former New Zealand prime Minister Helen Clark is the currently serving Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (the first woman to do so). In fact, New Zealand was the first modern country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1893. Our influence is quietly felt the world over.

I say that New Zealand is as worthy as many of the countries featured on the Risk™ map and emplore you, the team at Winning Moves Games and Hasbro, to right a near sixty year old wrong and add New Zealand to your board game map.

Regards,
The Risk™ Players of New Zealand

I have mentioned many times how I love to play RISK. I have often taught classes of students who were not in that class due to their stellar academic records. They were 'housed' in those rooms mostly because of their criminal records. I did many things to motivate them and keep them interested but none were more popular than Thursday Afternoon Games. We would put two boards together and establish routes between 'worlds' and then go at it. Kids could play as individuals or as a team. I never played with anyone. I would tell them from the start not to trust me or anyone else. I would lie to them and steal their cards and make them almost cry. I didn't care. It was the one things I refused to lose at to them. It was fun to see their feeble attempts to unite against me then watch as I turned them against each other before crushing their weakened armies. LOTS of learning went on both during and after the game. They learned most how to work together to achieve an objective - of course that meant the destruction of another persons hopes and dreams but that is what made the lesson so memorable when I delivered the death blow.

Good times.

Go New Zealand. I can always use another landmass to conquer.