Risk Factions set to conquer social gaming on Facebook

US videogame company Electronic Arts is sending Facebook members out to conquer the world with a humour-infused version of the classic strategy board game Risk, sneakily named “Risk: Factions“.

The game – in which players march across the globe and seize territory with the goal of world domination – has been re-designed for Facebook, with on-screen characters including zombies, cats, donkey cannons, and mermaids.

Risk: Factions for Facebook is based on versions of the game released in 2010 for play at Microsoft Xbox Live and Sony PlayStation Network, two online entertainment services.

“Fans of the classic game will find familiar features such as dice-based combat, iconic maps, and the player turn sequence of reinforcing troops, attacking and fortifying territories,” EA said in a statement.

Risk is a follow-up to Electronic Arts’ ultra-successful The Sims Social and recently launched on Facebook. Electronic Arts is taking a big gamble with Risk, as it cannot ‘risk’ alienating its casual fans with a potential “niche” game.

This version of Risk is very much in line with the Sims Social, in that there is “speedier play” and a “more engaging “ multiplayer aspect.

The social aspects of Risk: Factions include matching games for bonus items and harvesting resources with the help of Facebook friends. The developers of the game have also mentioned that they will be tweaking the features and adding the factions in order to create “an entirely new game experience”.

To get to grips with the inherent humour of the new Risk title, the Factions had to be sexed-up and now include Yetis, cats, robots and zombies. Risk: Factions also comes in three gameplay flavours: Single player, a versus mode against friends and a friendly-fire mode which pairs Facebook users against random opponents.