This game called Cowboy RISK . . .

The classic game of RISK has been a family favorite

among my family and friends for around 50 years.

This is the original version from 1959.  According to

https://brilliantmaps.com/risk/

there are at least 27 versions of the game, including

Castle Risk, Star Wars Risk, Star Trek Risk, and

even Walking Dead Risk and Game of Thrones Risk.

But I would venture to say that I am the first one to offer

you the thrills of -- COWBOY RISK!

Here are simple board and playing cards with a few old west
icons for "atmosphere."

Cowboy "icons" are tremendously important for 

the enjoyment of the children (of all ages) who play.

Here are authentic Roy Rogers jacket, revolver (Trigger is on the
handle), flashlight, and one of our several cowboy hats.

Here are prisoner's shackles and a jailer's key, a cowboy bandana,
and a Mattel "Fanner .45", that used real Greenie Stick-em Caps.

Here we have my Roy Rogers billfold and gloves, handcuffs,
cowboy sunglasses, and a replica of a Winchester rifle.

This batch includes a bullwhip, another revolver (we have many),
and Roy Rogers lunchbox and thermos (from my school days).

 Here's a typical setup of the simple playing board.

I divided our small house into 11 rooms or areas.

Players try to capture as many rooms as possible

by challenging other "cowpokes" and rolling dice.

 Players take turns selecting some of the above icons

to be placed in the 11 rooms. When winning a roll of

the dice, a cowboy gets the card AND the icon.  Even

if someone later captures that card away from him,

the icon is his till the end of the game.

The rules are very flexible and are in a state of flux

each time we play. The ultimate icon, not yet pictured,

is Judy's bull horns, which Matt brought her from Texas

several years ago. The bull horns are not placed in a room,

but if a player at any point has five rooms or five icons,

he or she may roll dice to get the horns and win the game.

Once all icons have been claimed, ANY player can roll

to capture the bull horns, and the conclusion of the game 

is near.  So it's great to capture icons as quickly as you can,

but you still have to roll the dice successfully to win. A

player with only a couple of rooms or icons could steal

the glory if your rolling luck runs out. It is to all players'

advantage to attack/challenge rooms where icons remain.

This makes for a shorter game, too.

The dice-rolling rules were adapted from real RISK,

but they work well for us using dice of five different

colors.  You could change the dice rules to anything

that your players agree on. Here's how our system works.

Player A (left) challenges Player B (right) for the Play Room.
Each rolls their five dice in separate side-by-side containers.

They then align their dice of matching colors to see who
wins each matchup.  In this matchup, eah player wins two
colors and tie with the white dice.  Tiebreaker!

Player A prevails with a 6 and thus captures the Play Room
card and icon.  If Player B had won, he would retain the room
and icon, but there is no penalty for the attacking player. He's
just no closer to winning.

If you don't have colored dice, here's an alternate version.
Each player rolls five (or fewer) dice and ranks them from
high to low. In this sample Player 1 would win 4 and tie 1,
capturing the room.

In this sample, Player B successfully defends his room winning
four out of five matchups.

All of our grandchildren (and HALF of our children)

have now played the game and give it high marks.

It doesn't last as long as real RISK, plus you can

change the rules to anything players agree to.

How 'bout them bull horns?!

I've never seen bigger smiles from winners of a

real RISK game. Amanda was the winner in her

first game.  Hunter doesn't mind.  He says, "Mom,

you may be Queen of the Cowgirls, but I'm still 

King of the Cowboys!"

I know that not everyone is wild about cowboys.

But if you have kids, I know they're wild about 

something. Probably something that drives Mom

and Dad crazy, come to think of it!  Why not turn

that frustration into fun.  Create your own LEGO

RISK, POKEMON RISK, MARVEL HEROES

RISK, or any other version.  Then make your 

own rules and go to it! Please let me know if you

try this and how you adapt it for your family.

Hunter's Summer Camp -- A week with G'ma and G'pa

Last week was a week Judy and I will never forget.

A full week with Hunter as our companion in fun.

I'm not sure pictures can do it justice, but I'll attempt

to chronicle our saga of adventure. I tried to keep my

camera close at hand, but I still missed some action.

We put Hunter right to work the night he arrived.  He watered
the garden and helped harvest vegetables all through the week.

We explored one of the neighborhood "mountains" the next morning,
taking a break from riding and racing on our Green Machine go-carts.
Hunter heaves rocks and dirt clods at the mountain, setting off a
series of landslides. No injuries.

Hunter showed me and Grandma what it takes to be King of the Mountain.
Exceptional balance, strong legs, and overdrive.

Hunter is equally at home in the kitchen, directing me in how to
make a cheese quesadilla. He said it was great.  I didn't get a taste.

With these action figures, even bath time was fun time.
And lasted surprisingly long.

Hunter was the next grandchild to try Cowboy Risk, a game I
created. He loved it as much as the others.

The table is full of some of the cowboys "icons" we use to play.
More about this game later.

Hunter lucked up with two breakfasts of doughnuts.  The first
morning Granny's was closed -- still on vacation, so we went
to Dunkin' instead. But two days later he got just what he wanted
at Granny's. 

And this is it! A Long John and a Bow Tie.
Granny's staff is getting used to seeing us when we have grandkids.

A breakfast of doughnuts gave Hunter the energy to tackle the
Tower of Terror.  Which held no terror for him.

Hunter, who recently attained Black Belt in Tae Kwon-do,
takes aim at the tower.

In no time, it is reduced to the "Tumbling Tower of Twigs."
Hunter is a true super hero!

Back indoors from the heat, Hunter created a menagerie of
Hot Wheels race tracks and daredevil stunts. What fun!

We combined over 120 pieces from six vintage Blockhead games
to create a new version of our own (a recurring theme-- have you noticed?).

We alternated turns to start five towers simultaneously.

After some death-defying and strategic placements, four towers
all and only this precarious pile remains.

And the walls came a-tumblin' down (another recurring theme?)
I don't even remember who won, I was having so much fun.

Later, Hunter selected a dozen or so of OUR action figures and
conducted a wrestling tournament. Winners were totally unpredictable.
Only Hunter knew the "script" and it could change on a moment's notice.

Guess who won this one?
By the way, that wrestling ring is INDESTRUCTIBLE!
I can vouch for that after watching the punishment IT took!

 Off to the old property, which holds many 

special memories for Hunter.

After forty some-odd years, the county unclogged the drainage pipe
under the Murdocksville Road.  No water was rushing at the moment,
but Hunter demonstrated how to swing back and forth across the
ditch without even getting your feet wet.

On to the stream, we inspected our bridge network, some rushing
waterfalls, AND some nifty spider webs.

There is so much natural wonder all over this property. Happily,
a large number of damsel flies and dragon flies makes the mosquito
population here practically non-existent.  Amazing!

Balancing on wet roots and even slippery moss, Hunter obviously
wasn't worried about falling in.  Maybe another time we'll go back
and stream hike like we did in "the good ole days." He still remembers.

Even with Hunter picking over a dozen cucumbers that week, there
was one that escaped view from ALL of our watchful eyes!

I nicknamed this one Goodyear, after the blimp.
A beautiful color.  At least it made good compost!

 It's LEGO Time!

Everyone who knows Hunter knows that he is a master of Legos.
He methodically pieces together even the most complex kits in
record time.  We had no kits, but we had tubs of random pieces
and Hunter had no problem creating cities, castles, and spacecraft
from our "spare parts."

He even inspired me to make a three-tiered space control hovercraft
(at left) and a floating space dungeon for space criminals (at right).
It's guarded by three owls (from Harry Potter -- but Hunter and I
pretended they were eagles, which we prefer).

On his last full day with us, Hunter tried this 1960's game of strategy.
Not only did he love it, his strategy was better than mine.  He has
now borrowed it to play with his family until they can find one at
a yard sale or thrift shop.

 Besides Hunter educating me and Judy on some of

his favorite Kindle games, I was able to share some

cool vintage stuff with him. He was most impressed.

Hunter helped me entertain his Great-Granny Thelma with
1932's Tarzan the Ape Man.  Hunter was hooked from the
moment the first native fell from a cliff. Later, when Johnny
Weismuller had to kill a giant killer gorilla by stabbing it in
the eye, that clinched it.  No gratuitous violence, of course!
The bad ape started it!

The week had to come to an end, because even

super heroes can't stop time (only travel through it).

Though we always love to see Amanda, we were

sorry she had to take Hunter home.  Still we had

one more night together and had a great time.

The next morning, they packed up, and before they 

could leave, we had to introduce Amanda to Cowboy

RISK, which Hunter really loves.

The grand prize is the Bull Horns, but Hunter loves capturing ALL
the cowboy icons.

Amanda suggested that I really need to blog about Cowboy RISK.
And that's something I'm going to do right away.
But blogging about the week with this amazing young man came FIRST!
In just a few more days, his sister Brianna is faced with the challenge
of matching his level of adventure.  And I happen to know that she will!

ADDENDUM
I'm going to TRY to list the various games Hunter played with us.
I'm sure I'll omit at least one, and probably more. This does NOT
include the various video games he introduced to us.

• Cowboy Risk
• Don't Wake Daddy
• Carroms
• Sliders
• Rebound
• The Secret of NIMN
• Let's Take a Trip
• Pound Puppies
• Stratego
• Skunk
• Rummikub
• Word Pirates
• Boobytrap
• Swinging Snakes
• Blockhead
• Yahtzee Junior
• H-I-S-S
• Spin Top Arena
• Rack-O
• Six Cubes
• Scrambled Eggs
• Call It