Are board games dead? Many would argue that the Internet, mobile technology and live-streaming have ultimately killed the appeal of board games. Who wants to sit through an entire game of Scrabble – at a table!? – when one can simultaneously play against five separate friends via Facebook, where it’s acceptable to take days (and daaays) to make your next move?
In our opinion, there is still something supremely satisfying about racking your brain (and not Wikipedia) for an obscure piece of trivia, or discovering a seven-letter word in your Boggle letters. Honestly, technology will never find a way to replace Twister, and the inherent intimacy and awkwardness that comes with wrapping your left arm over your roommate’s right thigh to just reach that damn red circle. The classics will never die.
At last year’s Puces Pop Art Fair, we discovered Montreal illustrator Raymond Besinger’s silkscreen Risk board, and our hopes for the future of board gaming were immediately restored. Mounted on a “24 x “28 sheet, the game board features an exquisite black and white illustration of early twentieth century Europe, which is divided into 106 Risk squares and 21 national bonus areas. The map also comes with 112 requisite Risk cards, though play pieces are not included (but easily improvised). Of course, if you aren’t a Risk enthusiast, this silkscreen would also look incredible framed, hanging in your entranceway. Just saying.
The entire set can be purchased for $40 (shipping and handling not included) here.
Check out Besinger’s other great posters and illustrations here.
~ Tyler Yank