In the final part of our look at the development of RISK II, the Deep Red team discuss the innovative Tournament mode.

Over the past few weeks, we've been through some of the challenges that faced the team in the creation and building of RISK II. I'm very pleased with the innovations in the game. In addition to the obvious candidates like the Same-Time feature, one of the most pleasing is the Tournament mode. This, we believe, has solved the age-old problem facing everyone who has ever set about bringing a board game to life on a computer; that is, how best to go beyond the remit of the board game and create a gaming experience that's more than just a series of unconnected, one-off events.

While it's still possible to play one-off games if that's what you want to do, RISK II's Tournament mode introduces a whole new challenge in the form of 16 games which are linked, themed and ranked with increasing difficulty.

These 16 games - five Classic and 11 Same-Time - are played out against a range of opponents, each of which is endowed with some of the most realistic and challenging artificial intelligence available on PC.

To progress in the Tournament, players need to either win the game outright or, failing that, remove at least one other player from the board and remain alive to the end of the game.

As well as offering a greater level of challenge and longevity, we also chose to introduce the Tournament mode so we could create what's effectively a worldwide benchmark for solo play. Now RISK players from all across the planet will finally be able to put their money where their dice are and rank themselves against each other. The scoring system within the tournament structure, and the resultant league table, will allow players to ask each other, "How far have you got in the RISK Tournament and what's your score?"

And so we've now reached the end of the RISK II diary. Over the past six weeks I've tried to describe to you how and why we've made changes to what the majority of us here at Deep Red believe to be the greatest board game on the planet. From such a great starting point, I also believe that the computer game will come to be seen as one of the best strategy games available for PC. It's truly an evergreen product and I'm convinced it will keep you entertained over many gaming sessions and have you coming back for more.

All that remains now is to see what you, the player, thinks. Thanks for all of your attention over the past few weeks and may all of your dice rolls be sixes.