'Diplomacy' - Gibson Games, 1959
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I walked into Poole one day in the 80's, looking for some kind of 'conquest' game that might yield a bit more strategy than Risk. I went into WH Smiths and hunted around the shelves. (Toys R Us didn't exist back then). Anyway, lo and behold! - I spotted a game called Diplomacy sitting quietly on the shelf. What's this all about I asked myself?
The first thing I noticed is that it contained a MAP of the world. - Or at least a large portion of it. This piqued my interest. I was excited, bought the game and rushed home to open it. When I did get home, imagine my mild shock when I opened the box up to discover that not only were there not five dice inside (like Risk has) - there weren't any dice at all! In fact, I remember being mildly disappointed. I paid a lot of money for this massive looking game and there is actually very little content inside the box. (Unlike Escape from Colditz for example). |
Diplomacy Board
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The basis for this game is amazing. Imagine creating a world domination game with armies, but that does not require the use of dice rolling. There is no 'massing of armies' like there is Risk. Each territory can only contain a single army; and that one army is then said to 'occupy' that particular territory. The beauty and elegance of this game all stems from this initial premise.
If you want to take over another occupied territory, you have to gain support. Support can be provided by any other army that can itself move into the territory you want to attack. (You can only move into adjacent territories.) It's brilliantly simple.
The 'diplomacy' part of the game is a superb interaction phase, whereby you attempt to gain the help of other players, whilst at the same time, providing your own promises in helping them. Things can get very nasty indeed as after this phase, all the movement orders are written out...only to discover that someone did not actually support your move into France, even though you helped them gain Berlin.
If you want to take over another occupied territory, you have to gain support. Support can be provided by any other army that can itself move into the territory you want to attack. (You can only move into adjacent territories.) It's brilliantly simple.
The 'diplomacy' part of the game is a superb interaction phase, whereby you attempt to gain the help of other players, whilst at the same time, providing your own promises in helping them. Things can get very nasty indeed as after this phase, all the movement orders are written out...only to discover that someone did not actually support your move into France, even though you helped them gain Berlin.
Not as beautiful as Escape from Colditz, not as simple as Risk, but a totally fantastic game if you can actually manage to get 4 or 5 people around a table to play.