Customer Reviews

Diplomacy Board Game

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Easy enough for a young person to learn but complex enough to keep adults intrigued and challenged for years, Diplomacy is quite probably the very best strategy board game on the market. Unlike most other games of this type that, at best, provide limited encouragement for dealmaking and balancing of when to make and break truces, that process is at the very heart of Diplomacy.

Also, where other games involve heavy doses of chance (a legitimate choice, since combat always includes some degree of luck - good or bad, but ultimately unsatisfying at times), Diplomacy has no random elements except the players themselves. No dice, dials, or spinners, just the meta-game of players jockeying for advantage and balancing their immediate interests against the utility of breaking agreements for short or long-term gain.

This game is the cream of the crop in strategy gaming. Anyone who enjoys Risk (or games of that type), but finds it no longer challenges, will truly love this game.

Diplomacy, without doubt, is simply the best board game ever made. ... any other game has nothing on diplomacy, it's incredible.
I first played it with some friends in school after a teacher introduced us to it, and within a couple of turns was completely hooked.
The game deal with world war I Europe, encompassing land and naval warfare, and the integration of both. The game is turn based and the map is divided up into territories, as well as major cities. More cities=more armies/navies, pretty simple concept.
Each player controls a particular country, and starts off with their armies/navies deployed as the rulebook says.
Unlike other board games, the game does not rely on dice rolling(some people have thought a better name for risk would be luck), so armies are evenly matched. In order for an army to invade another territory already occupied by an army, the invading arm must be supported by another army or navy in a territory adjacent to both.
So, players have to think strategically and diplomatically. This is a great group game(up to seven can play). Each turn, players submit a movement sheet, instructing each army what to do, everyone moves at the same time. So there is like a ten minute diplomacy session, where people talk to each other about what they're going to do, and how to help each other, trouble is, they can often lie.
The game is exceptionally good, it is also a good educational toy I'm not quite sure what durable means, the game is as physically durable as any other board game(so take care of it), as for play durability, I've been going for four years, and it just gets better.
This game is the monopoly of strategy games, every home should have a copy, buy it now.

I got hooked on this game at my high school's strategy gaming club (yes, my school was big enough to have one) when I was 16, and I've been a devoted fan ever since. With a full complement of seven players, Diplomacy is simply unbeatable. There's no die-rolling; all units move at the same time, according to secretly written orders. If evenly matched forces collide-and they often do-they simply bounce off each other. Thus, to advance yourself, you have to get help from your neighbors . . . who, never forget, are also playing to win. Thick skin and good sportsmanship are necessary to deal with the inevitable treachery, but having to stay on your toes at all times is what makes Diplomacy so exciting. As for the educational aspect, it got me interested in the history leading up to World War I. :-)

Ah, so good of you to join me. We'll have plenty of time to discuss the little issue my emissary was talking about at the embassy---it will take this train hours to get from Grenoble to the Summit in Geneva. Here, take this package, you can break the seal. I know your master has been conducting negotiations with the Emir, the Czar, his Royal Highness, and his Excellency the Kaiser, but I hope you'll listen carefully to what I have to say.

The subject is Diplomacy: true "Game of Life" and, with the exception of the ancient game of Chess, perhaps Earth's most perfect game. And as we both know, the play's the thing.

It is wicked. It is insidious. It is consumptively addictive. It is entirely possible that I owe much of my personality, my Machiavellianism, even my career---to this game that absolutely eschews Chance (no dice rolling here) in favor of the ancient human virtues: skullduggery, manipulation, persuasion, intimidation, betrayal, and outright lying.

"Diplomacy" is a game of the Great Powers, frozen at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th: it is classic great power politics, and the seven Great Powers of the Age---Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Imperial Russia, the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)---all vie against each other for control of the gameboard's 34 supply centers---the supply centers chiefly the great cities and industrial dynamos of Europe in 1900, such as Moscow, Vienna, Rome, London, Paris, and so forth.

The map is likewise confined to the world that dominated Earth's affairs in 1900, and like most of the tools of the Devil, it is deceptively innocent looking. Your cardboard world for the next---five, eight, even twelve hours, hey, "Diplomacy" is addictive---stretches from the British Isles in the North, to the Russian steppes in the East; from the western shores of North Africa to the wild expanses of the unruly Ottoman Empire. The first Great Power to seize 18 supply centers controls the world and wins the game.

And in that simple objective exists a deep, dark, infinite pool of betrayal and backstabbing. The operational world itself is deceptively simple: with no dice, no random chance, and a military world divided simply into army and navy units, with each military unit supported by an attendant Supply Center, you have to have a majority of units to seize a territory: 3 navies to 2, 5 armies to 4. But Europe is crowded. Often---no, always---from the frozen Russian north to the convoluted Balkans---you can't take enemy territory on your own. You need help. You need support. You need allies. And *everyone* in the game knows that, and all of you compete for the same small pool of potential supporters.

So you see how deliciously wicked this thing can get? Game time is divided into Spring and Fall: you have to have your army occupying a Supply Center in Fall in order to get it (and, consequently, to support one of your military units). Each turn you have a "Diplomacy Round" lasting 10 minutes (or more, or less, depending on how brutal you and your comrades set up your rules) to convince allies, former enemies, and those grey wicked creatures somewhere between, to support you and not your foe. Lie. Cheat. Betray. Spy. Backstab. Anything is permissible to advance the cause of your country, O Prince.

The rubber meets the road when Diplomacy round is over and the action takes place: I have lost three good friends and one fiancee to the gut-rending betrayal of a Diplomacy game. I think any of you who have played Diplomacy can attest to its black, Satanic, bloody record: friendships ended, enmities fostered, marriages destroyed.

The glory of Diplomacy? It boils human nature down to its raw elements. It reveals your friends and neighbors as the rats, serpents, weasels they are, and brings out a mean manipulative streak in even the meekest. Buy it. Play it. Master Human Nature. And yes, Ambassador---now that we're nearing Geneva, I can tell you all of this was a plot---you'll never make the summit. That *is* a dagger in my pants, and *no*---I'm not happy to see you.

Diplomacy is an excellent board game for people of all ages and interests. For the avid strategy fan, it offers a solid thinking game with no randomizing dice to worry about. For the casual player, it offers a great Friday night with the gang. For the student, it gives insight into the politics and circumstances leading up to World War I, as well as insight into the psychology of the human mind. If you enjoy reality shows like Survivor, you'll enjoy this game.
As one of the seven major powers in Europe at the turn of the century, you vie for control of the continent through shrewd political and diplomatic maneuvers. Each country has its own strengths and weaknesses that you must balance and use to your advantage in order to capture 18 major cities and win the game. For instance, Italy, although confined into a small area with limited room for expansion at the outset, it is one of the most easily defendable of the seven countries. Germany, on the other hand, has lots of room for expansion, but it is in the middle of the action and is not easily defendable.
With the absence of dice to throw luck in one side's or another's favor, Diplomacy is quite possibly the most strategic game on the market. Simple rules governing the movement of units and the element of deception necessitated by those same rules make for hours of fun. This jewel of a game belongs in the collection of all gamers, not just those who enjoy strategy games. Buy it today!

My friends and I have been playing diplomacy for quite a while, and we love it. Simply put, when you have the full set of players, Diplomacy is the BEST strategy game ever.

There is a downside to that as well. If you have less than five players, forget about it. The games rules are unique since each piece is equal strength. You need support to dislodge a piece, so you're going to need help from your neighbors, who are also out to win the game. This game devlops an honor amongst thieves type of attitude, you can only trust to a point. All of this makes for exciting backstabbing and grudges that are going to last for games.

As for the education value, there really isn't much. If anything, it teaches strategy and the real world value of people lie.

The duribility is the same as pretty much any other board game.

All in all, Diplomacy is the best board game around - if you can muster seven people. My advice is if you will never get seven people for this game, pass on it. You will never experience the true beauty of the game.

Diplomacy has a storied history. Former President Kennedy and Henry Kissinger are known to have played the game back in their college days. The game itself is in the category of games like Monopoly that have remained unchanged throughout the many years of it's existance. This is in part due both to the complexity and the simplicity of the game.

Diplomacy is a strategic boardgame in the same vein as Risk layout-wise which begins in 1900 Europe. The game can be played by a maximum of 7 players who each represent one of the majors powers before the outbreak of World War I: England, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Italy.

Each power begins with relatively few units on the board (3-4 depending on the power) so it is of critical importance what you do with them. There are two types: fleets and armies. Each unit only has a power of 1 so in order to attack another person you need to have secured an ally to aid you in this endeavor. This diplomacy is the basis for the game.

Turns proceed as follows: each turn represents either the fall or spring of a specific year. For a certain length of time there is a diplomatic session. During this time you consult with the other players in an attempt to negotiate the moves of your units. At the end of time each person writes down the moves for their units and then play occurs simultaneously.

Either organized chaos or finely tuned play proceeds. This game relies totally upon your ability to be able to work within the various plans of your allies and enemies, to be able to recognize when to ally with certain people and to be able to recognize when that alliance is no longer needed. Backstabbing is common. This is definitely not a game you can take personally.

I have found the greatest joy of this game to be in the sheer negotiations. DMZ's crop up all over the board as powers discuss how they will aid and destroy each other. In the space of 20 minutes you can discuss 5 different plans with 5 different people, but only upon revealing the moves will the trust come out: who is with you and who is against you.

To put it plainly: it is the best board game I have ever played and I highly recommend it.

One of the few games that was not totally overhauled after the Avalon Hill buy out by Hasbro. Its place in the history of "Wargaming" can't be underestimated. There are a few diplomatic games that followed that are more interesting (such as Republic of Rome) and others that are fancier but in the end no game does what this game does.

This game combines stratagy, simplicity or rules and play, a historical context and a system that can be played via e-mail as well as face to face. This was a play by mail classic that is even better as a play by e-mail classic as it goes faster.

Should not be played with less than 5 players, if by e-mail never play with less than 7.

You control one of the seven major powers at the turn of the 20th century, the goal is to control 1/2 of Europe, your tools are units that are exactly equal in strength, and diplomatic moves between players. No luck involved PERIOD.

Can you both talk your way and fight your way to victory? Buy this game and find out.

It's a shame Amazon doesn't have this. This game is infamous amongst my friends for the nicknames it created. I won't tell you mine, but suffice it to say that I wasn't popular with Germany or Italy when I played as France! You CANNOT win this game alone. You have to make deals with people -- and unfortunately, you also have to break them. Make sure you play with people you like a lot, and be sure that they really like you too, or it all may wind up with none of you ever speaking to each other, ever again!

I'm serious. This game can ruin relationships if you're not careful.

It's time-consuming, so I recommend timing each "turn" and limiting the amount of time each round that people are allowed to talk and make deals. The first round should allow no less than thirty minutes, and possibly up to forty-five or an hour, to make sure that each country gets to talk to every country leader/player that it needs to, and weigh the deals that are offered. After that, ten to fifteen minutes should suffice.

The game is set up so that no one can invade their neighbor on the first turn, so you'll need to build crucial allies the first time around in order to defend yourself against invasions in the second turn, and make well-coordinated strikes against your opponents.

TRUST NO ONE! This game CANNOT BE WON unless *SOMEONE* is stabbed in the back. Sad, but true. The people who are your allies in the beginning will likely be your enemies after a few short years/turns.


Enough reviews give the specifics of game play, so all I'll offer are some TIPS:

*Don't rush to attack anyone right away. You need to focus on securing extra supply centers so you can build and strengthen your forces and THEN attack.

*Work on your naval placements, especially if you're playing France or Russia or Germany. You'll be tempted to work your way inland with these nations, and build armies at the expense of sacrificing naval units, but you'll leave yourself vulnerable if you do -- especially from the U.K.

*Try not to play as the U.K. unless you really, REALLY trust the other people. You can't win as the U.K. without some powerful allies in the beginning. If you get stuck with this country, try forging early pacts with nations that can't hurt you right away, like Russia, so that they won't attack you when you start to become a threat, and will help support you against your early enemies.

*The people playing France and Russia should team up with one another against the U.K., cut off its naval channels, and wipe it out immediately, while everyone else on the continent fights it out for inland territory. Divide the north seas between yourselves. Get Germany to help in exchange for a piece of the action. In the normal course of a good strategic game, the U.K. should be the first nation to go, because taking it out is child's play.

*Once Russia and France have obliterated the U.K., they should remain a team long enough to take out Germany.

*If you're playing as Italy, attack France first. Get Germany and the U.K. to help you.

*If you're playing as France, defend like hell from the U.K. and Germany, and attack Italy as quickly as you can, or it will come after you later. Get support from Germany. DON'T FORGET YOUR NAVY. You'll need it later, if you survive.

*If you're playing as Russia, take over the small countries in the East instead of attacking right away. You already have an advantage starting with four pieces, so BUILD and fortify yourself while your Western neighbors start the skirmishes early. Get Denmark and Norway before the U.K. can.

*Lie, lie, lie. Lie to anyone, at any time. Break deals when it's best for you, but not unless you can back yourself up, or people will turn against you too quickly and form teams to take you down. Don't break any deal early on, or everyone will know from the start not to trust you. Build their trust, THEN break it, when you can pounce. The best way to do this is to set up your opponent for an invasion of a third party, tell them you'll support their moves, and then move in behind their back when you KNOW they'll be unsupported. Wipe them out, then have a fresh place to bargain from even though no one else will trust you.

*Don't take anything at face value. Anything your opponents tell you could be a lie. They're out for themselves, and EVERYONE has a secret deal going. Trust no one, and don't leave your vulnerable lands unprotected.

*Don't buy this game unless you have a lot of friends, because you won't be able to play with the same people twice if you take my advice.


That's Diplomacy, folks. It IS possible to win with integrity, but it's not half as much fun! And for those of you who haven't already guessed it, I'll 'fess up to my eternal Diplomacy nickname: Evil Back-Stabbing [rhymes with "witch"]. :-D ;-) And uh, none of my friends will play with me anymore, so if you do find a copy and need some extra players, feel free to drop me a line! :-}

The simple mechanics of this game coupled with the lack of any luck or chance elements are the main contributing factors in judging this game as the greatest ever. Diplomacy was the former "harbor" of the intellectual gaming community. Famous as a "Play by Mail" game among it's devotees when it was the sole proprietorship of Games Research, Inc. back in the 60's. Since that time it has established a virtual library of strategy and is perhaps the only game to have a central collection agency that acts as a recorded conservatory of games played. The hard part is finding seven players interested in a face to face evening, and having many hours to spare in the pursuit of it. If not, it excells as a mail or e-mail game and there are numerous clubs, internet groups and gaming conventions for you to sharpen your skills if you can't find enough players. The theme is the era of Empire and you represent one of 7 countries and move land armies and "Dreadnoughts" on the board to eventually place you in a position to grab "supply centers" which increase your armies or navies every year. It starts in 1901 and "ends" when one player becomes dominant with at least 18 supply centers under control, or everyone mutually agrees to end the game with the probable winner (usually when 15 or so centers are acquired). It can be a long game, but it is NEVER a bore! This new Hasbro upgrade features Metal pieces and a colorful board. Veterans may prefer the old wooden blocks but I like the idea of moving a metal Dreadnought around!