I’m hard-pressed to think of a boardgame that elicits negative feelings as strongly as “Diplomacy.” Haven’t heard of it? Here’s a quick rundown.
You and six friends randomly choose to represent pre-World War I European superpowers. Each country starts the game with three supply centers except for Russia who starts with four. The first country to gain control of 18 supply centers wins control of Europe and the game.
The game is divided into years with turns in the Spring and Fall of each year. When a turn begins, players disperse to discuss troop movements, make deals, and negotiate with other countries. Once, when playing “Diplomacy” people met in our bathroom and that has become a running gag when discussing this game.
So after your diplomatic bathroom summit, players return to the map and secretly write up their troop movement orders. And so begins the part of “Diplomacy” that elicits all the feels.
When those orders are revealed, some countries are quite happy – everything went as they planned. Allies kept their word. All is well. Other countries were lied to – straight up lied to by another country they’ve known for 15 years and named their firstborn after.
You can see the problem.
My husband loves this game. “Diplomacy” is his favorite game of all time and his friends absolutely refuse to play it (except for two games in the past decade). These are people who would do anything in the world for him – including driving across the country – but they refuse to play “Diplomacy” with him because of experience or reputation. The game’s reputation for destroying friendships is the only thing most people know about the game.
“Diplomacy” players fall into two camps.
The first camp contains people who feel that the negotiation phase of the game should be called the manipulation phase. You have a friend who can look you in the eye and lie. It can mess with a person’s head. Because the game has no roleplaying aspect to serve as a buffer – the manipulation and politics cannot be reasoned away by saying “Well, that is what my character would do.” “No, it is what you would do and you are a big fat jerk-face.” The first camp of people play “Diplomacy” and walk away feeling dirty. They’ve either lied to people or been used by their friends.
The second camp contains people who feel that it is just a game to be won by whatever means are acceptable within the rules. They’re not actually doing anything to harm the other players. They are just playing the game and believe what happens in “Diplomacy” stays in “Diplomacy.” When the game ends, they walk away with a clear conscience.
The problem with “Diplomacy” is not the game but a mismatch between players and the game itself. The mismatch is akin to someone who can’t stomach slasher flicks watching “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” They’re going to hate it and feel sick afterwards. If you, as a gamer, know that it would be difficult to play like you’re in camp two, then “Diplomacy” in its original rules form, is not the game for you. Otherwise, go forth and conquer!
For those in camp one, you can still enjoy “Diplomacy”! Although the following game play does not exist in the official rules, “Gunboat” is particularly popular in online play and removes the “manipulation phase.” That’s right. No negotiation phase. Everything else about the game remains the same. How do you conquer or create alliances? By supporting another country’s troop movement or supporting a movement that has not happened yet. For example, player one supports France attacking England from the English Channel – even though there are no French fleets currently in the English Channel. Slight manipulation, sure – but at least you’re not lying straight to your friend’s face.
“Diplomacy” can be a very fun game if played with the right personalities or style of play. If you’ve enjoyed war games or Empire building games, give the game a chance. If you have been scared off because of the overwhelming negative opinions, give the “Gunboat” style a go. My husband is always looking for a game.
Thanks to Jason Hawver, Kacey Close, and Bryan Stiltz for providing their insight and opinions on “Diplomacy.”
Stephanie Hawver
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