Diplomacy

At the beginning of the 20th century, before World War I, the seven great European powers are engaged in an intricate struggle for continental supremacy. Their military forces invade and withdraw from neighboring territories, borders shift, and empires are destabilized by subtle maneuvers and bold tactics. Are you prepared to forge a strategy and build a diplomacy that will allow you to dominate the world?

The work of Allan B. Calhamer, Diplomacy can be enjoyed in pairs or in groups of up to 7 players, ages 14 and up. Originally published in 1959, this game is a classic of military strategy with a lot of interaction between players that has continued to be reprinted all over the world, always finding new generations of players.

In Diplomacy, each player represents one of the seven great European powers in the years leading up to World War I: the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the Russian Empire. The players' turns follow each other in phases representing the spring and autumn seasons of a year. The object of the game is to achieve a solo victory by controlling 18 or more of the 34 supply centers by the end of an autumn turn. Alternatively, if agreed upon by all players, the game may end in a draw or after a predetermined number of turns have been played or at the completion of a predetermined duration.

Each player's troops move around a large map representing early 20th century Europe. They will give orders to their infantry troops and naval units to conquer valuable supply centers, which will allow them to create new units for the following turns.

Although its design may be reminiscent of other classic games of conquest, Diplomacy does not base its mechanics on chance, but on the players' ability to reach agreements and break them at the right time. As players negotiate and deceive each other, in a delicate balance of cooperation and competition, alliances are born and die, trust between nations is broken and in the end only the dominance of the continent counts. There are no dice here... This game challenges you to rely on your own cunning and shrewdness to prevail when this game of conspiracies and conquests comes to an end.