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When I was at my last gig we had a very active board game community and Diplomacy was eventually brought out. We played twice while I was there and it sowed an

by jboggan 12y ago

When I was at my last gig we had a very active board game community and Diplomacy was eventually brought out. We played twice while I was there and it sowed an unbelievable amount of enmity and discord. It was incredibly fun. The first time we played a majority of the players had never played before. We got through one "year" a week, with Spring and Autumn troop movements due by the end of the day on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. Then we'd resolve conflicts and submit build or retreat orders. Then we'd plot. It was really fun but I think it was too fun - I think office productivity seriously suffered for it. Especially considering the amount of time we spent thinking/scheming/talking versus the scarce minutes in the evening actually "playing" the game. Still an amazingly well balanced game once you understand the subtleties. I fared extremely poorly by treating it like Risk and being far too aggressive. On my second playthrough I became much more docile and cooperative, and was thoroughly stabbed in the back for being so trusting.

virtue3 12y ago
We had a game of it erupt at my office as well. I wasn't even an actual player to the game but had _far_ too much fun seeding discontent among the alliances and feeding real/fake information to the other players (all good friends of mine). The best is when someone actually got betrayed and then I'd get to say "I TOLD YOU THEY'D DO THAT!" Can confirm it's a game for trolls lol!
peter_l_downs 12y ago
Similarly, I introduced our office to Conquer Club (an online, slow-turn, RISK clone [0]) and it led to such a lack of productivity that it was subsequently banned. Too much fun! [0]: http://www.conquerclub.com/ http://www.conquerclub.com/
- girvo 12y ago
  Hey, I didn't need to get anything done ever again anyway, cheers for linking it, it looks awesome!
- willismichael 12y ago
  Here's another online Risk clone with a variety of maps and house rules: http://landgrab.net http://landgrab.net
- DrewRWx 12y ago
  I have a couple friend groups that I play Warlight [0] with. It can be a slow, massive multi-day game down to a fast paced 2-on-2 "realtime" game. [0]: http://www.warlight.net/ http://www.warlight.net/
- rms 12y ago
  http://www.kdice.com http://www.kdice.com is my favorite risk-like
- jarin 12y ago
  I've been playing this with online friends: http://triton.ironhelmet.com/ http://triton.ironhelmet.com/ It's a space-based strategy game that has a lot of diplomatic elements, and the thing we really like is everything about it is completely deterministic, other than one researchable ability that gives you research points in a random field every turn. Anyway, the default one turn per day is fantastic, and the game "ticks" once per hour, meaning it can take between a few hours and a couple of days for your fleets to transit between stars. It's a great pace for checking in a few times a day, and the game has calculators to help with timing coordinated attacks. Finally, and I think this is key, do not enable formal alliances. They allow allies to share vision and they require a 24 hour notice to break the alliance, which takes all the fun out of it :)
zt 12y ago
Here at Standard Treasury, for awhile we had exactly six people. We played a bunch of Diplomacy games on http://www.playdiplomacy.com/ http://www.playdiplomacy.com/ (terrible site). It was really fun, but terribly time consuming. We eventually stopped because six games over six months with the same six people is a little much.
- EvanKelly 12y ago
  ...but you need 7 people.
  - bhickey 12y ago
    You can play with Italy in Civil Disorder. It's a rotten variant.
    - d4rti 12y ago
      In the only game I have played I was France with no Italy. Far too advantageous for France.
    - EvanKelly 12y ago
      I would hate that, gives too much strength to the southern powers. Italy was my favorite country to play as. You absolutely need a strong ally, but if you don't get one, you can be a thorn in everyone's side. I only really enjoy playing face to face. I just started a one move per week game at the office. Should get interesting.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Considering the age and popularity of the game, I'm surprised we haven't seen a solid boxed-set that includes alternate maps for different playercounts. I would expect the mechanics to work fine with any group large-enough for flowing alliances (5+) so it should be possible to design boards that work well with anywhere from 5-12 players. The WW1-era setting of the game is interesting but really isn't essential. But if course, this is exactly the kind of hardcore game that attracts hidebound players who scream bloody murder at things like alternate maps.
Shivetya 12y ago
I distinctly remember people storming out of games, including one who would not talk to us for weeks afterward. It is definitely a game that fuel emotions but it also helps you understand how to best deal with people, especially sensitive types.

by jboggan 12y ago

virtue3 12y ago

We had a game of it erupt at my office as well. I wasn't even an actual player to the game but had _far_ too much fun seeding discontent among the alliances and feeding real/fake information to the other players (all good friends of mine). The best is when someone actually got betrayed and then I'd get to say "I TOLD YOU THEY'D DO THAT!" Can confirm it's a game for trolls lol!

peter_l_downs 12y ago

Similarly, I introduced our office to Conquer Club (an online, slow-turn, RISK clone [0]) and it led to such a lack of productivity that it was subsequently banned. Too much fun! [0]: http://www.conquerclub.com/ http://www.conquerclub.com/

girvo 12y ago
Hey, I didn't need to get anything done ever again anyway, cheers for linking it, it looks awesome!
willismichael 12y ago
Here's another online Risk clone with a variety of maps and house rules: http://landgrab.net http://landgrab.net
DrewRWx 12y ago
I have a couple friend groups that I play Warlight [0] with. It can be a slow, massive multi-day game down to a fast paced 2-on-2 "realtime" game. [0]: http://www.warlight.net/ http://www.warlight.net/
rms 12y ago
http://www.kdice.com http://www.kdice.com is my favorite risk-like
jarin 12y ago
I've been playing this with online friends: http://triton.ironhelmet.com/ http://triton.ironhelmet.com/ It's a space-based strategy game that has a lot of diplomatic elements, and the thing we really like is everything about it is completely deterministic, other than one researchable ability that gives you research points in a random field every turn. Anyway, the default one turn per day is fantastic, and the game "ticks" once per hour, meaning it can take between a few hours and a couple of days for your fleets to transit between stars. It's a great pace for checking in a few times a day, and the game has calculators to help with timing coordinated attacks. Finally, and I think this is key, do not enable formal alliances. They allow allies to share vision and they require a 24 hour notice to break the alliance, which takes all the fun out of it :)

zt 12y ago

Here at Standard Treasury, for awhile we had exactly six people. We played a bunch of Diplomacy games on http://www.playdiplomacy.com/ http://www.playdiplomacy.com/ (terrible site). It was really fun, but terribly time consuming. We eventually stopped because six games over six months with the same six people is a little much.

EvanKelly 12y ago
...but you need 7 people.
- bhickey 12y ago
  You can play with Italy in Civil Disorder. It's a rotten variant.
  - d4rti 12y ago
    In the only game I have played I was France with no Italy. Far too advantageous for France.
  - EvanKelly 12y ago
    I would hate that, gives too much strength to the southern powers. Italy was my favorite country to play as. You absolutely need a strong ally, but if you don't get one, you can be a thorn in everyone's side. I only really enjoy playing face to face. I just started a one move per week game at the office. Should get interesting.
Pxtl 12y ago
Considering the age and popularity of the game, I'm surprised we haven't seen a solid boxed-set that includes alternate maps for different playercounts. I would expect the mechanics to work fine with any group large-enough for flowing alliances (5+) so it should be possible to design boards that work well with anywhere from 5-12 players. The WW1-era setting of the game is interesting but really isn't essential. But if course, this is exactly the kind of hardcore game that attracts hidebound players who scream bloody murder at things like alternate maps.

Shivetya 12y ago

I distinctly remember people storming out of games, including one who would not talk to us for weeks afterward. It is definitely a game that fuel emotions but it also helps you understand how to best deal with people, especially sensitive types.