Diplomacy
So some friends and I have decided to try out the game Diplomacy. I’d never heard of the game before (or if I had, it never registered as a permanent memory), so I’ve been going over a lot of the theory and stragegy associated with it.
Being a chess enthusiast, and striving to master Go, I must admit I’m more than a little intrigued. For those unfamiliar, Diplomacy is a strategy game with seven players who each assume the role of a great European power at the turn of the twentieth century. It shares some concepts with Risk and Axis&Allies, but with the exclusion of any sort of random determination. That’s right, folks! No luck involved. It’s purely a matter of who can outwit and outmaneuver their opponents, and since it’s a seven player game, even the greatest master of strategy will need the assistance of another player, or they are doomed to failure.
Right now I’m slated to play Russia, and I’ve been obsessing over my strategy for the past week. I’m really looking forward to seeing how I fare. I think my biggest weakness will be my tendency towards both honesty and trust, both of which become liabilities in a game that requires deception and subterfuge.