If you want to play Diplomacy you’ve got two big choices: face-to-face or online.

Never played the game but want to know what the fuss is all about? It probably doesn’t hurt by starting a few games online to learn the rules and the dynamics of gameplay. Then when you’ve got the game nailed, think about leveling up by playing face-to-face with a Diplomacy group near you.

There are many Diplomacy sites out there, most of which we’ve tried and can recommend. In no particular order:

webDiplomacy

webDiplomacy has more players which makes it faster to start a game. If you have played the “Classic” Diplomacy boardgame (seven powers on the verge of World War 1) you’ll be familiar with webDip’s most popular variant on the site. With close to 50,000 Classic games played on webDip its what people generally use the site for. There are though four other map variants you can play on webDip:

• The Ancient Mediterranean
• Fall of the American Empire IV
• Modern Diplomacy II
• World Diplomacy IX

There’s a really good overview of the rules if you’re not familiar with supports, cutting supports and convoys.

vDiplomacy

If you’re tired of playing Classic for the bazillionith time and you find four variants is not enough. Head on over to vDiplomacy.

vDiplomacy has 100+ variants you can choose from (including Classic of course!)  Its only downside is it has a slightly smaller player base, which means sometimes you may have to wait longer for a game to start.

Many variants follow the standard rules of classic Diplomacy (just on a new map), but there are plenty of games which also have rule tweaks or changes.

PlayDiplomacy

Amby has recently started using PlayDiplomacy where you can play up to three standard Classic map games without any costs. If you want some cool special rules, variants and more games then there’s a small annual fee.

PlayDip also has a very strong base of players and some really awesome forum based games.

PlayDip uses a slightly different code base to many of the phpDiplomacy sites, so you’ll find some aspects of gameplay are different to webDip, vDip etc (although the rules are the same.)

Other Diplomacy sites

There are many other site for playing Diplomacy online for free, not limited to:

• Backstabbr
• Nexus Diplomacy
• Diplomail (in Russian)
• Stabberfou
• Redscape

For Android phones:

Conspiracy app (Kaner did a review of Conspiracy in episode 26 of the podcast)

Diplicity app

 

If you’ve had good experiences on any of these sites or apps, let us and our Dip players know in the comments section. Likewise if we’ve missed out a good free site where you can play Diplomacy games online.

Face-to-Face Diplomacy

There are many vibrant Diplomacy groups you can join and play fellow backstabbers like you.  Our Google Map shows where communities exist but if you’re keen to create a community lets us know on that page so we can get the word out.

Kaner and Amby are trying to get a Diplomacy group in Brisbane up and running. If you’re a southeast Queenslander, visit the page and register your interest!

Where can you buy a copy of the Diplomacy board game?

You can buy the board game Diplomacy on Amazon. Using that link will also help the podcast as we get a small percentage commission from Amazon, and it doesn’t cost you a cent more.

In fact, you can buy anything on Amazon – even non Diplomacy stuff – and we get a small kickback. It costs exactly the same to you, but helps get us closer to getting better audio gear.

If you’re outside the United States, try our Amazon page which lists Australia, UK etc versions of Amazon.