Playdiplomacy.com

 www.playdiplomacy.com

I've been addicted to this game for weeks now.

This is actually a board game that has been turned to a web-based one with great success.

It is played by seven (7) players representing 7 countries in Europe. Each country has 3 units (mostly 2 armies, and 1 fleet) with a strength equivalent of 1.

The object of the game is for a country to get a majority of the "supply centers" (represented by states/territories) by occupying it with their units. The tricky part here is that one country cannot oust another country from a territory it is occupying until it is helped by another unit (which can be from his own country or from an ally). This is because each unit has the strength equivalent of "1" and it can only be ousted by units having a combined strength equivalent of "2" or more.

This is where "diplomacy" comes in. In order to win, you must ally yourself with another country or at least ask for his or her support. At the same time, you have to keep in mind that you will eventually go against each other so you must be wary in fully trusting your "ally".

These basic rules, coupled with a computer referee, has changed the way the game is played in that more time is spent in negotiating with the other players rather than arguing about the application of the rules, which, at times, may be confusing.

Right now, I am playing 4 games with 24 hour deadlines for orders. This has basically kept me up the whole day.

The fact that I play with human players across the globe is certainly the most exciting part. It keeps the game unpredictable and no two games are similar. Unlike computer games where the moves as well as reactions are the almost always the same.




  - Aaron Ho
(7th Entry)