Diplomacy: The Golden Blade Is a Slimmed-Down, Card-Based Take on a Classic Strategy Board Game

There are few more storied titles in the annals of board gaming than Allan B. Calhamer’s Diplomacy. Reputedly the favorite game of John F. Kennedy and Henry Kissinger, it sees players taking control of one of the great powers of Europe on a map of the continent and fighting it out for military supremacy. Its genius is a 1:1 combat system where pieces simply eliminate other pieces, making it impossible to gain an edge over rivals without an alliance. And it’s in these negotiations and inevitable betrayals that the thrill of the game lies. The trouble with Diplomacy is that it runs long: with the optimal full complement of seven players, it can easily take up most of a day. Diplomacy: The Golden Blade makes the unlikely claim of retaining all the stab-in-the-dark charm of the original while cutting out the board and slashing the play time to around 15 minutes per player. Without a board or unit pieces, there’s not a lot to talk about in terms of the box contents. Most of the components are cards, in two different sizes. The smaller ones are unit cards, representing your military forces. The larger ones are order cards that you’ll be playing to enact your decisions against opponents a