Eschaton

I enjoyed this post from Matthew Baldwin at Infinite Summer about the somewhat limited appeal of IJ as it relates to Baldwin’s to child-of-the-’80s nuclear nostalgia, especially the footnote on Eschaton and Eschaton-like games. As the recent solo winner of an email game of Diplomacy, I can back this description up:

Diplomacy (board, 5-7 players): The great-grandfather of negotiation games, which numbers among its fans John F. Kennedy’s, Henry Kissinger, and Walter Cronkite. (No joke.). Though set in the early 20th century, the back-stabbing, treachery, and deceit necessary to win Diplomacy are as underhanded as hitting a Kittenplan in the back of the head with a 5-megaton thermonuclear weapon. WARNING: Do not play with anyone you cannot afford to hate forever.

Great game. And of course it goes without saying that my victory was achieved through completely legitimate tactics and was in no way tainted by deceit. Right: The Grand Empire of Gerrytopia.