If Backstabbr is the stylish new café, webDiplomacy is the long-standing club where the regulars know everyone’s opening. It is a free, open-source implementation of Diplomacy, and it shows its age in places, with a busier interface and more text on every page. Look past that and you find the largest, most rules-literate community of any game we tested.
The rules are the classic ones, laid out clearly in the site’s own introduction. Armies move on land, fleets on sea and coasts. Each unit can hold, move, support another unit, or, for fleets, convoy an army across water. Two equal forces bounce, a supported attack beats an unsupported defence, and attacking a supporting unit cuts its support. Hold half the supply centres and you take the game.
Live evenings and slow seasons
webDiplomacy’s range of timing is its best feature. Live games use short phases, so a full game can fit into one evening if everyone stays focused. These are tense, chatty and exhausting in the best way; negotiations happen at speed and there is no time to sleep on a decision.
Slower games give each phase a much longer deadline, often a day or more, which suits the traditional style of play by mail. We ran one of each in parallel. The live game was the more thrilling experience, but the slow game produced deeper alliances and far more elaborate betrayals, because everyone had time to think about exactly how to deceive everyone else.
Practising against the machines
Diplomacy has always had one big hurdle: you need six other people to learn it. webDiplomacy lowers that hurdle with practice games against computer opponents. They will not negotiate like humans, but they do move units sensibly, which lets you learn how orders resolve, how builds work after the fall season, and how quickly a careless border collapses.
We would recommend a couple of these before your first public game. Newcomers who arrive without knowing how supports and convoys interact tend to frustrate their allies, and the community is far friendlier to someone who has clearly done some homework. A practice game takes a little time but saves you from an embarrassing first spring.
Variants for when Europe gets familiar
Beyond the classic seven-power board, webDiplomacy hosts many map variants, some with different numbers of players and entirely different geography. They are a gift for groups that have played the standard map so often that the openings feel scripted. A new board forces everyone to think again about where the safe corners and natural alliances lie.
Variant games tend to fill more slowly than classic ones, so patience helps. We found the quality of play in variants to be high, often because the people choosing them are experienced players looking for something fresh. If you are new, though, start with the classic map; almost every piece of advice written about Diplomacy assumes it.
Living with an older interface
webDiplomacy works on desktop and in mobile browsers, with a mobile layout and a toggle for the full desktop view. Entering orders is reliable but more form-like than on Backstabbr, and the pages are dense with information. On a phone we found ourselves zooming more than we liked, so heavier planning went to a laptop.
None of this undermines the core. The adjudication is trustworthy, the forums are lively, and because the code is open source, the site has been shaped by its own players over many years. Free players get the full game, every variant and the practice mode, which earns it our top mark for footing in this group.
Your first seven days in webDiplomacy
- Read the site’s introduction to the rules, paying special attention to how support is cut by an attack.
- Play a practice game against computer opponents to learn orders, retreats and winter builds without pressure.
- Watch a finished classic game from start to end to see how alliances shifted over the years.
- Join a slow public game on the classic map so you have time to write thoughtful messages.
- Try one live game once you feel confident, and keep the evening free so you can see it through.
Where it chafes
- Busy, text-heavy pages that feel dated next to Backstabbr
- Phone play works but invites more zooming than we would like
- Live games demand an uninterrupted evening from all seven players
Where it shines
- A big, knowledgeable community that keeps public games filling steadily
- Live games that fit a whole war into a single evening
- Practice against computer opponents before facing real negotiators
- Many variants to refresh the game once Europe feels familiar
The kind of strategist webDiplomacy rewards
webDiplomacy is for players who want Diplomacy without compromise: a large community, a choice of speeds, variants for variety and a practice mode for learning. It suits anyone happy to trade a little polish for a lot of depth and plenty of opponents.
Where webDiplomacy lands on our table
webDiplomacy is the backbone of online Diplomacy, and it remains essential. The interface is plainer than Backstabbr’s, but the community, the range of timing options and the practice mode make it the most complete place to learn and master the game. Start here if you want to get properly good; move to Backstabbr when you want to host your own crew in style.
