The classic board game Diplomacy has developed a small but dedicated following within my school. At the end of last school year, another teacher and I ran a “class” (after AP exams) where we taught the game to a group of 21 interested students and then ran a tournament. This year, a colleague decided to integrate the game into his world history unit on Imperialism and the World Wars. A couple students simultaneously approached me about forming a Diplomacy club so that they could play during the school day. I may or may not be currently involved in a teacher game as well…All that to say, I want to capitalize on the opportunity that has presented itself with the game’s popularity.

The connections between Diplomacy and “long 19th century” European history are fairly obvious. The mechanics of the game are simple, and the tactics, while difficult to master, have a fairly low barrier of entry. In a history classroom, the game can easily become an engagement strategy that gets students looking forward to class and serves as an entry point for content.

Lately, I’ve been more interested in using Diplomacy to teach game theory. I am designing a two week summer course that will use the games Diplomacy and Twilight Struggle to do just this. These games are a great opportunity to teach strategic decision making, iterated and sequential games, risk and payoff assessment, bargaining and negotiation, and long-term planning in a way that engages students and helps them internalize the learning. Twilight Struggle is more complex in terms of rules and mechanics, but the one-on-one element presents a different perspective on game theory than diplomacy can offer. Besides all of that, its a great excuse to bring board games into the classroom.

As I am developing the course, I am considering how to build to a full game while also making the game a more valuable learning experience. After some direct instruction on game theory I plan on introducing some Diplomacy puzzles. I hope this will help teach the rules in an realistic way while also developing students’ tactics. The nature of a single-move puzzle will also allow for a good amount of debrief and discussion.

I have pulled the puzzle pictured above from a resource site on the game. There are two initial options for a Russian defense as well as two initial options for a Turkish attack. The challenge for students will be to develop a Russian defense that works against both Turkish options. After that, students will consider the perspective of the Turkish player and consider how to overcome the defense. The final step will be to tabulate the various options and outcomes of the standoff in a results matrix and add in the variable in negotiation. There seem to be a total of 12 outcomes, with the Turkish player gaining a supply center in 5 of them.

There are a couple of great online resources for developing the puzzles and helping students interact in single-move or limited scale situations prior to embarking on a full game. WebDiplomacy offers the ability to play against AI bots, great for tactics. Backstabbr (and WebDiplomacy) offer sandbox modes for testing moves and outcomes. Although both allow for online games, I plan on having students do their full games the traditional way. I have had large-table sized maps created that will place students in the role of an 19th century general.

I have not gotten as far into the planning for how I will introduce Twilight Struggle. It is quite a bit heavier in terms of historical content and the rules will take a lot more explanation. However, it will offer more than Diplomacy can in terms of uncertainty and risk management. By removing negotiation and introducing event cards and hidden information Twilight Struggle prioritizes short-term tactical decisions. The historian in me prefers Twilight Struggle based on its Cold War context and historical depth, but it will be harder to integrate in as natural a way as Diplomacy.

Learning can be hard work, and designing great learning experienced can be harder. Although direct instruction, lecture, skill practice, and other traditional pedagogical strategies will always be part of classroom, sometimes class should just be fun. I’ll be posting about this again when I have the full course curriculum fleshed out.