diplomacy_boxThe longest-running recorded game of Diplomacy has finally ended after just over three and a half years of play. The last game of the 2012 tournament, began on July 2, 2012, ended on February 12, 2016, with a draw agreed upon by the remaining four players. The Italian player’s team was first in the tournament. “A draw was enough for him to win,” said the Austrian player. Russia held out on a draw for several turns. “Russia could have won by soloing,” the Austrian player explained. “He finally [agreed to a draw] because I was about to take Sev[astopol] from him, which … would’ve ended his chances of ever crawling back for many, many decades.” The game ended in Spring, 2005.

Diplomacy, a seven-player war game based around negotiation with other players, has two player turns per “year”, starting in Spring 1901. This final event, conducted through the webDiplomacy website, has turns set at every two days, which is the equivalent of playing face-to-face for more than two days, non-stop. The first player, England, was eliminated in August, 2012 (1905). Turkey and France were eliminated in the following calendar year (1943 and 1948).

Reddit user CaptainMeme has been writing up reports covering the game. The Austrian player has joined the conversation at the /r/boardgames subreddit to answer questions.