The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

In 1909, a narrator on Spain’s south coast reports a failed unanimous vote to end the war, English betrayal, and a denied plea for support. In 2014, the same narrator participates in a Diplomacy tournament at Dixiecon, is warned about Brian Ecton’s manipulation, remains isolated, and feels humiliated. Diplomacy, invented in 1954 by Allan B. Calhamer, requires seven players, can last up to eight hours, postal-mail versions sometimes exceed a year, and has sold over 300,000 copies.