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I thought Diplomacy was a large dinosaur until I played this. In fact, I'm still not sure. The trouble is, this is a difficult game to get to grips with. It's a war-game set in the 1800s, and you control the Russians, French, British, etc. You don't just invade everyone, though. The idea is to be really nice to them and then invade them when they don't expect it!

Yes, I thought it was bonkers, too. But after a while you get the feel for it, and you end up getting everyone to invade each other. Then you just clean up the mess, and become the supreme arch-leader of all Europe! Sounds great, eh?

The game runs turn by turn, and you move your armies, sail your ships and insult your friends until war breaks out. You've got maps, data screens and pictures of the other leaders (who can be human or computer controlled) to help you, and the whole thing is pretty poorly explained in the manual.

Diplomacy isn't for the arcade player. It's a long, detailed game which will test your brain (just like history lessons at school). If that's what you're into, you're probably a complete swot with loads of pocket money, so go and buy ten copies of this ('cos you can afford to). It's certainly not bad.

Impress your chums with your grasp of 18th Century European politics. Frighten your neighbours by declaring their Peace Treaties null and void. Baffle yourself with difficult rules and blind yourself by sitting playing Diplomacy for hours (and still not finishing it).