Diplomacy and Robo Rally Dice Get Free Demo Days in June

Diplomacy has a fearsome reputation. The decades-old classic of shifting alliances and back-room betrayal can swallow a whole day, and the odd friendship with it. So a version you can wrap up in an evening is genuinely interesting, and that is what Diplomacy: The Golden Blade delivers. Renegade Game Studios is giving it, and the gleefully chaotic Robo Rally Dice, a run of free in-store demo days this June.

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The Golden Blade is the first card-game take on Diplomacy. It keeps the negotiating, alliance-making and well-timed stabbing between the seven great pre-WWI powers, but trims things to roughly 15 minutes per player, scales from 2 to 7, and crucially drops player elimination so nobody is knocked out early and left watching ($30, around £24). Robo Rally Dice, from designer Kane Klenko, is a real-time, dice-rolling spin on the cult robot-racing game where you program a hapless machine across a hazard-strewn factory floor. It plays 2 to 4 in 30 to 45 minutes ($35, around £28), and its boards slot into any existing Robo Rally set.

Here is the catch for UK readers: the demo days run through North American shops, via the Double Exposure Envoy programme that sends volunteers out to teach games in person. The Golden Blade is up first, with sessions on 13-14 June, and Robo Rally Dice follows on 27-28 June. The part everyone can join is Renegade Con on 12 June, an online showcase streaming on YouTube.

Got a regular group? Create a private community, poll for the best date, vote on games, and let your friends RSVP in one place.

Set up your group for free

Can't get to a demo? The format itself is the takeaway. A free learn-to-play table is one of the best ways to get a new game onto people's radar, and you do not need a publisher to run one. Pick a couple of games you can teach in five minutes, claim a table at your local shop or community space, and let people drop in. If you fancy setting one up, list a learn-to-play night on Backseat Gamer and find players nearby.

Sources: Diplomacy: The Golden Blade | Robo Rally Dice | Renegade Con | ICv2