"Diplomacy Variant Forum Games" (DVFGs) are just what they say - games which are basically like the regular Diplomacy game but have variations. The variations differ - some are exactly standard rules but played on a different map; some are played on a standard map with different rules. Some of those rule variations are small, some are considerable - especially those which give special abilities to different nations. But they should all be recognisably Diplomacy-type games with the basic concepts of simultaneous orders and movement, supply centres providing the basis for individual units, and support being the key element in winning battles. Games with more differences (and many games which have little in common with Diplomacy at all) can be found in
Other Forum Games. Those games have their own rules and expectations and are not necessarily subject to the rules and procedures here in DVFGs.
Some games are relatively simple or just small-scale; others are huge - games like
Imperial and
WW4 are enormous and can take over a year to play (games move more slowly here than most games on the main site, and you should be prepared for that.) Some of the more complicated games require plenty of experience to play at a reasonable level, and you may find the game Manager (GM) limits the game to more experienced players, or to those with a track record of reliability. You probably won't find anonymous games here - the communications procedures make that very difficult to arrange; the Admins aren't keen us creating second accounts even for this unbelievably excellent purpose!

A small number of Fog of War games are played, but they are the exception.
You will find brief descriptions of most of the variants which have been played here at
Pen Pictures of the Forum Games although it does not include a number which have been more recently introduced. All games played here are
Archived and current games are included in
Active