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Yup. As much as the concept is neat, fundamentally it's the 7-player and runtime requirements that ruin it.

Games are allowed to have hurt feelings and flaws and brutality if they make up for it with something cool... But the severity of those flaws is amplified by run-time. An 8-hour game that is ruined by betrayal is monstrous.

Need a "diplomacy lite" that can be wrapped up in under 40 minutes

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I would call that Resistance (or Avalon, Mafia, etc.). A social/trust/betrayal-oriented party game that's playable in less than an hour.

Yeah, but Avalon or Secret Hitler have pre-defined teams. Part of the appeal of Diplomacy is that it's a free for all and you define alliances as you need them.

Thinking it over, Nash's "so long, sucker" is probably the closest example, but I don't know anybody who's actually played it.

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