I don't really play the style of games you guys are talking about, at least not since the days of Diplomacy when I was a teenager. However, backgammon is a very big game in my circle of friends. There are long-standing rivalries and quite a good deal of trash-talking as well depending on who's playing at any given time. Two friends have a rivalry that encompasses hundreds of games. Ask either one at any time and they know the exact current tally. It's also a great game to just sit around the house and casually play while music is on, a far better alternative to television.
"I happen to have perfect situational awareness, Lana. Which cannot be taught, by the way. Like a poet's ... mind for ... to make the perfect words." - Sterling Archer