Illuminati [The game]

Forge your own conspiracy to rule the world!

I discovered this game today on the latest ListVerse list. This looks a brilliant card game, and I can't wait to get it, if I can get it here in NZ.

Illuminati is an unusual card game (not a trading card game) made by Steve Jackson Games (SJG), inspired by The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. The game has ominous secret societies competing with each other to control the world through sinister means, including legal, illegal, and even mystical. It was designed as a "tongue-in-cheek rather than serious" take on conspiracy theories. It contains groups named similarly to real world organizations, such as the Society for Creative Anarchism. It can be played by two to eight players. Depending on the number of players, a game can take between one and six hours.

[Wikipedia]



Gotta get me this! The last card game craze that my friends and I got into was YuGiOh and this must be better than that.

[edit on 10/27/2008 by Good Wolf]

I believe there will a conspiracy about this game, or apparently already is? I was searching the web and found this card.. apparently this game has been around some time, since this is apparently a 1995 card, or edition..
1995 Illuminati Card Game -- 9/11 Attack Foreseen.



As for if it's the same Illuminati card game, or an older one, I'm not even sure about it's authenticity.

Looks like a interesting game though, even though it said it could take one - six hours to play a single game, that's almost Monopoly playing time

[edit on 10/27/2008 by Forest]

Interesting post have you seen any of the playing cards?
They are uncanny to current events. I’m pretty sure I can wrangle up some visuals if you would like.
SF

reply to post by Forest


Cool you beat me to it. Those are the ones. there are quite a few that demonstrate what could be construed as current events.

While searching for more information about this, I came across a old ATS forum about this.

Illuminati Card Game

More of the cards here

reply to post by Forest


HAHA oh what a laugh.

I wouldn't be surprised if that card was made well after 9/11 and even if it weren't, I wouldn't rule out coincidence, the card does after all say "terrorist nuke". The buildings don't even look as big as the WTC towers.

[edit on 10/27/2008 by Good Wolf]

reply to post by Good Wolf


Thats what I thought and infact I actually read somewhere it was hoaxed.
But I actually printed these playing cards out on paper in 1999 when I was in the philippines. So Hoax remains to be seen.

Originally posted by Forest
While searching for more information about this, I came across a old ATS forum about this.

Illuminati Card Game

Yea I saw that forum, but it was 2006, and I thought it might be a good idea to bring it up.

reply to post by Good Wolf


Illuminati and INWO are two distinct but similar games from Steve Jackson Games in Austin, TX. INWO is structured as a trading card game, akin to Magic: The Gathering. Their Illuminati game dates back a bit further and uses a different structure of play.

The other game you pictured is Ubi. I don't recall the publisher, but it's essentially a Trivial Pursuit type game but with all of the questions answered by geographical locations which you must show on a map (which is the game board). No particular conspiracy bent to that game, other than the iconography of that particular box design.

reply to post by JoshNorton


No, I never said there was a conspiracy, but it wasn't long before we were actually discussing one.

Once you pointed out that the second pic wasn't Illuminati I changed it, I wasn't intending to show Ubi.

reply to post by Good Wolf


The Illuminatus was an excellent book. Absolutley huge in size, it would make the normal man, a bit crazy. Great book, can't wait to get these cards!! Starred

I loved that game!

We used to play that (among many games, rpg's, epic scale warhammer, etc. back in the early 90's.

Was always funny to see the "links" of control.... Holy crap, the Boyscouts are in charge of the mafia who control the Democrats who control MTV.. LOL

Another good game was nuclear war (proliferation and other expansions).

Originally posted by Good Wolf
reply to post by JoshNorton

 

No, I never said there was a conspiracy, but it wasn't long before we were actually discussing one.

Once you pointed out that the second pic wasn't Illuminati I changed it, I wasn't intending to show Ubi.

I was referring to games about conspiracy. Illuminati & INWO fit, Ubi, not so much even though their packaging might infer it.

Between Illuminati and INWO, I preferred to play INWO... the game mechanics were a bit more manageable. I would think sjgames.com would ship to NZ, if you're curious about such things.

(Fun to note that Steve Jackson Games used to run a dial-up BBS, and later a full-fledged ISP called Illuminati Online. I've still got an active io.com email address...)

Heres an entire article and video on this subject.

www.loadedparanormal.com...

There was more to it than just one card of the World Trade Center buildings.

I know you wont like this link ....I know you wont read it either ....but it shows the cards that sure dont seem like they could have been coincidences ..

www.cuttingedge.org...

reply to post by Simplynoone

That is a cool site, although Iam not totally convinced, it is an interesting read.

[edit on 27-10-2008 by schism85]

I actually have the original game!

It is really nothing like MTG or any of the other 'newer' generation of card playing games. But it is fun!

Of course, the original game did not include color ink, and it was sort of low-budget.

Check it out of your interested.

Wow. Major blast from the past. I have the original game plus all the expansions, including a one page cheet sheet my friends and I made to keep all the rule changes in noe place.

It is a fun game. There is just something heartwarming about having silly groups control major ones (at least as far as this board identifies them).

Basically, as I recall, you choose a archetype to start play off as. This determines what objectives you have, aka, how you can win. Two different players could be trying to play two very different ways (resulting in the 6 hour game mentioned above).

Very fun. SJG makes a lot of great games.

Some information on the topic on a previous thread:

The games of Rosicrucians, Illuminati, and other secret societies...

Anybody else find these cards extremely entertaining?

I know I do