Groups are represented by cards, and the controllingrelationships between them by small arrows on their touching sides. Mostgroups have Alignments such as Government, Communist, Criminal or Fanatic,which influence their ability to attack other groups with the same oropposite Alignment, and quite a few groups can give you bonuses to attackspecific other groups (controlling the Secret Masters of Fandom makes iteasier to also dominate the Trekkies and SF Fans, for example.) Most groups earn their own money each turn, butit can only be transferred through the power structure one step at a time,which means not all of your money will be available for every action. These groups inturn attempt to control and manipulate other groups, whether by the samekind of infiltration, by sheer force, through subliminal messages, puttingfunny chemicals in people's food or any other appropriately fiendish means.Įach of the players controls one of these internationalconspiracies, starting with no other groups under their control.Essentially, the bulk of the game is spent in attempts to gain control ofnew groups, wrest them from other player's hands, or even destroy them.This is resolved by a die roll mechanic, modified by the relative attackand defense values of the groups and the money each side is willing toinvest into the conflict. A few verypowerful, very secret organizations have infiltrated such groups as theCIA, the Republicans, the Mafia, media and fast food chains and controltheir every move without these being aware of it at all. Illuminati is based on the premise of some of thegrandest, most paranoid conspiracy theories being true. The game is pretty much the same as the old,non-collectible Illuminati, but it has adopted a few new groups from INWO, and a few others, never seen before. Finally, in1999 SJG released the version that i will be reviewing here, IlluminatiDeluxe Edition. The Illuminati: New World Order CCG,probably the most popular one, was a bit of a departure from thetraditional form of the game, but its spirit remained the same. Its first version was published before some people i'vegamed with (and indeed, many of you reading this review) were even born andit's seen several expansions and reincarnations since, none very differentfrom the original game. Steve Jackson's Illuminati, considered by many to be theprogenitor of the entire conspiracy genre in gaming, is one of the preciousfew games that have remained popular for decades without changing theircharacter a bit.