Illuminati
Run a secret society, grab special interest groups and backstab your way to world domination.
Who it's for
You like negotiating loudly and breaking promises with a straight face, and you have a long evening and four or so friends who enjoy conspiracy humor.
Not for you if…
You want a tight, balanced strategy game. The luck and the table talk decide a lot, and the length can drag if people play it dry.
Vibe's take
Scheming, chatty and unashamedly silly. Alliances form and collapse by the minute, and the dice and cards keep things swingy enough that nobody is ever truly safe.
About this game
Every player is a secret society trying to run the world from the shadows, and the battlefield is a table full of cards. You start with your own Illuminati card in the middle and spend your turns pulling special interest groups into a growing web of control around it. Taking over a group means attacking it, with money behind you and dice deciding how the grab goes. Each society has its own special power, so no two seats play quite alike. Steve Jackson's conspiracy comedy is part negotiation, part backstabbing, part running joke, and it is at its best when everyone at the table is hamming it up. Plan for a long evening of bribes, betrayals, and suspiciously friendly deals.
Get it
By the numbers
Players
Duration
60–180 min
Ages 12+
Complexity
2.7 / 5 — MediumBGG Rating
6.1/10
Rank #2,737
5.3k ratings
Published
1987
Language
Heavy text
Designed by
Steve Jackson (I)
Published by
Devir, Pegasus Spiele, Edge Entertainment, Raven Distribution, Queen Games and 5 more
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