Customer Reviews

Deluxe Illuminati

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the classic games from Steve Jackson's company that can be found being played at most any gaming convention. Friends of mine once even reprinted the game onto aluminum cards to increase the ambiance and look of the game, it's that popular.

The update includes new art for all of the cards and the addition of many groups from the CCG version I:NWO. There is an expansion to follow soon with even more cards.

For those of you new to the game, the setting is thus: You are one of the mysterious 'illuminantis' who wish to rule the world. You have a goal all your own in addition to the generic 'take over the world' goal as well. For example, the Discordians wish to control five 'wierd' groups. To this end each of the players struggles to control any of the hundred or so groups that are available to take over. Everything from the 'Boy Sprouts' to 'Empty Vee' and 'Moral Minority' are in there to use as puppets.

Take over the world if you can... "The UFO's, with assistance from Texas will attack to destroy the Congressional Wives..."

On a whim, I got a few friends to get together and play this game through.

I, frankly, will soon be adding this gem to my game collection! While there is currently an absence of Magic: the Gathering players, you can play this with a few buddies. And there aren't $300 cards to add on, either. I recently finished up a 5 hour game with three buddies, and the satirical humor was the only thing keeping us up other than the sheer manipulation, deceit, and crazy power struggles it evolved into. I found myself performing twists and turns that I could never imagine myself doing in any strategy game.

This is a game about conquest, plain and simple. Manipultions, wheeling and dealing, and all of that come attached. By amassing a horde of money to stock your Illuminati faction's treasury, and by building a structure of carefully organized power, you must aim to accomplish one of two goals: gain control of groups in proportion to the number of people playing, or complete your faction's "secret goal"; be it summoning Cuthulu to destroy the Earth, amass the world's greatest treasury, build the biggest power base, etc.

I will tell you right now that this game is not "nice and friendly", and there are some imbalances. I feel that the imbalances were meant to be there, in order to force the other players to wield strange politics, and work together to keep each other from getting too powerful - while chasing their own goals at the same time! It gets very crazy, and can keep you up until 3AM playing.

My only slight beef is that the instructions were written a bit obscure, in like, two places. However, through game play, we did sort out misunderstandings. There were no errors or inconsistencies... they even have rules on "cheating", written in a rather sardonic and humorous fashion. :)

I also like the blurbs on Illuminati trivia and history, about the Gnomes of Zurich, the Society of Illuminated Seers from Bavaria (or something), and others. A bibliography has also been included for additional Illuminati referencing and amusement.

I would love to write some more, but alas, it is 3:45 AM, and my forehead is about to bang into my keyboard. :)

I've played both the new and the old versions of Illuminati, and I can say that this version is an improvement over the old one. My main problem with the game, though, is that, when I've played, it devolves into long sessions of slap-around-the-leader. ( I'd use stronger language, but this is an Amazon review. )

Every time one player gets near winning, all the other players procede to, more or less, destroy his power structure and his chance at winning. While a strong Illumanati will fend off two or three attacks, after eight or nine, you just don't have anything left to resist with. So, you're back to nearly square one and, while you're trying to rebuild, you're helping everyone else do the same thing to whomever else might be nearing the win. Games can last three or four hours until someone manages to squeak out a victory.

Now, if you like that kind of game, that's fine, but that gets a little long for me.

Also, and this is another minor issue, I have never seen any player manage to win by the standard victory conditions. For those who've never played, a standard victory is controlling a certain number of groups, with the number depending on the number of players. For a five player game, for example, I think it's somewhere around a dozen groups.

Each Illuminati, though, also has its own victory condition: The Gnomes of Zurich need to collect a certain amount of money, The Assassins need a certain number of Violent groups, The Discordian Society need a certain number of Weird groups, and so on.

Since I've never seen a standard victory, everything can depend on the right groups becoming available for each group. If you're the Discordians, and no Weird groups come up, you've got no chance at winning, in my experience.

Don't let me discourage you from buying this game, I'm not trying to. I am saying, though, that it can be so irritating that you'll throw it on the shelf and never look at it again.

I've played this game for well over ten years now and it's still fun. The basic premise behind it is conspiracy theory. Each player tries to take control of people and organizations until he achieves the victory condition. This can be a certain number of cards for everyone, the specific Illuminati he is playing, or my favorite 'secret victory conditions'.

Initially this game can take a little time to get used to, but once you have the hang of it you'll soon realize how fun and well designed the game is. In 95% of the games, I've played 2 or 3 players all could have won the game on the same turn! That's the sign of a well designed and balanced game.

There is 1 deck of cards that all players use to draw from and a set of dice with the game. It's playable from 2-8 players. My only complaint with the game would be playing it in a 2 or 3 player match. It's simply not as much fun with less than 4 players and can be quite entertaining with 4-8.

It's a must have for the board game collection!

Deluxe Illuminati came in a sturdy cardboard box with insert that had space for half the deck on each side with a small space for the dice. It fit together nicely and allowed the game and rule books to be stored safely.

The instructions are easy to understand, but the game play is of the advanced variety. Children are smart. They'll pick it up just fine... it's the adults who will be slow on the draw. ;) Illustrations, examples, and detailed explanations of special situations and abilities are included. Basic strategy advice is given to help players get the game rolling.

Materials for the game were well made glossy cards, a simple paper instruction booklet (pages were correct dimensions and was stapled neatly, nothing sloppy), some thin cardboard money tokens (very durable and printed correctly), and two standard dice. As noted, all materials for the game were of high quality. 1 blank Group card, and several blank Special cards allow the players (owner of the set of cards, really) to create their own cards with their own special abilities. Expansion sets and follow-up games are also available but were not included with this set.

Game play was fun and exciting. Often fast, sometimes slow, but never boring the game was a wild ride of fun times and wicked jokes about society and its many evils. The game supports 2 players, but feelings can be hurt by many crushing defeats... some would-be rulers of the world cannot win through direct force. A game of 3 or more players provides weaker strategists the opportunity to allow better generals to destroy each other, or to sow the seeds of distrust and forge alliances later to be broken in a bid for total victory. Each Illuminati group has a special goal and special ability to help them on their way to victory. Sub-groups give income, special abilities, or victory conditions varying on the situation. I love this game and everyone I show it to thinks it's comical, fun, and addictive. A great way to introduce kids to a world that is often ugly and cruel in a way that allows them to understand, but without the terror of boogeymen and fear mongering. Critical thinking and long-term planning skills are tested to the limit in games of 4 to 6 players.

Never a bad gift. Always fun. Great way to break the ice with just about anyone smart enough to be worth knowing anyway. :)

This game is fun and entertaining. Don't get caught up in how big the rule book is. (In my experience, a long rule book is *usually* a good sign anyway.) It looks hard to learn, but it isn't. And once you get it down, you'll have a lot of fun taking over the Adult Movie Industry with Fast Food Chains or the Fast Food Chains with the Boy Sprouts. It's hillarious, but not without substance. You still have to play the game, and the winner race gets quite close at times. Try it. You'll love it.

I LOVE this game. I've played it numerous times throughout college and after. It is a card game of conspiracy and world domination loosely based on the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Moreso it is about the crazy Conpiracy theories behind that and other books. The cards and rules are written with a similar sense of wry inciteful humor as the book, and that's part of the beauty of the game.

Players take the role of one of several "Illuminati" (a secret cabal bent on world domination). They then vie with the other Illuminati at the table for control of organizations which can aid them in world domination. Take over enough organizations, or satisfy your Illuminati's special victory condition, and you win!

Sound simple? It's not! Everyone at the table is trying to do the same thing, and once you successfully get an organization into your 'power structure' it still can be taken away by another player.

This is the ORIGINAL Illuminti game from the 1980's revisited with new art and some new cards that are different from the original set. There is a collectible card game by the same company with a Similar name; Illuminati NWO. They are not the same! In my opinion, this game is vastly superior!

Unlike collectible card games this game will NOT end in 5 or ten minutes. Expect to spend 30-90 minutes to play a single game. You really need to play with 3 or more players to truly enjoy this game, and 4 to 5 is optimal. Although it is possible to play the game with up to 8 players, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU INTEND TO SPEND SEVERAL HOURS PLAYING! With seven or eight opponents stabbing each other in the back, it is impossible to achieve a victory quickly. Yet, there is still plenty of dealing, double-dealing, backstabbing, and fun to be had in this box!

I only have 3 possible negatives to say about this game:
1) The new card art is GREAT, they incorporated much form the INWO game, but the card stock is not playing card quality like the it was in the 1980's version. Instead they went with a cheaper CCG type of card. Do yourself a favor and buy some clear card sleeves for the cards immediately!
2) The money that comes in this verion is in the form of little cardboard "Megabucks". In a previous version they supplied mini poker chips which were much easier to count and stack. The money included with this game is FINE, in fact the first version of the game I owned had the same type of money, and it works well, but when I found a used version with the chips I found it vastly easier to play.
3)This isn't really a problem, just a warning; IF you become a fan, <FNORD> there are two expansions to this game with roughly 110 cards in each (get them!). If you are like me and sleeve all the cards, then the draw pile of cards will be over 8 inches tall! :) I am still looking for a card holder that will allow such a mammoth stack!

Keep the conspiracy alive! Buy this game!

Takes a while to understand the complicated 16 page rule book, but can be done. Only problem is finding 2 to 6 other players willing to play!
Bit disappointing that it's watered down from the original 1995 edition, by omitting the twin towers (terrorist attack) and Centers for disease control, etc. Obviously an Illuminati conspiracy to re write history! Ha ha ha.

This game is amazing. Theres hundreds of cards, all with 'societies' on them. Each society has one or more types. The IRS is considered 'government' and 'criminal'. Theres a lot of rules, so the first game goes kind of slow with new people, but theres something in it for everyone. Theres undercutting, deals, luck, strategy and its a great small party game.

I thought this game was fun and interesting. The rules take a bit to get down, but they are thorough, so you don't have to interpret them.