Conspiracy
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Social Deduction/Strategy Hybrid
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2018
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Tabletop
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Solo Project
Overview
The Illuminati has infiltrated the government and is going to carry out their secret plot! This game pits two investigators against two conspirators as the conspirators try to fulfill the requirements of their secret plan as fast as possible while the investigators try to figure it out and foil the plot before it's too late.
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The catch: team members sit diagonally apart from eachother. Exposing secrets could be a death sentence, so players will have to communicate discretely through actions within the game or more directly through limited note passing opportunities.
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The game revolves around the fusion of two core mechanics: a card deck system and a worker placement system. Using the worker placement system, players can block opponents from action they think they might want to take, and signal to their ally what needs to be done (but also to their enemy.) Investigators can search through a deck of "scheme cards" to try to figure out the conspirator's plot, but the conspirators themselves can manipulate the deck to throw the investigators off their track.
Reference sheet for plot types and personnel
Takeaways for Next Version
What went well
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Worker placement transitioned well into social deduction game
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Systems encourage teamwork
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Makes both teams feel like the underdog
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What went wrong
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Strict four player limit made it hard to playtest
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Deck system was too easy to fill with red herrings
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Note passing mechanic was ignored in favor of other actions
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Weaker strategy element ended up being pronounced over social deduction focus.
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How next version will be different
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Replace deck system
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Expand rules to account for 6 and 8 players.
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Lean more into social deduction gameplay
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Simplify mechanics
"Alchemy: the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art..."