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An expansion set to the absolutely epic deluxe edition of Illuminati by the brilliant Steve Jackson games. It is a fantastic addition to the deviously intense game of backstabbing and treachery. There is no mercy and Illuminati Y2K makes it that much harder again.
Rules Overview
I wrote a previous blog where I talked a bit about the rules of illuminati in 2nd edition. The deluxe edition and 2nd edition are the same so please check back to get an overview of play.
The principle is to either acquire so many groups for your Illuminati depending on the amount of players in the game. Or you complete your Illuminati’s unique victory condition. All players have 2 routes to victory, collecting the groups as a common goal or their unique objective. This is something all players do need to observe on what their opponents are up to.
This expansion doesn’t add any new rules to the game. Just additional content. It does intensify things with the types of cards included within.
Illuminati
2 new Illuminati cards are added into the mix with this expansion to mix it up. The Church of the Sub genius and Shangri-la.
The Church of the sub genius is a quirky group for sure. Not overly powerful but they do have a healthy income. However, for their special ability to be effective, they have to take a battering. It’s somewhat counter productive. This is further problematic because their goal is to control one less card than the global victory condition. So if 10 groups are needed the Church of the Subgenius only needs 9. If players successfully intervene with this, at least they are well paid.
Shangri-la, as you would expect, is peaceful. They are not very strong or particularly wealthy, but will win if they control 5 peaceful groups. They get big bonuses as well for making these attempts.
New Groups
A feast of new group cards to get stuck into trying to acquire alongside the existing content. From defense contractors, to Elvis impersonators, to the brilliant Gamers that we can all relate to. The content adds a lot of depth to the deck and more variety in what comes into play.
My particular favourite card in the deck is the Saturday morning Cartoons. It’s just a happy memory for me. I loved them. Plus the card has a decent income which is useful in game play.
New Specials
26 new special cards and if you don’t want to utilize them for a privileged attack, you might use them to disrupt the game. The artwork is incredible on all the cards but particularly these cards. The Flower Power card is hilarious and also incredibly helpful if protecting your peaceful groups.
Then there is the “I lied” card. This one is rough. After a titanic event of negotiating and bartering an effort to complete an action, which has seen a lot of money assigned to it. When you play this card, you, as the owner of the card, take back all your money input, whereas others are stuck with the final deal made. This leads to several explicit comments for sure.
Final Thoughts.
If you are a fan of Illuminati, quite simply add this set to your game as it only improves the game so makes it great value. I think it is fantastic and probably in need of a little reboot like 2nd edition. Definitely check that out.
