9
These optional rules will provide you with many new
ways of playing Illuminati. Add them one at a time or in any
combination you like. The game may become as intricate
and complicated as you please. The choice is yours. Use
your power wisely . . .
Adjusting Game Length
A game usually lasts from 1!/2 to 3 hours. For a longer
game, increase the number of Groups required for the Basic
Goal.
For a very long game, ignore both the Basic and the
Special Goals and play until there are no cards left uncon-
trolled. Then add up the total Power of each player’s Groups,
plus 1 for each Group controlled. The winner is the player
with the highest score.
Hidden Goals
Each Illuminati Group has its normal special power, but
no Group (except the UFOs) has its normal Special Goal.
Instead, each player chooses one possible Goal from the list
and writes it down, just as the UFOs normally do. Increase
the UFOs’ Power by 1 to make up for the loss of one of their
advantages.
Hidden Illuminati
Each player keeps his Illuminati Group upside-down!
Only the player knows which Illuminati he controls. A
player can only use the Power, Income, and special power of
his own Group – but he is never required to use all of his
Power or Income, or reveal his special power. (Anyone
caught cheating is out of the game!)
During the action phase of his turn, a player may make
an accusation against another player (for example, “I think
you’re Cthulhu”). This counts as one of the player’s two
actions, but does not count against any specific Group. An
incorrect accusation has no effect; a correct identification
forces the identified Illuminati to play face-up.
The advantage to being unidentified, of course, is that
your Special Goal is unknown to the other players. However,
once the UFOs are identified, they are played face-up, but
their true Goal remains unknown!
Alternative Rule: An unidentified Illuminati may legally
“overstate” his Power and/or Income by 1, until he is identified.
Larger Games
Normally, no more than six should play at once. But
there are eight Illuminati cards. If you use them all, expect
the game to last at least three or four hours. For a seven-
player game, the income of each Illuminati card should be
increased by 3 MB per turn. In an eight-player game,
increase Illuminati incomes by 5 MB per turn.
Cheating
Some fiendish people think Illuminati is even more fun
when nothing – not even the bank – is sacred. In this variant
of the game, most forms of cheating are permitted.
Exceptions:
1. You may not tip over the table or disarrange opposing
Power Structures.
2. You may not bring in counterfeit money, or money
from other sets.
3. You may not cheat on the amount of money drawn
from the bank during setup or the Income phase. (This
would slow things down too much.)
Anything else goes. Anyone caught in the act must undo
that cheat. There is no other penalty.
Suggested methods for cheating include:
1. Accidentally misread the dice.
2. Steal from the bank (other than during the Income
phase).
3. Lie about the amount of Power or Resistance your
Groups have.
4. Stack the deck, or peek ahead.
5. If anyone leaves the table, anything goes!
We recommend you play the Cheating Game only with
very good friends, or with people you will never see again.
ADVANCED RULES
Conspiring for a shared victory may seem easier
than grabbing the whole pie. But be careful who you
trust.
When someone leaves the room, conspire against
him. There is almost always a way you can make your
positions a little bit better and his a little bit worse.
Negotiate with everyone. Your foes are less likely
to attack you if they think you might make a deal that
will help them win.
To avoid being attacked, you should look strong
enough to defend yourself, but not so strong that you
are a threat.
Watch the other players constantly; keep track of
how close they are to their Goals. If they have Special
cards, they are more likely to be able to win in a
single turn. Don’t count on other players to warn you
of danger; they may have made a private deal!
The Power Structure
There are many ways to assemble a Power
Structure from the Groups you control. Some ways
are better than others.
The example given earlier in the rules (Figure 2,
p. 3) is a good Power Structure because it leaves sev-
eral control arrows open. Figure 5, to the right, shows
another legal Power Structure, using exactly the same
Groups. This one, however, is a bad one – or at least,
less desirable. The Groups get in each other’s way!
Although the Illuminati have one unused control arrow,
that arrow is blocked – the Antiwar Activists are in the way.
The Congressional Wives have one open control arrow and
can take over another Group. The Democrats have two open
arrows, but only the end one can be used – the one on the
side is blocked by the Congressional Wives!
Also, take care that your Power Structure is balanced. If
all of your Groups branch from a single Illuminati control
arrow after the third turn, you are in great danger of being
eliminated in a single attack.
Negotiations
Deals can be made either openly or secretly. Some pos-
si ble deals include:
1. The player who controls the IRS agrees to forego
another’s taxes in exchange for a promise from that player
not to attack him.
2. One player sees that another will achieve her Goal at
the end of the turn if he does not interfere. He might agree
not to interfere in exchange for a gift that will also satisfy his
own Goals, thereby sharing the victory.
3. A player threatens to destroy one of your Groups. You
think he can. You might try bribing him (in this case bribery
is treated as a gift) to get him to attack someone else instead.
4. Two players agree to cooperate throughout the game
so that they both achieve their Goals at the same time – of
course, one may stab the other in the back!
5. A player offers money to anybody who will attack his
particular foe.
6. Two or more players form a coalition to bring down a
rival who is getting too near victory.
The possibilities are limited only by your own duplicity.
Remember, though, that money may be exchanged only
between Illuminati treasuries.
Capturing Several
Groups at Once
Protecting those Groups which control many puppets is
vitally important – you stand to lose greatly if one is taken
from you. Equally true: A game can be won by a well-timed
strike at a Group that controls several puppets and fits well
into your power structure.
10
STRATEGY
Figure 5.
The player in this example will need to reorganize
his Power Structure – possibly wasting valuable time – before
long. The player in Figure 2 (p. 3) is free to expand. Careful
attention is necessary when adding or moving Groups.