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Conspiracy is a game of international espionage. It involves a board full of spaces representing exotic cities. Each of the eight pieces is a ruthless "spy" (technically, courier) who can be moved be any player, but whose loyalties are secretly tied to the player (each possessing a Swiss bank account holding $10,000) who pays the most. The object of the game is to get one of these mercenaries to bring a top-secret briefcase to your headquarters.
Is the game fun? In my opinion, it is an excellent game. It involves much strategy (there are no cards or dice), but of a breed unfamiliar to most gamers, so it may irritate a few. The game is especially well-suited to "relief" purposes; it has a deliciously fresh type of a play, is easy to learn, and has nuggets of tongue-and-cheek-humor. Yet, to fully appreciate this game, one has to adjust to the manner in which it is properly conducted. Therefor, I have provided a few tips to aid play and enjoyment:
First tip: The easiest way to ruin yourself in this game is to spend all of your money too soon. I strongly advise you save your money, and even then, make small payoffs in the beginning. If you do not do this, the game may well be ruined by someone who luckily makes a large payoff to the crucial spy (and you having no funds to do anything about it), or everything will simply become a blood-bath, with players paying to have spies terminated left-and-right.
Second tip: Teamwork. This game has some elements of Diplomacy in it. If someone apparently cannot be stopped, you need to cooperate with the other players (you would be surprised what a coalition of three moves does against one in facilitating the snatching of the case).
Third tip: Do not make it obvious which spies you have paid-off. Try to shock everyone else when the briefcase just happens to fall into the lap of a spy near your headquarters who was not involved in the secret shuffle.
The overall idea: The game has potential for great fun, but only if you play it a certain way, and are in the mood for it.
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