I have a confession to make. I got a new computer game this week, The Sims, and I'm hooked. OK, completely addicted. I can't stop playing it and my only hope is that I eventually play it so much that I can't stand to look at it any more . . . but that hasn't happened yet. So I haven't put as much time as I would've liked into this article, but I think you'll enjoy it anyway.

To briefly explain The Sims, you build a house and people to live in it, and then watch them. Each character has 6 stats, 6 skills, and 10 alternating ratings that tell you their mood at the moment. Then they (or you) make decisions about what they should do. Learning skills will get them job promotions, but drops their "fun" rating. They have to find time to eat, clean, use the bathroom, sleep and work. They need to be comfortable, have fun and make friends. Having money lets them buy new conveniences or hire a maid, gardener, or cook. A fun simulation that is very customizable. I recommend it.

Since this month's theme is conspiracies, I thought I'd take a quick look at what sort of conspiracy-type games are around. Most of these are traditional roleplaying games, but there are a few card games as well.

Bureau 13, by Tri Tac

Players are part of an elite, troubleshooting team that go around the world killing aliens, vampires and anything else that isn't supposed to exist.

Chill, by Mayfair

Players are part of a team of paranormal investigators in this one too, but it's more a horror game than a "let's see what kind of monster we can hunt down and kill" game.

Conspiracy X, by Eden Studios

The players are part a conspiracy, descended from the Roswell crash, fighting the terrible forces of invading aliens, other conspiratorial groups, all the while keeping themselves a secret.

GURPS Black Ops, by Steve Jackson Games

Players belong to a secret organization that covers up, investigates and battles all kinds of alien or supernatural weirdness.

GURPS Illuminati, by Steve Jackson Games

The sourcebook for running a game that involves world spanning conspiracies. Generic enough to work for any system.

Hidden Invasion, by Nightshift Games

You're part of the conspiracy again. Claims to be the most extensively researched alien conspiracy game every published.

Men in Black, by West End Games

The RPG based on the movie.

Over the Edge, by Atlas Games

Game takes place on the island of El-Amarja, a place where everyone is conspiring against everyone else.

This group of games falls into the category of "Immortals Living Among Us," and while not strictly a game about conspiracies, the players all belong to a secret conspiracy trying to influence (or just survive) modern society.

Immortal, by Precedence Publishing

In Nomine, by Steve Jackson Games

Nephilim, by Chaosium

Nightlife, by Stellar Games

Vampire: The Masquerade, by White Wolf

(as well as Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, Changeling, and all other World of Darkness products)

Witchcraft, by Eden Studios

Many Horror RPGs also feature the theme of a small group of normal people stumbling on a dark conspiracy of cultists bent on summoning great, evil monsters. Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosium, is the classic and one of their supplements even supposes a group of elite forces reacting to such threats.

The classic game of conspiracies is Illuminati, by Steve Jackson Games. Originally published in 1979, this card game has each player being the leader of a different conspiracy. The players seek to control other organizations (each represented by a card), trying to reach the goal of a certain number of organizations, or a special goal, which is different for each conspiracy. This classic card game was also published with different rules as a collectible card game called Illuminati: New World Order.

Doomsday Cult 2000 is a card game, somewhat similar to Illuminati, but much easier to learn and quicker to play, in which each player is the leader of a cult that has decreed the end of the world. They must then try to gain enough followers by that date in order to bring about the end of the world, and be declared the true prophet. The game was designed by Matt Hyra, a Seattle local, and may not be available outside of Washington State.

--Tim Morgan

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