Restoration Games to Bring Back Conspiracy at Origins 2019

Restoration Games to Bring Back Conspiracy at Origins 2019
Board Game: Conspiracy
U.S. publisher Restoration Games, which most recently blew the doors off Kickstarter with its campaign for a new edition of Fireball Island, has announced the next title to be "restored" as part of the company's efforts to revive nostalgic favorites and make them play as well as we think they played at the time: Eric Solomon's Conspiracy. Here's an overview of the gameplay in that design, which first debuted in 1973:

Quote:
There are four capitals, four bankbooks, one top secret briefcase and eight greedy spies that anyone can control. The object is to move the briefcase to your headquarters. Players can either secretly pay off or openly move a spy one space on their turn. Each player has an account of $10,000 and can bribe spies in increments of at least $100. If you move a spy, another player may challenge the move. The two players then slowly reveal how much money they each have on the spy in question. If the challenger wins, the move is rescinded. If the defender wins, the move stays and the challenger loses his next turn. Players need to cooperate against whichever player is closest to victory. You can conspire openly to swipe the case or murder a spy and turn the tables on a player who is a mere one space away from winning. No dice, no cards, no luck involved. Learn to work together or games will end in a hurry.
Conspiracy was released under a number of different titles over the years — Sigma File, Agent, Casablanca — and anyone who's seen the game will recall its distinctive components for the spies:


Board Game: Conspiracy


The Restoration Games version bears the title Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit to honor the game's original designer, and it will debut at the 2019 Origins Game Fair in June. In addition to now supporting 2-4 players (instead of 3-4, as was the case with most earlier versions), the game has a few other changes to the game as well, thanks to co-designers Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, and Justin D. Jacobson:

Quote:
This restored edition offers two new twists on the original gameplay. First, each agent has a unique ability that lets them move an agent or the briefcase for free. Second, an alternate win condition eliminates stalling and potential stalemates. If no one wins within a certain number of turns, Dr. Solomon can end the game immediately, and whoever has paid off the most to him wins the game. However, if you pay off too much to Dr. Solomon early in the game, that can leave you with little control over the other agents, forcing you to strike a tricky balance between immediate and long-term goals.
Board Game: Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit


Restoration notes that it won't feature the marble busts of the earlier releases, modernizing the game with art by Matt Griffin and spy components that look like this:

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