space whales

Conspire Design - Humor

Is Conspire a comedy game? This question sparked a long, post-game discussion at OrcaCon. We had just finished a ten-player session about using giant robots to fend off sentient space whales who wanted to terraform and colonize the human-controlled Mars. Between space walls, militant ghosts, a space whale supreme ruler, and a general plan to stuff the whales in a water asteroid, yeah… it was a silly game. It was also a bizarre parody of the 2016 US Presidential Election that allowed for catharsis and a better outcome (particularly if you are a space whale sympathizer). Conspire can be an utter giggle-fest, but does it have to be? Can you use it to play a straight-faced, political deduction game?