It’s a heavy day here in the CPG office, so I wanted to drop the “conspiracy theorist” character and talk about our tabletop passion. Jake and I are not on Kickstarter to make a lot of money. We make games to give us more ways to engage with our friends (both present and future) and enjoy their company. There are a lot of emotions out there in the world right now; we want to reinforce the beliefs we value as game makers and explore the positive qualities of story games. Intrinsic to this are convictions about equality and acceptance.
Conspire Design - Sidebars
Conspire is meant to simulate tense meetings between powerful people. Every scene has extremely high stakes. The decisions of the group lead to disenfranchisement, subjugation, or death for individuals or factions. Regardless of how silly or absurd the universe becomes, the inhabitants of a Conspire game have everything to lose. Players start with little knowledge of others’ goals, leaving them feeling alone, clueless, and desperate. The stakes force them to act with confidence and build uneasy alliances. As the game progresses, the mysteriousness of the scene is replaced with politics and more-or-less earnest negotiation. To both improve these alliances and retain the scene’s intrigue, Conspire has a mechanic called “sidebars”. This is the ability to physically walk to another room with other players and have a private conversation.
Conspire - Production Timeline
As the Conspire Kickstarter nears its end, we are looking towards the future. We want to be open about the process and give everyone a clear idea of what it will take to make the game. The Conspire team (Jake and Alex) have a rough timeline from the Kickstarter being funded to our promised delivery date in September. Here is how we are thinking about this project and what steps we will go through to get you your game.