IDW Games returns with another title in their Everything is Connected series with X Files Conspiracy Theory!
With the Everything is Connected games, players take turns telling a story with their cards. In the X Files version each story is a conspiracy. Hence the subtitle “Conspiracy Theory”. The game is meant for three or more players. In our house getting three players together for a game can be quite difficult on its own, more than three and it can be downright impossible. With Conspiracy Theory and its predecessor (Dirk Gently’s Everything is Connected) we were only able to play with three of us. With both games it can easily be played with the minimum number of players and still be enjoyable. However, I can see how filling out all the chairs in your kitchen (or wherever you play) with more players can make for a much more entertaining evening. The only downside to having more players is that with each additional player game time is increased significantly.
For a player to win they must simply create the best conspiracies using the cards on hand in three rounds. As I mentioned though, that with more than three players your gameplay will likely take much longer. Three players will likely finish an entire game in about 30 minutes (including time to read the manual). More than that though I would expect about ten additional minutes per added player.
A sample of some of the absurd and also some more obvious choices
The winning hand- sometimes it’s not the most obvious, its the best story told!
My favorite aspect of these games is seeing how wild our conspiracies become as the game progresses. Many times I would look at my options and think that I had the perfect conspiracy to win the round and just as many times have my wife or her father come up with a conspiracy that is not only absurd, but so wild it wins the round, making mine look completely half-assed in the process. Alternatively my only complaint comes to dumb luck. There are times where the cards available are too difficult to think of some worthwhile conspiracies. You have to be quick thinking and some of the time, especially late into the night, the stories aren’t creative enough to win the round. This game is best played while you are still firing on all cylinders. Of course if the other players aren’t on all cylinders then you may have an upper hand just when you might need it.
I have no doubt this game will make the regular rounds with our family as we all love the opportunity to create and tell stories and this game gives us the perfect outlet for that creativity. If you have any friends that enjoy writing or telling stories this would make for a perfect gift for them as well! If you enjoy conspiracies or the X-Files then you will love this game, of that I have no doubt. I hope to see more “Everything is Connected” titles but fear that too many versions and the concept will get old. At least in the meantime I need to get back to the game because there are quite a few more conspiracies left for this brain to cook up.
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