لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Sanctioned Cheating: Illuminati
For a different approach to the integration of rule-breaking into a game, we turn to Illuminati, a humorous strategic tabletop game based on the Illuminatus books by Robert Anton Wilson. In the game, players take on the role of all-powerful Illuminati, the shadowy power brokers pulling the strings behind world governments. The original edition of Illuminati contained an optional set of rules for cheating: Cheating:
Some fiendish people think Illuminati is even more fun when nothing, not even the bank, is sacred. In this variant of the game, most forms of cheating are permitted. Exceptions:
You may not tip over the table or disarrange opposing power structures.
You may not bring in counterfeit money or money from other sets.
You may not cheat on the amount of money drawn from the bank during setup or the income phase (this would slow things down too much).
Anything else goes. Anyone caught in the act must undo that cheat. There is no other penalty. Suggested methods for cheating include:
Accidentally misread the dice.
Steal from the bank (other than during the income phase).
Lie about the amount of power or resistance your groups have.
Stack the deck or peek ahead.
If anyone leaves the table, anything goes!
We recommend you play the cheating game only with very good friends or with people you will never see again.[3]
These "rules" for cheating in Illuminati provide a fascinating example of the relationship between rule-following and rule-breaking. Normally, cheating is considered something that runs counter to the spirit of the game rules. But in Illuminati, the sanctioned formal system of the game actually contains rules for cheating. Illuminati's rules for cheating are different than rule-breaking in professional sports. In sports rule violations, most fouls are committed by players performing as close as possible to the limits of what the rules allow. In the real-world context of athletic performance, sometimes players miscalculate and end up breaking a rule. But in Illuminati, the suggested modes of cheating focus explicitly on player deception. The rules above directly suggest out-and-out, down-and-dirty cheating.The rules are not descriptions of penalties for fouls: they are proscriptions for different ways to cheat! In fact, there is no explicit penalty for being caught cheating, other than undoing the effect of the cheat. Sanctioned cheating can easily destroy a game. Are Illuminati's "cheating rules" a recipe for anarchy, or are they a well-designed extension of the rest of the rulebook? It seems like a contradiction that the rules themselves contain suggestions for transgressive play. But a close look at the rules reveals the care taken in crafting this section of Illuminati's formal structure. Illuminati places numerous formal restrictions on the scope of possible cheating. Forbidding players from tipping over the table (a classic spoil-sport action) lets players know that they cannot completely disrupt the game for the other players. Keeping players from inflating their income ensures that the game will not get too bogged down in mathematical squabbling. Permitted cheating focuses on keeping the rule-breaking play constrained, so that things do not swing too wildly outside the magic circle. For example, the rule that keeps players from smuggling money in from other sets of the game performs a number of regulatory functions. It keeps the designed economy of the game intact, while not letting players with "outside" resources (such as their own copy of the game) from gaining an unfair advantage. The result is that even with cheating, the game is contained within the magic circle, so that all of the players have an equal chance of being skillful cheats. The magic circle is such a strong focus of the cheating rules that when a player actually leaves the physical space of the game by getting up from the table, the rules state that "anything goes." Players are clearly discouraged from exiting a game in progress. In addition to formal restrictions, the cheating rules go so far as to shape the lusory attitude of the players that might want to use them. The statements that begin and end the cheating rules place it within a particular context. The opening statement, which implies that only "fiendish" players would play this game variation, and the suggestions at the end, which imply that only good friends or near-strangers play this version of the game, are revealing. By removing the artificial nature of the game conflict, cheating can destroy the implicit camaraderie of the magic circle, letting its conflict leak out to infect the real-world relationships of players. Only friendships strong enough to weather such an experience or more disposable relationships in which further contact is not desired are appropriate.
The very notion that the rules could sanction cheating is a bit outrageous, but it ultimately fits the spirit of the game and its narrative world quite well. Illuminati is a parodic game about hidden organizations that rule the world, where the players are secret power brokers manipulating governments, media, and culture to their own devious ends. Seen in this light, the idea that the rules themselves are also subject to manipulation fits within the overall narrative trajectory of the game. Rule-break-ing is a way of expressing the humorous critique of power that Illuminati the game embodies. In the right context, sanctioned cheating can be an innovative way to enrich a game design. But it must be done with great care. Beneath the light-hearted tone of Illuminati's rules is a careful design allowing only those forms of cheating that leave the game intact, playable, and meaningful. Cheating in Illuminati does not remove all rules and boundaries from the game: it serves to re-draw them. Although the new boundaries might be drawn in lines that are considerably more fuzzy, a clear formal system remains. Even cheating is something that can be intentionally designed to facilitate meaningful play. [3]Illuminati: The Game of Conspiracy, Fourth Edition (Austin: Steve Jackson Games, 1991), p. 9–10.
