Illusions

The Rebellion needs YOUR help to overthrow the Empire.

The Empire has dozens of battlestations that must be destroyed. In a fortunate turn of events, it's been discovered that a small ship is able to fly inside individual stations and fire torpedoes at unprotected exhaust vents. Unfortunately, even though the Rebellion has ships that travel faster than light, firing the torpedoes must be done by hand and requires excellent visual skills.

The Rebellion needs to recruit talented pilots, and they've come up with the most unexpected location for their secret interviews - an art gallery! The Empire will never suspect that the Rebellion is hosting art events.

You are a prospective pilot, hoping to get paid by the Rebellion to save your nation from the Empire's evil clutches. In the interview, you will be asked to distinguish between two circles. The large circle is only 15% wider than the smaller circle. To make the task even more difficult, the circles are either hidden within other circles, surrounded by lines of confusing widths, or placed on another tricky illusion.

Can you prove your worth to the Rebellion by correctly categorizing the circles?

Try it Out

Too much text here? The mechanics are simple and intuitive. Scroll to the bottom of this page ("See It In Action") to play a solo mini game of Illusions. The images load much better on a desktop.

Game Overview

While the thematic setting of Illusions is inspired by our favorite space saga, the primary skill tested is inspired by the Ebbinghaus visual illusion.

In this example, the orange circle is the same size in both the left and right designs. Most of us have seen this illusion. However, what if the orange circle on the left were actually smaller? Would we realize the truth, or would we fail the interview and assume that our eyes were being tricked?

How to Play Illusions

Before the prospective pilots arrive, a host places between six and nine illusions around the party location. The illusions need to be on flat surfaces and should be at least a couple feet apart. They can be on countertops, end tables, or the floor. This isn't hide and seek though, so don't place illusions where guests can't find them!

After the host has found flat surfaces, place exactly one disc on each illusion. The host chooses which size disc to use and where to place it on the sheet. Discs may not touch the black background, but white circles are available to increase the placement options.

After six or more Illusions are set up, the host places the size reference card, scorepad, and pencils in a central location. As guests arrive, they will take one sheet from the scorepad and complete their interview from there!

Variations

The base game is designed for casual, large group settings with a dedicated host. Players can arrive at separate times, answer at their own pace, and chit chat with other participants. It's an ideal icebreaker for corporate events. Illusions could also be played in a classroom setting or at a party where you don't want to pressure each attendee into participating. However, these are niche situations; most people following this contest don't regularly play with a dozen people!

Groups of 3-6 who want a more traditional modern gaming experience should play the Modern Mode. This variation adds about 15 minutes to game play, increases player interaction, and has additional mechanics.

Another variation removes the need for a host.

Groups of any size who find the base game too difficult should read the rules for Easy Mode, which uses the white chits as the primary centerpieces rather than the black discs. There's even an option to compare the sizes of three white chits - the back of the scorepad has an alternate chart for this variation.

For more info, download the rules pdf.

Components and Contest

While the artwork is the most colorful part of Illusions, the focus of the game is on the plain, black and white components. The 14 and 16 mm black discs are the centerpiece of the base game, and the 1/2 in, 3/4 in, and 1 in white chits are the centerpiece of the easy variant. The torpedoes (green rocket components) are just used in one variant, but the black discs and white chits are the foundation of Illusions.

While playtesting, I realized this game isn't for everyone - some players absolutely hated staring at coin-sized pieces, while others discovered they possessed keen visual discrimination abilities and would fire that torpedo at the perfect moment.

Whether you love or hate this concept, I welcome your feedback!