History TabletopGame / IlluminatiNewWorldOrder

* BribingYourWayToVictory: Largely averted In Real Life. Rare cards were often simply unique or funny, not necessarily the most powerful cards. (Although, in-game, the ''Bribery'' card changes any die roll retroactively to a 2, meaning automatic success...so the ''Bribery'' card literally lets you bribe your way to victory.)

* {{NATO}}: At the time this game was published, ''NATO'' was still trying to determine its purpose; the Soviet Union had just collapsed. The artwork on the card--two commanders holding up a straw man--was highly appropriate at the time.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Some cards are clearly in the game to be jokes, although they all have *some* sort of utility. For example, Al Amarja, the island from OverTheEdge, is in the game; this was in "retaliation" for the CCG version of that game including a card called the Bavarian Illuminati. (Both designers, of course, were in on it.)

* ColdWar: Sadly, averted. The game was released right after the fall of Soviet Russia (unlike its spiritual parent, the original Illuminati, which played up Cold War paranoia to the max). Thankfully, Steve Jackson Games had some fun with it. You can play ''Russia'' which is ''not'' Communist...but they get a bonus to control ''other'' communist groups, and other communist group have a bonus to control ''them.''

* TheEighties: Generally averted; the game was released in the early 90's, and most cards were geared towards more "generic" conspiracies (and an acknowledgement that the ColdWar was over). However, a lot of the Personalities became dated very quickly; both ''Ronald Reagan'' and ''Nancy Reagan'' are cards, as are ''Ollie North,'' ''Margaret Thatcher'' and ''Imelda Marcos.''

* PublicDomainArtifact: Most of the Artifact Resources fall into this category: ''Holy Grail,'' ''Ark of the Covenant,'' ''Spear of Longinus,'' ''Hammer of Thor,'' ''Shroud of Turin,'' and so on...

* GeorgeHWBush: This game is almost a satirical (or not) love letter to the first George Bush (which makes sense, given the time frame it was released in). Pretty much any phrase that Bush is known for (''Kinder and Gentler,'' ''Read My Lips,'' ''A Thousand Points Of Light,'' ''Voodoo Economics,'' etc.) are in the game. The actual ''George Bush'' card is pretty weak, with the at-the-time amusing ability of only being Conservative when their owner ''wants'' him to be.

* [[FlyingSaucer [=UFOs=]]]: The classical "grey alien" depiction of extra-terrestrials. They have the weakest Power but get two Illuminati tokens.

* MainstreamMedia: ''Big Media'' pretty much encompasses it all. ''Cable TV'' and ''Madison Avenue,'' along with a lot of other Media cards also count.

* {{Cracker}}: The ''Hackers'' group and the ''Phone Phreaks'' apply. The Illuminati group ''The Network'' kind of encompasses the entire trope.

* CriticalFailure: A roll of 11 or 12 is always a failure, no matter what. While there aren't any CriticalHit, there are quite a few cards that manipulate die rolls to be the functional equivalent.

* {{Curse}}: A few cards involve Curses: ''Voudinistas'', ''Couterspell'', ''Withering Curse'', and ''W.I.T.C.H.''

* WhyWontYouDie: Averted. Destroyed groups have the ability to come back to life. Cards like ''And STAY Dead'' and ''The Men In Black'' have abilities that make sure dead groups STAY dead. However, bringing dead cards back into the game is chancy, costly, and rare, and the number of abilities that make things ''permanently'' dead far outnumber the methods of bringing them back in the first place, making most of these cards useless.

* BigApplesauce: The New York card is the most powerful (printed) card in the game. And while the artwork and special ability reference New York City, WordOfGod (i.e., the FAQ) notes that it's the state.

* CaptainErsatz: While the game has no problem directly parodying various groups and personalities, either for trademark, humor, or stylistic reasons used a suspiciously similar name instead of the real thing. Notable examples included ''Fnord Motor Company'' (for Ford Motor Company); ''Boy Sprouts'' for the Boy Scouts; ''Bjorne'' for Barney the Dinosaur; ''Gordo Remora'' for Geraldo Rivera; ''Triliberal Commission'' for Trilateral Commission; ''Empty Vee'' for MTV; and ''Rifkinites'' as a substitute for Luddites and anti-technology crusader Jeremy Rifkin. Some of the artwork also uses replacement titles; the Privatization card, for example, introduces "Burger Czar," presumably Russia's new Burger King.

* MetaFiction: The card ''Regi$tered Trademark'' forces you to deliberately pronounce a specific card. ''Australia'' gives its owner a bonus if it's a weekend, after hours, or a national holiday In Real Life. The [=SubGenius=] card ''Jesus B.'' lets you get an extra action if you actually send the Church a dollar.

* EatTheRich: A card, ''Eat The Rich'' literally depicts this in the artwork, complete with an apple in the mouth. Of course, it grants a bonus to destroy powerful groups.

* TheEighties: Generally inverted; the game was released in the early 90's, and most cards were geared towards more "generic" conspiracies (and an acknowledgement that the ColdWar was over). However, a lot of the Personalities became dated very quickly; both ''Ronald Reagan'' and ''Nancy Reagan'' are cards, as are ''Ollie North,'' ''Margaret Thatcher'' and ''Imelda Marcos.''

* BribingYourWayToVictory: Largely averted. Rare cards were often simply unique or funny, not necessarily the most powerful cards.

* XMustNotWin: If you see the ''Nuclear Power Companies,'' the ''I.R.S.,'' or the ''Servants of Cthulhu'' come out, changes are they've just painted a huge target on their back.

* ExtraTurn: The card ''Seize the Time'' allows a player to "take" the turn of a rival, effectively getting an out-of-turn turn. Can only be done once per game, though, and is pretty costly.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: There's a card specifically called that. Sadly, it just causes them to discard a card. In gameplay, getting two of your rivals to fight each other while you sit back is a common (and lucrative) tactic.

* EmergentGameplay: With the huge number of cards, some...odd tactics were bound to be discovered. And how! Example: One card, Bjorne (a parody of Barney the Dinosaur) allows the player who destroys him to draw one Plot card for every point of Bjorne's power at the time. Of course, there are plenty of ways to boost power temporarily, and a key deck was quickly made that allowed a player to boost Bjorne's power to 20+, assassinate him, use a card to guarantee its success, and then take nearly your entire deck and add it to your hand. The errata quickly clarified that they meant *permanent* power, not temporary boosts.

* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: A staple of many Steve Jackson Games, there is a card called ''Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.'' It's a versatile card-canceller.