Hidden Menace: Opening Moves

I’ve been mulling over the “hidden menace” game and trying to plot out how I want the game to flow. Here’s what I’m thinking for the opener.

All players start the game with no allegiance and no agendas. They start by drawing a full hand from a themed card deck. They can then use these cards to inspire and reinforce matching elements of the game world.

Some of the cards in the deck will be “shadow cards”. These can be played from the owning player to introduce clues or rumors about the menace into the game world.

Once one of these clues has been played, another player can turn that clue into an actual threat or hazard. Doing so aligns the player who created the threat with the hidden menace. After a threat is revealed, any remaining neutral players can choose to align themselves with either the menace or the seekers. They may also choose to remain neutral and change when future threats are revealed.

That’s roughly where I’m at right now. I still need to flesh out faction goals a bit more. I know the seekers want to reveal enough leads and advantages to overcome the menace. For menace players, I might make the goal actually involve putting a certain number of shadow cards in play or draining seeker resources. Ideally I want outright stopping the seekers to be against the menace’s best interest. I may also throw in some hidden agenda cards to make things more interesting. As it allows, any further ideas on this would be welcome.