Comments (0) Best Game - 2010

The Citadel

In some ways, The Citadel is like any other live-action role-playing game (LARP) — players pretend to be certain characters and enact scenes within a story (à la Vampire: The Masquerade), and they are often prone to paranoia (à la Assassin). But The Citadel is unique in that players are given a mystery to solve, and game play takes place at various locations throughout Central Phoenix. The premise is that players are agents for The Citadel, a fictional international spy organization. Each game is a chapter in an ongoing story, and game play begins with the story that a double agent has infiltrated The Citadel. Over the course of three or four hours, players try to find out who the intruder is by visiting places around the Valley, examining clues, and interacting with actors who've been planted at different places. It's incredibly immersive (and slightly creepy), which makes it the perfect game to play in downtown Phoenix at night.