How Steve Jackson's 'Illuminati' game came about

Above is the excerpt from an interview in Mondo 2000 posted on Bluesky, here for your convenience is my transcript:

M2: What are some of the other games in the SJ Games line?

SJ: Well, of course therer's Illuminati.

M2: How did that come about? Where you a fan of the Illuminatus Trilogy?

SJ: Oh yes! That came about when Dave Martin [the guy who did the cover art for the game] and I were drinking wine and talking about life, the universe and everything.

M2: One of my favorite drinking conversations!

SJ: Right. Anyway, the subject got around to how you could make a game out of the Shea and Wilson books. I didn't think you could do a game based on the actual characters and events ... what with yellow submarines, Discordians and a giant octopus running all over the place. It would be too tough. A few days later, I was driving someplace when it occurred to me that you could build it all around a deck of cards. After I got the car under control ....

M2: (Laughs)

SJ. No really! I sat there in the front seat and started taking notes. I realized that rather than trying to use the world that Shea and Wilson had envisioned, I would go back to their source material.

M2: You mean basic fear and paranoia?

SJ: Yeah, right. No, I mean the Principia Discordia. Did you know that it actually exists?

M2: Oh, yes.

SJ: A lot of people don't. Anyway, we decided to focus just on the conspiracy theory aspects of Illuminatus. After that the creation of the game became absolutely simple.

With Mr. Jackson's permission, my new Robert Shea book has a short piece that Shea wrote for the Illuminati game.