Lead your secret society out of the shadows and into the light in this thematic, mid-heavyweight strategy game.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Marching Forward + Blue Army Secrets
7 months ago
– Sat, Nov 08, 2025 at 11:09:05 AM
Hello Friends--
As promised in our last update, we've finalized our remaining contract with our manufacturer - Panda - and are beginning to send files their way for review. As I have more concrete details on the manufacturing timeline and where we'll fall in their queue, I'll fine-tune the timelines, but with the contract signed I feel confident stating that Clandestine will be making its way to you in the spring (or for our friends in the southern hemisphere - the fall).
In the meantime, I'll continue to share details about each society's secrets - this time, delving deep into the secrets of the Blue Army!
The Blue Army is one of the more straightforward societies to play and can really set the pace of the game as they have the ability to regularly manipulate the public track - working towards strong core actions needed to ascend.
Level I Secrets (12)
Six of the Blue Army's initial secrets draw followers from adjacent spaces to your space for more powerful actions. The other six allow the Blue Army to recruit new followers directly into the city - permanently increasing the number of followers in the game.
Note that all of their secrets' top effects only influence public spaces (such is the way with the Blue Army - the least subtle of them all...).
Level II Secrets (9)
When the Blue Army adds their Level II secrets into their deck, their lure on the public becomes more powerful. Now they can use them to lure more followers from even farther away with 6 of their secrets. Four of them even have the ability to draw universal followers from public spaces into their society's chambers.
Two of their secrets give them access to Deep Alchemy tokens and - one of them - actually lets them move two leaders from up to 2 spaces away.
The Blue Army acts like a magnet - drawing pawns (and therefore strength) to a singular location which they can put to powerful use.
Level III Secrets (6)
The Level III secrets allow the Blue Army to start cashing in on groups of followers in public. As a society focused on rallying the public, their level III secrets reward earlier efforts to increase the number of followers in the city with gold, energy, and intrigue!
Level IV Secrets (3)
The Level IV secrets for the Blue Army provide access to intrigue for large masses of followers. Whether it's public followers, universal followers, or both types - look for clumps of followers to turn these secrets into instant intrigue points!
Conjunction Secret (1)
The Blue Army's most powerful secret - unlocked by assigning relics around their society to match the pattern provided by their Conjunction - provides intrigue points for every public follower in play. Astute followers of Clandestine will note that this card likely pays out less in two-player games than five-player games and that's by design. With the smaller public track in two-player games, the Blue Army's lower level secrets tend to be more powerful since followers aren't often far apart. The Declaration of Independence evens the playing field by scaling the Blue Army's advantage in lower player counts with the more expansive board (and higher amount of public followers) in higher player counts.
What do you think? Does the Blue Army sing to you? Control of the masses and the ability to set the pace of the game? If so, be sure to make it one of the first societies you choose when Clandestine makes its way to your table.
I'll continue to share more society secrets in my next update and expect to have more precise dates to share once I know where we fall in Panda's queue and how quickly we're able to get through our pre-press reviews. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments.
Until next time...
--Jason
Secrets of the Mariner's Union
8 months ago
– Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 06:37:25 AM
Hello Friends...
It's time again to delve into the secrets of one of Clandestine's societies. What I won't keep secret, though, is the fact that I'm days away from handing the files off to Panda to begin manufacturing! They're providing me with an updated quote while my graphic designer and I clean up the solo mode and credits pages of the rulebook. I'm thrilled with how everything has come together and can't wait to see all of our digital work start to come to reality in the physical world.
While that transpires, ....actually... BEFORE, I dive into the Mariner's Union's secrets, I wanted to show you the updates we've made to the Clandestine Box top!
Clandestine's Box Top
We had to deepen the box to accompany the great custom trays that will hold all of your components snugly inside and when we did so, we realized we had a great opportunity to showcase more of the great art from Clandestine's three artists (Meredith Dillman - characters; Joan Belda - society & city paths; James Churchill - relics) on the sides.
What do you think of this updated version? If you store your games horizontally or vertically, which side are you most excited to display?
Secrets of the Mariner's Union
OK, NOW, here's a peek inside the world of the Mariner's Union - a society obsessed with the arcane and eclectic world of Clandestine's relics.
The main area where each society's uniqueness and asymmetry comes through in Clandestine is in their deck of secrets. While each society has their own society path leaning into their society's strengths (e.g. the Mariner's Union have a 2nd Discover space since they lean heavily into relics), the individual secret cards are where each society truly comes to life.
Secrets can ultimately be used in 1 of 4 ways:
Played (1 per turn) for your society's ability on top OR
Played (1 per turn) to augment your action or gain resources with the more common "OR" action on the bottom OR
Discarded as part of the Ascend action to spend the required matching relic strength OR
Held in your hand until the end of the game to score the point value in the upper left of the card
Let's dive into the secrets of the Mariners' Union! The Mariner's Union are one of the more straightforward societies to play as they are laser focused on acquiring all of the relics they can get their hands on and capitalizing on any and all use of the Relic Map.
Level I Secrets (12)
Five of the Mariner's Union secrets affect the Relic Map directly. Three of them add an extra space above one of the routes for the rest of the game where relics can be obtained by the Mariner's Union for one extra strength (or for three extra strength by their opponents). Two of their secrets permanently reduce the costs for the Mariner's Union to obtain relics further from the city.
Three of their secrets are best used when the Mariner's Union has amassed a large hand of secrets. (They have a relic hand limit which is two larger than all other societies.)
Finally, four of their Level I secrets allow them to acquire specific suits of relics without paying any of the additional costs normally levied when using the Discover action.
Level II Secrets (9)
When the Mariner's Union adds their Level II secrets into their deck, they gain a path to Deep Alchemy tokens, as well as some powerful cards which - when played alongside the Relic Map - give the Mariner's Union a boon when any opponent takes the Discover action.
Additionally, there are secrets which again reward the Mariner's Union for having a lot of relics in their hand as well as some that allow the Mariner's Union the ability to assign a card to their society for free.
If it's not obvious yet, the Mariner's Union has MANY ways to benefit when they lean into relics and the Discover action.
Level III Secrets (6)
The Level III secrets unlock even more powerful potential payouts when opponents use the Discover action. Two secrets allow the Mariner's Union a fast path to a random relic (potentially finding one that isn't available on the Relic Map or will get them to that next ascension faster). There are also two secrets with large payouts of Gold and/or Intrigue Points based on relics in their hand or relics assigned to their society.
Level IV Secrets (3)
The Level IV secrets for the Mariner's Union continue to center around relics. One gives the player a fast path to add 3 relics (out of 5) from the deck into their hand. One allows the player to assign (or reassign) up to 3 relics around their society allowing you to achieve your conjunction if you have yet to (or) to maximize your assigned relics to improve end game scoring. The last one provides a path to a big payout of Gold or Energy based on the current relic map (which can be substantial - especially if you increased the spaces around it with your Level I Shared Discovery secrets.)
Conjunction Secret (1)
The Mariner's Union's most powerful secret - unlocked by assigning relics around their society to match the pattern provided by their Conjunction - fittingly allows them to cash in on their quest to acquire relics. They earn intrigue for every Relic assigned to their Society AND each Relic in their hand.
Intrigued? Does the thirst for ancient, mysterious relics drive you? Will the Mariner's Union be your society of choice on your first play of Clandestine?
In my next update, expect to hear that contracts have been signed and files are fully in Panda's hands. Along with that I'll continue unveiling the secrets buried in the other society's decks. Who's next? The Twilight Masks? Garden Club? Blue Army? If you've got a preference, let me know in the comments.
Until next time...
--Jason
End of Summer Update - GenCon & Secrets of the Serpent Keepers
10 months ago
– Tue, Aug 19, 2025 at 07:03:15 AM
As the summer winds down and my kids that are still in school return to school (it's strange to me that half of my kids are in the workforce now!), I wanted to let you know the latest about Clandestine. Specifically, I'll share how GenCon went earlier this month as well as start to dive in to the secrets of each society (starting with the most complex! The Serpent Keepers... as requested in the comments). Plus, of course, we'll talk about the latest progress getting Clandestine into your hands! Let's get started.
GenCon 2025
In our booth at GenCon earlier this month we focused on introducing gamers to the world of Clandestine through ~45 minute demos all throughout the convention.
In addition to demos, nearly 50 GenCon attendees played full games of Clandestine on our Kickstarter prototypes and were among the first to use our new samples of the bone vessel mini!
Players couldn't help but comment on how helpful the bone vessel minis were to help them both "remember to take an energy token" at turn end and, to "know when it's their turn to play" as the mini gets passed to them.
We had 3 sample skull colors and 2 sample base colors for the Bone Vessel mini (which really is anything but "mini" - they have quite the table presence)! Based on overwhelming feedback we're going with the 'dirty' white skull and the darker grey base for the production version. One neat (and unexpected) side effect that the minis produced is that the eyes actually glow a bit when the light hits them from the right angle! Eeeeeeeeerie....
Secrets of the Serpent Keepers
The main area where each society's uniqueness and asymmetry comes through in Clandestine is in their deck of secrets. While each society has their own society path leaning into their society's strengths (e.g. the Serpent Keepers have a 2nd Reveal space since they lean heavily into use of their secrets), the individual secret cards are where each society truly comes to life.
Secrets can ultimately be used in 1 of 4 ways:
Played (1 per turn) for your society's ability on top OR
Played (1 per turn) to augment your action or gain resources with the more common "OR" action on the bottom OR
Discarded as part of the Ascend action to spend the required matching relic strength OR
Held in your hand until the end of the game to score the point value in the upper left of the card
Let's dive into the secrets of the Serpent Keepers! The Serpent Keepers are actually the most complicated society in that their secrets require two steps to truly activate. Their secrets generally have one of two keywords: Initiate and Prime. Initiate means to take an intrigue token from the supply and place it on a space without intrigue. Prime means to take the secret they've just played and place it facedown next to an "initiated" space (one where they placed an intrigue token earlier).
The Primed tokens serve as either traps or boons for opponents (and always serve as boons for the Serpent Keepers) while the intrigue tokens on (and sometimes, around) the primed spaces dictate the strength of the boon (or trap).
Level I Secrets (12)
Near final version of Serpent Keepers Level I secrets
Eight of the twelve Level I secrets for the Serpent Keepers are focused on step 1 of their 2-step secret process - initiating spaces around the board by placing intrigue tokens on them. The other four secrets are cards they can "prime" by placing them face down next to a space with one or more intrigue tokens. In the Serpent Keeper's deck, about half of the prime-able secrets are good for opponents (boons), while about half of them are bad for opponents (traps) weakening the action when opponents take them.
Primed secrets go to the Serpent Keepers' discard pile when they trigger their boon while they return to the Serpent Keepers' hand when opponents trigger the secret - meaning they may make another appearance.
Ultimately, primed secrets serve as an "I dare you..." to opponents on specific spaces, helping to reserve - potentially powerful - actions for the Serpent Keepers while at times serving to benefit both the Serpent Keepers and their opponent when the opponent is brave enough to trigger a primed location.
Level II Secrets (9)
When the Serpent Keepers add their Level II secrets into their deck, they not only have a path to Deep Alchemy tokens, but now also have the ability to increase the number of intrigue tokens on the spaces they've already initiated, AND, have secrets they can prime which are powered by both the intrigue tokens on their space, but also the intrigue tokens on an adjacent space.
A savvy Serpent Keeper will seek to initiate spaces that are adjacent to each other in order to capitalize on their stronger secrets which look not just at the intrigue tokens on their space, but potentially one (OR MORE) adjacent spaces...
Level III Secrets (6)
The Level III secrets unlock the most powerful "primeable" secrets - two of which look at intrigue tokens on their space AND ALL adjacent spaces. Additionally, this unlocks secrets which augment already initiated spaces. Finally, the Call Upon secret can be used to collect intrigue tokens from the board (important if the Serpent Keepers believe they are unlikely to unlock their Conjunction Secret and want a late game way to cash in on their previous initiation of spaces).
Level IV Secrets (3)
The Level IV secrets for the Serpent Keepers all provide ways to gain intrigue tokens based on their earlier actions. The more they've leaned into the power of their secrets, the more intrigue points they're likely to rake in by playing these secrets.
Conjunction Secret (1)
The Serpent Keepers' most powerful secret - unlocked by assigning relics around their society to match the pattern provided by their Conjunction - allows them to reap the rewards of their earlier game actions by picking up ALL of the intrigue tokens they've laid around the game board. If any secrets have been primed by the Serpent Keepers, it's crucial that they wait to play this secret until their very last turn since it renders all of their primed secrets "inert" leaving no intrigue tokens remaining on the board.
What do you think - are you going to tackle the Serpent Keepers on your first play of Clandestine now that you know the secret to their secrets?!?
Production Progress
My graphic designer and I are actively reviewing and fine tuning the final components of Clandestine and intend to submit our files to our manufacturer - Panda - just after the Labor Day holiday in the US. (Specifically, we're tweaking the punchboards, adjusting the solo mode difficulty cards, and taking a couple more detailed passes through the rulebook.)
I look forward to being able to share soon that the files are in the hands of the manufacturer because that's a huge milestone. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and continued support. If you have opinions on which society's secrets you'd like to see next (Blue Army, Garden Club, Mariners Union, or Twilight Masks), let me know in the comments.
Take care and have a great week!
--Jason
June Update - Scoring & GenCon
12 months ago
– Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at 07:11:06 AM
Hello wonderful Clandestine backers! This update focuses on:
Our latest progress,
An overview of scoring in Clandestine, and
Details about GenCon 2025
Progress
Clandestine progress continues as we're nearly done reviewing and fine-tuning files to share with the factory. I've given a final approval on ~85% of the components in the game and we're actively working on getting the last few pieces "right" before sending everything to the factory. The rulebook is one of those outstanding items which will be the last piece finished before submission. Thank you to all of you who took the time to review and share comments on the draft rulebook I provided in the last update! Your feedback was extremely helpful and is something we're continuing to work through.
Additionally, the factory has completed the sample mold for the bone vessel mini (something we kicked off early knowing that miniatures can take the longest) and they've started building the actual mold. Here are some pictures of the sample mold I received.
Bone Vessel two-piece mini (along w/ corresponding relic card)
Bone Vessel (with relic card for scale)
Bone Vessel with components (acrylic ingredients from Quacks of Quedlinburg for reference)
All Deluxe copies of Clandestine include the Bone Vessel mini. It's intended to be passed to the current player and was designed to store the energy tokens (including the upgraded acrylic versions) so you can take an energy token at the end of your turn and pass the Bone Vessel to the next player. The Vessel can be placed on the stand (with a press fit to hold them snugly together) or even used without the stand while still sitting sturdily (and eerily) on your table.
Scoring Intrigue
Success in Clandestine comes from amassing the most Intriguing Secret Society (having the most Intrigue Points). Most of your actions will help you generate Intrigue Points which are totaled at the end of the game. A scorepad is included with the game to make tallying scores easier.
Level Squared
Each society starts at Level I (one) and the game end is triggered when a society reaches Level V (five). Players score either 1, 4, 9, 16, or 25 points based on their final Level.
Conjunction Matches
Throughout the game, players can assign relics to the six spaces around their society path to upgrade their actions in those spaces. When Ascending to Level II (two), players choose an available Conjunction card which - in addition to a unique benefit - shows them a pattern of relics which will reward them with 2 Intrigue Points for each chamber slot with a matching card suit assigned. Players can score up to 12 points from Conjunction matches.
Assigned Dark Relics
Most Dark Relics provide end-game scoring based on certain achievements. Dark Relics can only be assigned to the two innermost slots in your chambers. Most Dark Relics can yield ~6-12 points each, however there are a few which can score more if you lean heavily into their benefit. Players generally score 0-20 points total from Dark Relics.
Relics Spent to Ascend
When Ascending, you must spend a combination of relics and/or secrets with matching icons. Secrets used to help you Ascend go in your discard pile, but Relics used to ascend are tucked under the top of your tableau and score you points at the end of the game based on their value in the upper left (ranging from 1-3). Relics used to ascend generally score players 15-25 total points.
Secrets in Hand
Secrets still in your hand at the end of the game score you Intrigue based on their value in the upper left (ranging from 1-4). Players generally score 3-16 total points from secrets in their hand.
Society Leaders on your Society Path
Each player starts the game with 2 Society Leaders on their Society Path but has the potential to get a total of 6 Society Leaders on their path (through alchemy). Each Society Leader on your Society Path at game end is worth 3 points with players generally scoring 9-18 total points from Society Leaders.
Universal Followers on your Society Path
Universal Followers on your Society Path are each worth 1 point at the end of the game. Players generally score 5-12 total points from Universal Followers.
Intrigue Tokens & Tiles (variable)
Throughout the game there are opportunities to collect Intrigue Tokens through specific actions and/or secret cards. Additionally, the Ascension Board has a number of tokens that grant Intrigue for being the first society to reach a new level (or for reaching level V). Players generally score 5-40 total points from Intrigue Tokens & Tiles.
Chaos
Chaos tokens collected throughout the game builds along the chaos track on the left side of each player's tableau (and can be cleared through the purge action). Players lose points at the end of the game based on the highest space on their chaos track with a chaos token in it. Players generally LOSE 0-10 points from Chaos.
The Twilight Masks have a special ability where they score points for Chaos they've cleared throughout the game. They earn 3 points for every 2 Chaos tokens they've cleared during the game - generally earning 12-24 points from cleared Chaos.
GenCon 2025
We will once again have a booth at GenCon 2025 in Indianapolis (Booth #1255). If you're attending, please stop by to say hello and check out or even demo Clandestine. In addition to the booth, we'll be running several games of Clandestine which are in the events list. Finally, we'll also be playtesting a potential future game in the First Exposure Playtest Hall (intrigued?!?).
In upcoming updates, we'll share more about the specific Secret decks of each society. If you have a preference for which one(s) I feature first, share your thoughts in the comments! As a reminder, the societies are:
Blue Army (controls the public)
Garden Club (invests Gold)
Mariners' Union (great with Relics)
Serpent Keepers (Primes spaces with hidden boons... or traps)
Twilight Masks (formerly Weeping Masks - thrives on Chaos)
In the meantime, keep playing games and having fun.
--Jason
Rules Review, Solo Mode, Progress, & GenCon
about 1 year ago
– Fri, May 09, 2025 at 10:43:33 AM
Hello All--
I'm excited to provide this latest update on Clandestine's progress. I've even got a special activity for those of you who love to make sure your rulebooks are complete, thorough, and accurate!
Rules
We've made a lot of revisions to the rulebook from the preview we had provided on the Kickstarter campaign page. It's now ~99% complete and I'd love your help getting it to the 100% mark! For those that are interested, check out the Rulebook for Review and feel free to add any comments to highlight errors, areas of ambiguity, opportunities for clarification or any other ideas you might have. We’ll refine the rulebook based on your feedback to ensure it’s as clear and polished as possible. (Note: I can't promise we'll implement every suggestion, but I can promise that we'll consider every suggestion. The more eyes that are on the rulebook - the more likely we are to avoid mistakes and provide the utmost clarity for you and other gamers when you get Clandestine to your table!)
Please add any comments you may have directly to the rulebook by May 26th. (Simply click "Add a Comment" directly in the document to share your thoughts.)
Solo Mode
While I absolutely love gaming with friends and family, I also find something special about playing games solo - as a unique puzzle to solve. With Clandestine, I've created not just one, but TWO solo opponents to each serve as your Nemesis for you to try your hand against.
Solo Mode - Nemeses
The Most Holy competes with you by diverting both funds and followers into their religious order in an attempt to maximize their own converts and fortunes.
The Silver Guard is a secretive government organization - attempting to acquire relics for their own nefarious goals under the guise of preservation by sending agents to monitor (and ultimately, commandeer) relics while also sending agents into your societies to verify the legitimacy of your order while stifling your ability to accomplish your aspirations for intrigue.
Each Nemesis offers SIX difficulty levels. The level will vary the Nemesis':
Starting setup
Intent deck makeup &
Scoring values
Solo Mode - Intent Deck
The Nemesis' turns are quick and easy to manage via their Intent Deck. The Intent Deck consists of cards with two halves.
One half shows you what the Nemesis plans to focus on during its next turn - helping you anticipate the Nemesis' possible moves (e.g. what Suit might it target.. What leader location might it target, etc.).
The other half of a Nemesis' turn is determined with the next card in the Intent Deck and only revealed when it takes its turn - dialing in its precise action(s) for the turn.
If you're intrigued by the solo mode, I encourage you to check out more details on pages 26-31 of the rulebook.
Progress / (US) Tariffs
In the rulebook, you'll see that we've done a LOT to clean up and drive better consistency across all components in Clandestine over the last few weeks (more consistent graphic design throughout, crisper iconography, and subtle details to increase thematic immersion on each society's unique components).
We're continuing to fine tune the language on the cards and implementing (+testing) the feedback from the development team about specific card tweaks/balancing.
Once we progress the rulebook finalization to 100% and complete the balancing noted above, we'll be ready to submit our files to our manufacturer - Panda.
Panda is widely viewed as one of the premier manufacturers of board games. I am thrilled to partner with them in bringing Clandestine to your table and am certain that their quality and expertise in manufacturing will provide you with a copy of Clandestine that will withstand many - MANY plays!
At the moment, there are some incredibly high tariffs being imposed on products manufactured in China and delivered to the US. I currently have NO intention of passing on tariff costs to any of my backers, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that - at their current 145% levels - the tariffs will hurt me significantly. While I work with many great partners to bring games to your table, Brookspun Games is a one-person company. If sustained at this level, they are likely to deter me from any future game design/publishing endeavors. Here's to hoping they're resolved soon for all of our sakes...
I'm continuing to monitor the tariff situation and will coordinate with Panda on the best timing/approach to initiate production of Clandestine and will keep you informed in my future posts. We still have the ability to deliver Clandestine this fall, but that timing remains contingent on the tariff situation (and how much of a backlog Panda and freight shippers have when we initiate production).
GenCon
Brookspun Games will be at GenCon again this year and you'll have the chance to visit us at Booth #1255, PLUS, an opportunity to play Clandestine on one of our prototypes.
Check out the Event Registration Page to add Clandestine to your Wish List or to Sign Up when registration opens on May 18th.
Summary
For those with an eye for detail, NOW is your chance to review and provide comments on the rulebook! I welcome your feedback (by May 26th).
For those who enjoy playing games solo, see above (and the rulebook) for details about the TWO solo opponents that Clandestine offers you.
Thank you as always for your support of Clandestine. Your excitement, enthusiasm, and encouragement are great motivators for me to make sure Clandestine is the best game it can be! I look forward to providing you with additional updates soon.
