Introduction

What is KGB/Conspiracy?
KGB is a point-and-click adventure game by French developer Cryo Interactive, based off of the same engine as Dune. It's infamous for being one of the hardest adventure games ever made.

The game was originally released in 1992 as KGB, for both the PC and the Amiga. A year later, they released another version of the game, called Conspiracy.

What's the difference between the two versions?
The only difference is the name change, the intro, and the addition of FMVs featuring Donald Sutherland. Because of this, it's often referred to as KGB/Conspiracy. I'll be playing the Conspiracy version, but I'll be showing off both intros.

Why is the game so difficult?
It isn't forgiving in the slightest. Sometimes, you get into situations where the game is unwinnable, but you don't get a game over. You usually will know when that happens, but not always. Fortunately, you can just restart the chapter. There's no pixel hunts or anything like that, but there are some serious fuck-you moments. There's also a lot of difficult puzzles, which usually involve logic and not just random clicking. The puzzles aren't the hardest part of the game, though. The biggest challenge is not screwing up.

Is the game any good?
I'd say so. It has a very unique atmosphere and plenty of interesting puzzles. There isn't really a game quite like it.

Where can I get this game?
I'm not sure it's available for purchase anywhere except maybe on eBay. It's generally considered abandonware. I can't really go into detail about that, but you can vote for this game to be added to the Good Old Games catalog here.



The game takes place in late-period Soviet Russia , so here's a very quick run-over of what was happening during the game's time period.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev is elected General Secretary of the Communist Party. The Soviet Union is plagued with problems at this point, including a poor standard of living and a stagnant economy. Gorbachev decides to implement several reforms.

They are:

• Perestroika – Political and economic reforms, aimed at creating a more democratic and free-market society. This is the one most often mentioned in the game.
  
• Glasnost – More cultural and political openness, and less censorship.
  

The long, bloody war in Afghanistan, waged against the American-backed mujahideen, comes to a close. Meanwhile, there is a lot of unrest throughout the USSR, and several Soviet republics start thinking about separatism. Much of the unrest is due to Gorbachev's policies, especially glasnost. Large-scale demonstrations begin to happen. Efforts to suppress these movements often fail. Gorbachev's policies are criticized often, both for being too fast and too slow. Communist Party hardliners begin to worry for the future of the state.

The game begins in Moscow, on August 1991.

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LP Details

I'll be LPing the game with screenshots instead of video because the game doesn't have any animation or voice acting or anything like that worth showing off, though it does have a nice soundtrack. I will be including some videos of the game's handful of FMVs. Note that the black-and-white Rukov portrait represents in-character commentary, while the colored Rukov portrait represents in-game dialogue.

I'll also be including bonus updates and interludes that show off stuff not covered in the main updates. Game overs, alternate conversation paths, and so on.

Spoiler policy: Pretty typical. No spoilers, except in tags. You can, of course, talk about stuff that's already happened. Feel free to speculate, but don't confirm or deny any speculation.
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Update 0 - Two Intros
Update 1 - First Day at Department P | Update 1 Bonus
Update 2 - Uncle Vanya | Update 2 Bonus
Update 3 - Golitsin's Last Words | Update 3 Bonus
Update 4 - Hollywood and Buyer 2 | Update 4 Bonus

Interlude 1 - The People of Kursk Street
Interlude 2 - People of Shining Future, part 1
Interlude 3 - People of Shining Future, part 2

Update 5 - On the Trail | Update 5 Bonus
Update 6 - Meet the Belussovs | Update 6 Bonus
Update 7 - The Enthusiastic Progress Club | Update 7 Bonus
Update 8 - Meatshop | Update 8 Bonus
Update 9 - Revelations | Update 9 Bonus
Update 10 - Movie Star | Update 10 Bonus
Update 11 - Hollywood's Code | Update 11 Bonus
Update 12 - Performance Review | Update 12 Bonus

Chapter 1 Recap


Update 13 - Leningrad | Update 13 Bonus
Update 14 - Code Cracker | Update 14 Bonus
Update 15 - The Sword and Shield | Update 15 Bonus
Update 16 - Just a Cigar | Update 16 Bonus
Update 17 - Meeting in Ladoga Park | Update 17 Bonus
Update 18 - Preparations | Update 18 Bonus
Update 19 - The Moscow Connection | Update 19 Bonus
Update 20 - Mr. X | Update 20 Bonus
Update 21 - Inside Cut-throat | Update 21 Bonus
Update 22 - Master of Disguise | Update 22 Bonus
Update 23 - Garbage Disposal | Update 23 Bonus
Update 24 - Welcome to the Hotel Syevyernaya Zvyezda | Update 24 Bonus
Update 25 - The Americans | Update 25 Bonus
Update 26 - Room 416 | Update 26 Bonus
Update 27 - An Old Friend | Update 27 Bonus
Update 28 - Interrogation | Update 28 Bonus
Update 29 - The Truth | Update 29 Bonus
Update 30 - Two Meetings | Update 30 Bonus

NOTE: At this point, I went on hiatus and Xander77 finished the game's last two chapters. Thanks, Xander.

Chapter 2 Recap

Chapters 3 & 4

Update 31 | Update 31 Bonus
Update 32
Update 33 | Update 32-33 Bonus
Update 34 - FINALE
Final Bonus and Plot Explanations

Appendix - Best posts from the thread - Part 1 | Part 2

Here's a really cool chart made by Elite, showing all of the various characters, their relationships with one another, and their role in the game's many sinister conspiracies. Made after the end of Chapter 3, so it has spoilers for everything up to that point. Link
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Give it a listen. It's pretty good.

PC (Stephane Picq)



PC – MT-32 emulator



Amiga (Alexandre Ekian)