Meet The Influencers In One Billion Users, The Social Media Card Game

As you likely know by now, we are running a Kickstarter to fund the release of One Billion Users, our new card game about building the biggest and best social media network. Earlier this week, Mike wrote about the game’s roots in Touring and Mille Bornes and explained some of the new mechanics we’ve added, including the concept of Influencers who move around between the competing social networks and bring their audiences with them. Today, I want to introduce you to just a few of them.

The Investor

Some Influencers just want to chase the biggest possible audience, and The Investor is one of them. You know the type: brimming with advice on how to get rich, and often a lot of other opinions too, which attracts followers who aren’t the most toxic in the world of social media, but hardly the least toxic either.

The Trendsetter

Other Influencers go in the opposite direction, like The Trendsetter, who likes to stay fresh by joining the platform that has the fewest users — with a large and unproblematic following in tow. In the game, this card can serve as a catch-up mechanic when a player is falling behind, but is also a prime target for a well-timed Push card (which allows a player to steal an Influencer).

The Contrarian

Not all Influencers make their decision based on audience size. Some are interested in other things, like The Contrarian, who loves to debate (productively or… otherwise) and thus prefers the network with the most toxic, combative environment. Since The Contrarian’s loyal fanbase is itself pretty toxic, this card threatens to make things worse for players who let their platform’s toxicity get out of hand.

The Troll

And then there’s The Troll, who is a different kind of “influencer”. Rather than bringing a following, The Troll operates alone, counting as only one user (which can do nothing more than break certain rare ties) and yet massively increasing the toxicity of a platform. And since they like to cause as much trouble as possible, they always target the biggest network. A player who is ahead in the race for Users, but struggling to keep Toxicity under control, might find themselves constantly trying to swat away The Troll.

These are only half of the Influencers — in the game you’ll also find The Explainer, The Star, The Foodie and The Comedian. If you want to meet them all, be sure to back our campaign on Kickstarter and secure your copy of One Billion Users.