Political corruption has dominated kitchen table talk in households up and down the country over the past month. 

Now a local entrepreneur is hoping to move that talk into the living room, with plans to develop a card game that riffs on corruption. 

Korrotti pits an informed minority group of players who are the corrupt against an uninformed majority group of innocents. By night, the corrupt group work to eliminate innocent players. By day, the innocents deduce who among them is corrupt. 

The premise is similar to other social deduction games such as Mafia, in which some of the players’ roles are unknown to others. 

“The country is in danger! Nobody knows who is a KORROTT,” the game’s blurb warns. 

“One of them can be your sweet, sweet girlfriend, your best friend, or even the most respected person on the island.” 

The game rings especially true given recent political upheaval, the person behind the Korrotti project acknowledges.

‘Recent developments in Malta have created an atmosphere of suspicion and accusations,” he says, asking to remain anonymous.

But though recent events may have inspired the idea, the game is not about partisan politics, he was keen to stress.

“Almost all government, here and abroad, is riddled with corruption. Corruption is wrong, on all levels. Those in power should be doing their best and utmost for the country, and not lining their own pockets, stealing from the public.” 

Reactions to the idea have been largely positive, he said, and the game would soon be available for pre-order through a crowdfunding campaign. 

If the crowdfunding target is reached, Korrotti will move into production and be made available for sale. Preorders will be priced at €14, with a planned retail price of €18.