Chicago Illimat League of Luminaries

Become a part of the Chicago Illimat League of Luminaries. You’ll be sworn into the League on our first evening and taught how to play. Over the course of a month, the League will take over four locations at the Chicago Athletic Association where you’ll enjoy award-winning cocktails from this historic hotel’s various bars, play games of Illimat, engage in immersive worldbuilding, and watch artistic performances that tell the stories of the Luminaries. Each three hour session will include fables of Illimat lore mingled with real Chicago history; a rotation of interactive entertainment; time to play cards while making new friends or perhaps enemies as you work towards exclusive prizes awarded during the League's closing ceremony —plus swag and surprises along the way. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLIMAT :: No one knows exactly when Illimat first appeared, but by 8th century CE there is evidence of a game called “Ullumat” played by “contestants, divers and stranje, in far-flunged playces.” In early 2009, the band The Decemberists brought Illimat out of the shadows and into the light. Illustrator Carson Ellis and photographer Autumn de Wilde created a modern interpretation of the Illimat board, and in 2015, worked with Keith Baker and Jennifer Ellis to “create” the game of Illimat —sifting through the countless versions played over the centuries to produce the form played today. LEAGUE DETAILS :: The League of Luminaries will meet four times over the course of five weeks. The dates of League play for this iteration will be 5/8, 5/15, 5/29, and 6/5. Note that we will take a midseason break on 5/22. League nights will run from 6pm to 9pm each Thursday and will include a 10-minute intermission between game play as games are reset. Copies of the game Illimat will be provided on site each week. An optional add-on to the general ticket includes a copy of the game to take home for practice. The Chicago Illimat League of Luminaries is brought to you by T2D2 Toys: a Chicago collective of artists, educators, and designers who create experiences at the intersection of education, art, and environmental impact. LOCATION :: The League will meet on the first night in the Drawing Room, 2nd Floor, 12 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603, USA. The following weeks will have signage and clues directing players to the League’s next secret space within the Chicago Athletic Association.