What is the Curse of Knowledge?
The “curse of knowledge” is a well-documented cognitive bias: once someone knows a piece of information, it becomes very difficult for them to imagine what it is like not to know it. This makes it hard to judge what others need to be told, or how much background is necessary for them to make sense of a situation. Teachers, writers, and game masters all fall victim to it.
In the context of role-playing games, and especially investigative horror games like Delta Green, the curse of knowledge creates a dangerous blind spot: the Handler already knows the truth of the mystery, but the players do not. Without care, this leads to scenarios that feel either opaque and frustrating, or insultingly obvious.
Implications for Delta Green
Delta Green thrives on investigation, paranoia, and uncertainty. Agents confront unnatural phenomena where even glimpsing the truth can shatter their minds. This makes managing information crucial:
- Over-assumed knowledge
Handlers often forget what the players actually know in the moment. A Handler steeped in the lore of Carcosa, the Mi-Go, or federal tradecraft might design scenes full of subtle references that make sense only if players share that background. What should be terrifying ambiguity can instead become confusion or disengagement. - Railroading through hindsight
Because the Handler knows what’s really going on, they may unconsciously treat “obvious” clues as trivial, nudging players toward conclusions instead of letting them stumble, doubt, and make their own connections. Yet Impossible Landscapes itself stresses that surreal horror thrives when agents feel lost, overwhelmed, and unsure whether they’ve made progress. - Unfair puzzles
When designing investigative trails, it’s easy to hide vital information behind one leap of logic that feels natural to the writer but is invisible to the players. This is where the curse bites hardest: the Handler thinks a clue is “clear,” but it may be indecipherable to anyone without that foreknowledge.
Techniques to Break the Curse
To avoid these traps, scenario design in Delta Green benefits from conscious countermeasures:
- Design from ignorance
After outlining a scenario, step back and ask: If I knew nothing of the truth, what would this look like? Every clue should function as a plausible piece of reality before it becomes evidence of the unnatural. A police report, a strange smell, a missing file—mundane first, unsettling second. - Redundancy of clues
Classic investigative design (e.g., the “Three Clue Rule”) recommends multiple paths to each conclusion. Delta Green amplifies this with surreal ambiguity: three different clues might point to the same truth, but in contradictory ways, enhancing paranoia rather than undercutting it. - Playtesting paranoia
Run your scenario for fresh players—or even just explain the setup to someone unfamiliar—and note where they struggle. If they miss your “obvious” clue, that’s the curse at work. Revise by layering in sensory detail or alternative investigative leads. - Lean into ambiguity
Surreal horror thrives when knowledge is unstable. Rather than striving for airtight logic, embrace shifting interpretations: a journal entry that contradicts itself, a witness whose memory changes between interviews, a floorplan that rearranges between visits. This allows the Handler to use the curse of knowledge—what seems clear may prove false.
The House of Nerdery and Curios 