Spy - a Reiner Knizia game for 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and upwards that easily plays within 30 to 45 minutes.
The objective is to get rid of your spies and over the course of a number of rounds to have the best overall score.
Components
120 Playing Cards comprising:
- 6 Continents (colour coded)
- 6 Hiding Places (symbols)
- 108 Secret Documents (each shows both a Continent and a Hiding Place)
48 Spies (cardboard chits)
1 Rules Booklet
Setting Up
Lay out the 6 Continent cards and the 6 Hiding Places cards in 2 lines (as shown above), place 1 Spy on each of the cards.
Each player gets an equal number of spies from the 36 remaining spies.
Now shuffle the Secret Documents cards and deal each player 3 cards from it, you are ready to start.
Game Play
Starting with the player to dealers left each player has up to 3 actions to perform.
1. If you have 3 cards in hand, play one of these cards in front of you, else skip this step. Note that you may never have more than 3 cards in hand.
2. You may choose to play cards both from those in front of you and those in your hand to place Spies onto one or more of the Continents or Hiding Places. You must play more cards than there are Spies currently on your target card. For example, if Africa has 1 Spy on it (starting position) then you must play 2 or more cards which feature Africa. You may then place a number of Spies for equal to the number of cards you have played above the number of Spies currently there. If you play 3 cards with Africa and there is only 1 Spy present then you can place 2 Spies. For another player to place Spies on Africa they must now play at least 4 cards.
3. Pick up 1 card from the Secret Documents pile. If there are no remaining cards then reshuffle the pack and use them again.
The game finishes when one player has played all his Spies and that player is the winner of that round. Each other player counts the number of his remaining Spies and that is his score for the round.
It is recommended that you play a number of rounds equal to the number of players, with each player starting a round in order to balance the game. The player with the lowest overall score then wins.
Your Tactics
Which cards to lay in front of you ?
- The more cards you have in front of you the easier it is for other people to see which Continent or Hiding Place you are likely to be targetting so try to place a good variety in front of you.
- Alternately lay cards which lead your opponents to believe you are targetting a specific card to bluff them into playing their cards and therefore placing their Spies earlier than they perhaps wanted.
When to play your cards ?
- Since you are all picking up cards at the same rate the winner will be the person who plays the cards most efficiently, using least cards to play as many spies as possible.
- Play too early and you use more of your precious resources just overcoming the Spies already present.
- Play too late and one of the other players will have increased the number of Spies present.
Conclusion
This is a fun game which plays quickly and is a good game to wake your brain up at the beginning of a games session. We liked it but after 3 rounds were ready to move onto something a little more challenging.
Additional Reviews
Details from Boardgamegeek
