Rulebook

Contents• 208cards(26decksof8cardseach)• 26ziplockbags• Rulebook

Youwillalsoneedtokeeptrackoftimeduringthegame,somakesureyouhaveastopwatchhandy.Oneoftheplayersprobablyhasoneontheircellphone.

Overview

AgameofSpyfallismadeupofseveralshortrounds.Ineachroundtheplayersfindthemselvesinacertainlocationwithaspecificstatusassignedtoeachplayer.Oneplayerisalwaysaspywhodoesn’tknowwheretheyare.Thespy’smissionistomaketheotherplayerstalk,identifythelocation,andkeepfromblowinghiscover.Eachnon-spymustgiveanobliquehinttotheothernon-spiessugges-tingthatheknowsthelocation’sidentity,thusprovinghe’snotthespy.Observation,concentration,nonchalance,andcunning—you’llneedalloftheminthisgame.Stayonyourtoes!

ObjectiveThespy’sobjectiveistoavoidexposureuntilthe

endofagivenroundoridentifythecurrentlocation.

Thenon-spies’objectiveistoestablishconsensusontheidentityofthespyandexposehimorher.

PreparingforRoundOne

Beforethefirstroundbegins,sortallthecardsintolocationdecks.Eachdeckshouldhavesevencardswithidenticalillustrationsandonespycard.Eachdeckgoesinaseparateziplockbag.Allcardsshouldbefacedown,withthespycardontop.

Allthelocationsareshowninthemiddlespreadoftherulebook.Theplayersareadvisedtostudyitwellbeforethefirstroundbegins.Thisshouldgivethe“potentialspies”anideaofthekindsofloca-tionstheywillhavetochoosefromduringthegame.Westronglyadvisethespiesnottostudythemiddlespreadduringthegame—that’sadeadgiveaway.

„Loose lips sink ships“ is a saying that dates back to the days of WWII. It also represents a vital wartime principle. There were lots of things that could give spies away — rust-free staples in their documents, square-headed nails in the soles of their boots, and so on... This game offers

everyone an opportunity to walk a mile in the shoes of both a spy who’s close to having their cover blown and the special agent who’s hot on the spy’s heels.

BeginningoftheRound

Eachgameisaseriesofshortrounds,thenumberofwhichisagreeduponbythetheplayersbeforethebeginningofthegame.Werecommendplayingfiveroundsforyourfirstsession(thisshouldtakeaboutanhour).

Anewdealerischosenforeachround.Thedealerparticipatesinthegameasaregularplayer.Themostsuspicious-lookingplayeristhedealerinthefirstround.Thisplayertakesallthecardziplockbagsoutofthebox,turnsthemfacedown,shufflesthem,andchoosesarandomziplockbag.Thedealerthenremovesthecardsfromtheselectedziplockbagverycarefullytoavoidturningthemover.

Thedealerselectsanumberofcardsthatcorre-spondstothenumberofplayersfromthetopofthestack,shufflesthem,andgivesacardtoeachplayer.Iftherearefiveplayers,fivecardsareplayed.Theremainingcardsarenotturnedover.Putthemasidecarefully—youwon’tbeneedingthem.Eachplayerslooksattheircardwithoutlettingtheothersseeit,thenplacesitfacedowninfrontofthem.

Thedealerfortheeachsuccessiveroundistheplayerwhowasthespyinthepreviousone.Thatplayerselectsanewdeckanddealsthecardsasdescribedabove.

GameFlow

Thedealerstartsthestopwatch,andthegamebegins.Thedealerthenasksoneoftheplayersaquestion,callingthembyname:“Tellme,John...”Thequestionsusuallypertaintothedeck’slocation.Thisisprudent,butnotmandatory.Questionsareaskedonce;nofollow-upquestionsareallowed.Responsescantakeanyform.Theplayerwhoanswersthequestionproceedstoaskanyotherplayeraquestionoftheirown,withtheexceptionoftheplayerwhoaskedthelastquestion(soyoucan’tansweraques-tionwithanotherquestion).Theorderinwhichthequestionsareaskedisestablishedbytheplayersthemselvesandbasedonthesuspicionstheyhaveafterhearingthequestionsandanswers.

LocationCardCorporate Party

Manager

Location

Status

SpyCard

Note:ifyouarenotthespy,yourcardwillalsospecifyyourstatusinthegivenlocation.Beforethebeginningofthegame,theplayersshouldagreeonwhethertheywilladheretothestatusontheircardandplaythecorrespondingroleornot.Westronglyrecommenddoingthisinordertomakethegamemoreinteresting.Forexample,ifyou’reacollegeprofessorandsomebodyasksyouwhyyoumissedthefacultyparty,youcancomplainaboutyourageandarthritis;ifyou’reastudent,youmightwanttoexpressyouroutrageatnothavingbeeninvitedbytheseniorfaculty.

Thenameofthestatusmightseemtosuggestthatyou’replayingamalecharacter,butallcharacterscanactuallybeeithermaleorfemale.Sotheflightattendantontheairplanecouldalsobeasteward-ess,ortheactorcouldalsobeanactress.

SampleRound

Anne,Juan,Maria,andIsaacfindthemselvesinthecrusaderarmy.However,Anneisn’tawareofthisbecauseshegotthespycard.JuangetstheKnight,MariatheSquire,andIsaactheArcher.Theyallplaytheirpartsandtrytoidentifythespy.Anne’sgoalistoidentifythelocationwithoutblowinghercover.

MariatheSquireasksthefirstquestion:„Isaac,doyourememberwhichseawetookadipinyester-day?“IsaactheArchernaturallynamestheMediter-ranean,andAnnethespytakesnotice:thelocationcouldbethebeachorthepirateship.Isaaccan’taskMaria,soheasksJuan,„Juan,whendowegetpaid—isitatthebeginningofthemonth,ortheend?“Alltheotherplayersareonthealert,sincethequestionmightidentifyIsaacasthespy.However,Isaacisjustsoundingouthisfellowplayers.SinceJuanisaknightandnotaspy,heanswersthequestioneasily:„Whoknows?We’llgetpaidwheneverthecommanderfeelslikepayingus.“Annathespyisthoroughlyconfused—nowshesuspectstheloca-tionmightbethemilitarybaseorthesubmarine.Juanaskshernextquestion:„HeyAnne,whatdidtheyservefordinneryesterday?Icouldn’tmakeit.“Anneisevasive:„Oh,youknow,theusualstuff—po-tatoes,nothingspecial.“Thisiswhereotherplayersstarttosuspectherofbeingthespy—ascrusaders,they’rewellawarethatColumbuswon’tbebringingthatparticularplantbackfromtheNewWorldforanotherthreehundredyearsorso...

EndofRound

Aroundendswhenoneofthefollowingthreethingshappen.

1. Eight minutes have passed; Whentimerunsout,theplayersmustdeclaretheirsuspicionsastothespy’sidentity.Thedealeraskseachplayertovote,startingwiththemselvesandproceedingclockwise.Ifneedbe,theplayerscandiscusstheirsuspicionsandthenvote.Ifevery-bodybutthesuspectvotesforthesuspect,thespyloses.Ineveryothercasethespywins.

Note:Theplayerscanagreeonadifferentroundlength.Makesureyoudecidehowlongyouwantroundstobebeforeyoustartthegame.First-timeplayersmightwanttoplaylongerrounds—say,12-15minutes.

2. When a Player Gets Suspicious; Anyplayercanstopthegameatanytime(butonlyonceperround)todeclareoneoftheplayersasuspectandasktheotherstovote.Ifallplayersvoteforthesamesuspect,theroundends(evenifitturnsoutthatthesuspectthey’vevotedforisn’ttheactualspy).It’sintheplayers’bestinteresttostopthegame.Ifthespyiscaughtthisway,theplayerwhoinitiatedthevotegetsanextrapoint.However,itmightalsobenefitthespytoaccuseanotherplayerinordertodivertsuspicionfromthem-selves.

Iftheinitiatorofthevotefailstoreceivethesup-portofalltheplayers,theroundcontinuesasusualfromwhereverthegamewasstopped.

Note:werecommendplayersabstainfromdiscuss-ingthespy’sidentityduringvoting(i.e.„Ithinkthisplayeristhespybecausetheirpajamasarepink,buttheyshouldbegreen!“).Theplayers’arguments„for“and„against“thespy’sidentitycouldinadver-tentlyrevealthelocation’sidentitytothespy.

3. At the Spy’s Request. Thespycanstopthegameatanytimebyreveal-ingtheirspycardtotheotherplayers.Thespyisthenallowedtoconsultthelocationlistinthemiddlespreadoftherulebookandidentifythecurrentlocation.Thespywinsiftheyidentifythelocationcorrectly.Otherwisetheotherplay-erswin.

Note:oncethegameisstoppedbyoneoftheotherplayersinordertoaccusethespy,thespycannolongerattempttoidentifythelocation.Thespyhasmissedtheirchance.Iftheotherplayersvoteagainstthem,thespylosestheround.

Oncetheroundisover,thecardsarereturnedtothedealerandcannolongerbeplayedinthecur-rentgame.Theziplockbagwiththisdeckisreturnedtothebox.

ObjectivesandStrategies

Theobjectivesofthenon-spyplayersaretoidentifythespyandavoidrevealingtheirlocation.Therefore,thenon-spiesshouldrefrainfrombeingtooexplicitintheirquestions:(forexample,abanktellerasksasecurityguard,„Howmuchcashdidtherobbersstealyesterday?“Thespywilltheninstantlyidentifythelocationasthebank).However,whenaplayer’squestionsandanswersaretoovague,otherplayersmightstartsuspectingthemofbeingthespy,enablingtherealspytowin.

Thespy’sobjectiveistolistenascarefullyaspos-sibletowhattheotherplayerssayanddotheirbesttoavoidblowingtheircoverwhilealsotryingtoiden-tifythelocationbeforeeightminuteshavepassed.Aspywhowaitsuntiltheendoftheroundistakingarisk—itisentirelypossiblethattheotherplayerswillidentifythemafterdiscussionandvoting.

Scoring

Tallyupthepointsearnedbytheplayersattheendoftheroundbasedontheresults.

IftheSpyWins

• Victory:Thespyearnstwopoints.• Thespystopsthegameandidentifiesthelocationcorrectly:thespyearnsextratwopoints.

• Alltheplayersaccuseaninnocentplayer:thespyearnsextratwopoints.

IftheNon-SpiesWin

• Victory:Eachnon-spyplayerearnsonepoint.• Asuccessfulvote(beforetheendoftheround):theplayerwhostopsthegameandnamesthesuspectearnsanextrapoint.

EndoftheGame

Whoeverscoresthemostpointsaftertheagreed-uponnumberofroundswinsthegame.

CreditsPublisher:HobbyWorldInternational

Createdby:AlexanderUshanGamedevelopment:HobbyWorld•Art:UildrimandSergeyDulin

Directors:MikhailAkulovandIvanPopov•Editor-in-Chief:VladimirSergeyevRulebookcopyandediting:AlexanderKiselevandValentinMatyusha•Designandlayout:IvanSukhovey

Proofreading:OlgaPortugalova•Publishercontact:NikolayPegasov(nikolay@hobbyworld.ru)

SpecialthankstoIlyaKarpinsky.

Nopartoftherulebook,gamecontents,orcorrespondingartworkmaybecopiedorpublishedwithouttheconsentofthecopyrightholder.

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