T

E
R
C
SE TIVE

C
E
R
DI

Who are the people in the shadows? What silent

supremacies have power over governments? What
are their motives? Can they be trusted? Can they be
stopped? Throughout the twentieth century, secret
agents were used in a hidden war upon which the
fate of nations very much depended.

You are in control of a countrys secret service agency, with a small team of spies
to put to work. Your task is to use Intelligence cards to influence your country into
taking wise decisions. The trouble is, enemy spies have infiltrated and are
influencing your country into taking less wise decisions! Develop your culture to
make it easier to spot enemy spies, improve science to get access to more elaborate
cards, further your military to increase the number of spies at your disposal, or
invest in economy to pay for bonus actions, known as Secret Directives.
Aim: There are four different types of Intelligence cards which are used to make
progress on 4 corresponding development tracks. The winner of the game is the
first player to reach the end of any one of these tracks. As players progress up the
tracks, which each have 10 spaces, they also unlock various benefits:

Economy: Increases income of coins. Coins are spent on bonus

actions, which happen at the end of a round.
Military: Increases number of spies you have. More spies means
more actions can be taken in each round.
Science: Makes more cards available. There are three levels
of cards; at the beginning of the game, players only have
access to the most basic cards.
Culture: Means capturing enemy spies is easier. At
the end of a round, players who have developed
culture can roll 0 - 2 dice to try to capture enemy
spies.

In addition to trying to progress on development tracks, players need to build a

deck of cards made up of Intelligence cards and Action cards. Cards can be added
to their deck through research actions, which allow players to take cards from a
shared supply. Most of the time, cards that are played return to that players deck by
reshuffling their discard pile. However, playing Intelligence cards into another
players country removes that card from their deck more permanently, and can also
slow their opponents progress on the development tracks.
ET
CR
SE

SECRET

EITVTE T ET
SETCCRRCTESECRET
REECRETIVE T
VE
E
V
C
R
I
S
C
SEETICDIRECTIVE
E
T
E
T ET RDEIRSVEEEC
VE
SECRET
REVE CRTSIVEECECTI DIDRIRECDIR DSIRECTI
SECREVET
DIRECTIVE
SEETECECTI SEREC DIR
DIRECTI
SECRET
CR DIIVR DI
DIRECTIVE
SEIRECT
K

CMY

CMY

CY

CY

MY

MY

CMY

CM

CY

CM

CY

CMY

MY

CMY

CMY

MY

CY

CM

CY

CY

MY

CM

CY

MY

MY

CM

MY

CM

CM

CM

4
Capture tracks

REETT

Found washed up
on a beach

Rehabilitation

12

SSEECECCCRTRTIVIEVEETE
DDISRIRIEREECCTIV
D

Jail

HQ

IVEETE
SECR
CCTR
DISRERECTIV
DI

ET

Culture
Culture

Science

9
8

10

9
8

10

9
8

10

Military

Economy

10
9

STOP

STOP

Science

S A B OTAG E

7
6

5
STOP

STOP

7
6

DI R

Move enemy back 2 steps

on development track

5
3

STOP

3
2

5
4

1
1
0

PA R AC H U T E

home or abroad

DDIRE

Move a spy
then play one card

Play up to 2 intelligence cards

[action]

[action]

1 M I L I TA R Y

3 3
11 3 1 11
11 3 3
1 31311 3
1 3 1 11
1

1 card / +1
1 research

Economy

[intelligence]

Military

[action]

Science

T
ECRREEETT

SSEEECCCTRTIVIVEEE
DDISRIRIEREECCTIV
D

I
IL

E
IENC
1 S C abroad
R Y home or

ADMIN
home

Jail

Discard pile

Deck (10 cards)

10

Development board

Science decks

Science cards

HQ

Trash piles

Secret Directives (2 each)

10

Bank of coins

11

First player marker

12

Three Spies

12
Found washed up
on a beach

Rehabilitation

1 EC
O
home

NO 1 E
Y C

or abroa M
d

TA
d
roa

homeO N
or ab

OM

roa

or ab
1 Mhome

1 card / +1
1 research
[intell [inte
igen1ce]llig
1
ence
1]

[action]
1
igence]
ell
[intce
]
en
llig
[inte

Culture

ET
SECEER
CCTRIVEEVTE
DISRIRECTI

Player (country) board

home

ET

ADMIN

home or abroad

RTIEVIEVETETE
SSEECECR
CCTR
DDISRIRIEREECCTIV
D
[intelligence]

Hand

home or abroad

1 card / +2

Enemy spy found

washed up on beach

[action]

D IRE
D

[action]

LEAK

home or abroad

EVETET
SIERECECR
CTR
CITRIVEETE
DS
ISREEC CTIV

T
RETIEVIEVETETE
SSEECECR
CCTR
DISRIREEECCTIV

Capture tracks

STOP
1

Convert an enemy to work for you.

Trash after played

[action]

1 SCIENCE

abroad

Convert an enemy to work for you.

Trash after played

home or abroad

HONEY POT

abroad

A S S A S S I N AT E

5
4

STOP

3
2

HONEY POT

abroad

T
RETIEVIEVETETE
SSEECECR
CCTR
DDISRIREREECCTIV
[action]

Military

Economy

11

Set up for a 2 player game

Setup
1) Sort the action cards into the three research
levels (each level is written on the bottom right of
each card next to the conical flask (science)
symbol).
2) Shuffle Secret Directive cards (black backs) and
deal two to each player.
3) Pull out the starting deck (all science level 1) for
each player, consisting of:

2 Economy Intelligence cards,

2 Military Intelligence cards,

2 Science Intelligence cards,

2 Culture Intelligence cards,

2 Administration Action cards.

4) Each player shuffles their starting deck and deals
him/herself a hand of 5 cards.
5) Each of the three science levels decks are then
shuffled separately. Turn over the top three cards
of each of the three research decks.
6) Give each player a country player board, and
place 3 spies of their corresponding colour in
their HQ, setting aside unused spies. Each player
also takes one coin from the bank.
7) Each player places a maker of corresponding
colour on each of the four development tracks.
8) First player marker given to a player at random.

Starting items for each player:

1 coin,
3 spies of corresponding colour,
Player (country) board,
10 card deck from which 5 cards dealt
to form the players hands,
2 Secret Directive cards.
At the start of the game, place
development cubes on the 0 on each of
the four development tracks.
Options on a turn (choose one):
Move,
Play Intelligence card,
Play Action card,
Research (home only),
Collect income (home or abroad),
Pick up a Secret Directive (home).
End of round sequence:
Play Secret Directive,
Development,
Discard,
Rehabilitation,
Culture rolls,
Flip spies back and deal five cards
from deck (shuffle discard pile if deck
runs out).
Move first play marker

Game structure
The game is played over a number of rounds. Each round consists of a number of turns. A
turn is one spy doing something. A round ends when all spies from all players have been
used to do something. At the end of each round there is an opportunity to play a Secret
Directive bonus action, followed by development scoring, culture rolls and some tidying
up.

Turn in detail
Starting with the first player, each player takes turns selecting a spy and deciding what
action they will take. One turn is the doing of one thing by one spy. This spy is then
flipped over to the X side to show that it has been played. Once a players spy has
taken one turn, play proceeds to the next player (clockwise). Once a spy is flipped, it
cannot take another action that round. The end of the round is when all spies, from all
players, have been flipped. The options for spies are as follows:
1) Move. Take a spy from HQ to another countrys Capture track. Place the spy
on the 0 space, X side up. If the spy takes a further action in the country,
they move up the capture track one space, making them more likely to be
captured (see later in the clean up phase). If all the capture tracks are occupied,
then no one else can spy in that country. Spies can be also be moved between
other countries, or back to the home HQ.
2) Play Intelligence card. Intelligence cards are marked as such on the lower left
of the card. Intelligence cards are played into the intelligence slots of the
country that the spy is currently located. You want to play intelligence cards in
your own country as these move you up the development track (towards
victory). Playing an
intelligence card in
another country
cancels out one of their
own intelligence cards
(owing to conflicting
influences leading to
indecision, fully
explained in the End of
Round section).
1

ho

me

[in
te
ll
ige
nc
e]

1 SCIENCE

home or abroad

[intelligence]

LT

or

ab

ro
a

3) Play Action card. These are special cards that give

you additional benefits, and are identified by
Action being written on the bottom left. Some
action cards can only be played in certain locations
(home or abroad, i.e., when the spy is in yours or an
enemy country). Either way they go in to your own
discard pile after use. Each action card is explained in
the Appendix at the end. Cards with multiple actions
can be performed in any order, but all steps must be
performed.

Example Action card

4) Research. (home only) You can research a card to add to your deck. You
are limited by the science level you are at (initially only level 1 science
cards can be researched). By progressing up the science development
track, you can unlock the upper levels. To research, draw two cards from
the top of any deck available to you then choose one card from those two,
or any face up card available. Replace any face up cards chosen, and trash
used cards.
5) Income. (home or abroad - if abroad move up capture track) Flip over a
spy and collect the amount given by coin symbol amount on the Economy
track.
6) Pick up a Secret Directive. (home only) Draw one card from the top of
the Secret Directives deck. You can hold a maximum of Secret Directives.
If there are none left, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
Note: It is not possible to pass, you must flip one spy on one turn.
Play continues until all the spies are flipped. Sometimes one player will
have more spies than the others, in this case they get extra turns after
everyone else has played all spies.

End of round
This is where Secret Directives are played, progress is made on the
development tracks, and spies are captured. Do the below in the following
order:
1) Secret Directive. Each player may take one
additional bonus action written on one of their
Secret Directives. He/she pays the associated
number of coins to the bank. If more than one player
want to play a secret directive at the same time,
default to the order from the first player marker.
However this order is not fixed, i.e., players can
respond to a secret directive even if they are earlier
in turn order, provided they have not already
played a Secret Directive that round. After Example secret directive card
playing a Secret Directive, put the card in a
discard pile. If you have less than two Secret Directives, draw back up to two.
2) Development. For each country, the development is calculated as the
difference between the most influenced area and the second most. Players
then move their development cubes up the track which they have scored in
(see examples). If a player reaches the 10 space on any one of the
development tracks, they have won (see Winning the Game). Some
spaces have STOP points which limit the development that can be done
per round.
3) Discard. Place remaining cards from your hand in to your discard pile.
Also, place all intelligence cards from your country in to your discard pile.
4) Rehabilitation. Move spies from rehabilitation to HQ, and from being
Found washed up on a beach (a consequence of assassination) into
rehabilitation, and get more spies into HQ (if progressed on Military
track).

Development examples:
Example 1. Barry (Blue) has played two
Culture intelligence cards to his home
country, but Rebecca (Red) had a spy there
who played a Military intelligence card.
The result is two Culture subtract one
Military, so moves his development cube
up the Culture track one space.
Example 2. Gregor (Green) had played
three Science cards in his home country,
but Rebecca (Red) played one Economy
card, and Omar (Orange) played a total of
two military cards. The result is three
Science subtract two Military, giving
Gregor one Science development.
Rebeccas Economy card doesnt influence
the result as the total development is only
between the most and the second most
influenced area.
Example 3. Gregor (Green) Played two
Military Cards, and no other player has
played any intelligence cards. Normally,
this would develop two spaces up the
Military track, however, Gregor is on space
5. The next space has a STOP icon, so he
must stop here until the next round.
Notes:
It does not matter which country played
the influence cards. A common
misunderstanding is to play influence into
two development areas, thinking that
progress will be made on both. This is not
the case. Progress can only be made on one
development track per round. There is no
way to move backwards on the
development tracks (exception: Sabotage)
Strategy Tips:
Players should try to focus their decks on
one particular type of intelligence card.
Playing cards into other players countries
means their development can be slowed,
and removes that card from your deck,
helping you focus on one area.

5) Culture rolls. The more culture you have, the

more likely it is that you can root out enemy spies.
On the Culture development track there are
positions with a book and a number. The number
tells you the number of times you can roll a 6 sided
die to try to capture an enemy spy who is currently
in your country. For a successful capture, you must
roll less than or equal to the enemy spys position
on the capture track. The capture track starts at
0, so it is impossible to capture a spy on that
space.
Captured spies are taken from the capture track
and placed in the capturing players Jail. The
enemy country can pay the ransom (immediately,
or during a subsequent clean up phase, which must
be accepted) of one coin to the capturing country
to retrieve the spy. That spy needs to spend the
following round in Rehabilitation, however.
6) Deal yourself a new hand of 5 cards from your
deck. If your deck runs out of cards, shuffle your
discard pile to form a new deck. Move first player
marker round one space clockwise.
Winning the game
The game is won by being the first person, during
the Development phase to get to the 10 space. If
two players get there at the same time, the winner
is whoever has the second highest development
track, and so on. If 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th tracks are
equal, the game is a tie. If the game has obviously
been lost during a round, the losing players are
allowed to surrender should they wish.

Card appendix
Level 1

Administration

Take one research action, Draw one card from the top
of your deck and take one coin from the bank.
Research level depends on science development. Card
comes from your deck (reshuffle if needed).

Level 2

Classified

Trash cards from your hand. 0-3 cards can be

trashed.

Leak

Choice of either one card from top of deck or two coins

from bank. Then play two intelligence cards from
your hand.

Assassinate

If played at home, assassinate an enemy spy who is on

your capture track/is spying on you. If played away,
assassinate a spy from the country you are spying in.
The spy is always found washed up the beach of their
home country. In the end of round clean up, that spy
moves the rehab, and in the following round back to
HQ.

Blend in

The action is either the playing of an intelligence

cards, or another action card.

Parachute

Move to the zero space in an enemy country, or back

to your own HQ. The action is either the playing of an
intelligence cards, or another action card.

Theft

Level 3

If the enemy doesnt have 3 coins, then take what

they do have. There are no IOUs, etc.

Honey Pot

Remove enemy spy from game (enemy now has one

less spy than indicated on the Military track). Take
another of your colour and place it in your
Rehabilitation space, so the spy cant be used
immediately. Card is trashed after use. Can only have
up to a maximum of 5 spies, so cannot be played if you
have 5 already. Also cannot be used on a player with 2
or less spies.

Sabotage

Whoever plays this card gets to choose which

development track to move back. The two points
cannot be split between two tracks. Stop spaces are
still observed in the backward direction.