Berlin 1960 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Assign Spies
  • 2. Player Turns
    • Step 1. Reveal Spy and Perform an Action
    • Step 2. Counterintelligence (Optional)
    • Step 3. Retire Spy
    • Step 4. Make an Accusation (Optional)
    • Step 5. Discard Excess Missions
    • Step 6. Recruit Spy
• Missions
  • Drawing Missions
  • Playing Missions
  • The Agency Mission Areas
  • Mission Effects
  • Discarding Missions
  • Ending a Semester
• Accusations
  • End of a Round
• End of the Semester
  • Scoring VP
  • End of the Semester Example
• Game End and Final Scoring
  • End Game Scoring Example
• Card Appendix
  • The Missions
  • The Spies
  • Paranoid Mode

Components

• 90 Mission cards (45 × 2 decks)
• 88 Spy cards (11 × 8 colors)
• 8 Membership cards (4 CIA and 4 KGB)
• 8 Agent boards
• 1 Main board
• 8 Accusation cards
• 1 Minority card (double-sided CIA / KGB)
• 1 Accusation notepad. If you run out of pages in your notepad, you can download more from www.devirgames.com
• 1 First Player marker
• 1 Semester marker
• 1 Victory Points marker
• 20 Gunshot tokens

Overview

Berlin 1960 is a game of clandestine operations set in the city of Berlin in one of the tensest moments of the Cold War. The players will be secretly assigned to 2 Agencies, the CIA and the KGB, but will not know who the other members of their team are.

During the game, the players will draw and play Missions to score Victory Points (VP from now on) for their Agency. They will also try to identify which players are on the opposing side so they can make a secret Accusation naming all members of the other Agency.

The game takes place over 3 Semesters, each representing half a year and composed of an undefined number of rounds. During a round, each player will simultaneously choose a Spy to play, then the players will each take individual turns. If either Agency has been the target of enough Missions, the Semester ends.

After the 3rd Semester, the game ends and the Agency with the most VP wins the game. The game can also end early if the players run out of Spies or all but 1 player has made an Accusation.

Setup

Note: The illustration shows the setup for a 5-player game.

1. Place the main board in the middle of the table. Leave the Accusation notepad near the board. You will need a pen or a pencil for the players (not included). You will only need 1, as it is forbidden for the players to take written notes during the game.

2. Place the Semester marker on the 2nd Semester of 1960 (leftmost space) and the Victory Points marker on the "V" space of the Score Track. Place 1 Gunshot token on each space next to a Semester.

3. Separate the 45 CIA Mission cards and the 45 KGB Mission cards (from now on, "Missions") into 2 decks. Shuffle each deck separately and place them face down in the designated spaces on the board.

   Note that both decks have the same back. You can recognize the cards for each deck by the CIA and KGB icons on the front. All blue cards are CIA and all red cards are KGB, but both decks also have a number of purple neutral cards.

4. Create a deck of Accusation cards based on the number of players in the game—see the chart on the main board. Place the card with 3 VP (the number in the lower-left corner) face up in the matching space on the board and place on top of it, in ascending order of VP, the other Accusation cards needed, also face up. For example, in a 5-player game, the cards will be 3, 4, 5, and 7 from the bottom up. Return any unused cards to the box.

5. If there is an odd number of players, place the Minority card on the table. This card is double-sided, but you won't know which side to use until the end of the game (see page 12).

   If there is an even number of players, return this card to the box.

6. Form a deck of Membership cards as follows and shuffle it:

   • For 4 players: 2 CIA and 2 KGB.
   • For 5 or 6 players: 3 CIA and 3 KGB.
   • For 7 or 8 players: 4 CIA and 4 KGB.

   Give each player 1 random Membership card, face down. Each player now looks at their own card, being careful not to let any other player see their identity. If there is an odd number of players, return the unused Membership card to the box without revealing it, along with any leftover Membership cards.

Gameplay

The game is played over 3 Semesters, each of which can have any number of rounds. Each round is divided into 2 steps:

1. Assign Spies: Each player secretly chooses 1 Spy from their hand to play that round.
2. Player Turns: Each player takes a turn, in clockwise order.

Once all players have finished their turns, the round ends (see page 10) and the players check to see if the Semester ends (see page 11) or if the game ends early.

At the end of the 3rd Semester, the game ends and Final Scoring begins (see page 12).

The game can also end early if:

• At the end of any round, there are no Accusation cards left (meaning all but 1 player has made an Accusation).
• At the end of any round, players cannot draw a Spy because their Spy decks have run out (7 rounds for 6, 7, or 8 players or 6 rounds for 4 or 5 players).

1. Assign Spies

Simultaneously, each player chooses 1 Spy from their hand and places it face down in the "Active Spy" space of their Agent board.

See page 15 for details of all Spies in the Card Appendix.

Once all players have 1 face-down Active Spy, the players proceed to the Player Turns.

2. Player Turns

Starting with the player who holds the First Player marker and proceeding to the left, each player takes an individual turn. Each player's turn follows these 6 steps in order:

1. Reveal Spy and Perform an Action
2. Counterintelligence (optional)
3. Retire Spy
4. Make an Accusation (optional)
5. Discard Excess Missions
6. Recruit Spy

Once all 6 steps are complete, the player's turn ends and the player to their left begins their turn.

Step 1. Reveal Spy and Perform an Action

The player turns their Active Spy face up, then chooses 1 option:

• Use that Spy's ability as described on the card (and in the Appendix); or
• Perform a basic action instead by drawing 2 Missions from either deck OR playing 2 Missions on an Agency (see "Playing Missions" on page 9).

In both cases, unless an effect states otherwise, all abilities are mandatory: you must carry out all the instructions on the card if possible, or carry out as many as you can if not.

Example: An effect instructs Friedrich to play 3 Missions on an Agency. He must play all 3 Missions if possible, even if he would prefer to play fewer Missions. If he only has 1 or 2 Missions in hand, he must play all of them.

Step 2. Counterintelligence (Optional)

The player may try to limit the options of another player by giving them 1 Gunshot token from the supply. You can give a Gunshot token to a player if they have already taken their turn this round AND they played the same Spy that you played this round. If multiple players played the same Spy you played this round, you may only give a Gunshot token to 1 of them.

Giving Gunshot tokens by Counterintelligence is optional: a player may choose not to give a Gunshot token to anyone.

Gunshot tokens reduce the number of Missions a player may hold in their hand (see Step 5 on the right).

Also, Gunshots negatively affect the VPs of the Agency that received them.

Step 3. Retire Spy

The player moves their Spy from the Active Spy space to the top of their Retired Spies stack next to their Agent board, face up. That Spy cannot be used again during the game.

Step 4. Make an Accusation (Optional)

If the player chooses, but only once per game, they may make an Accusation about which players are working for the opposing Agency (see "Accusation" on page 10).

Step 5. Discard Excess Missions

If the player now has more Mission cards than their hand limit, they must discard enough cards to stay within that limit. A player's hand limit depends on the number of Gunshot tokens they have received:

• 0 Gunshots—the limit is 5.
• 1 Gunshot—the limit is 4.
• 2 Gunshots—the limit is 3.
• 3 or more Gunshots—the limit is 2.

Discarded Missions are placed face down in the Discarded Missions space of the main board without being revealed. No player may look at the discarded Missions at any time.

Example: Andreas finishes their turn with 4 Missions, but they have 2 Gunshots, which means their hand limit is 3 Missions. They must choose 1 Mission to discard from their hand.

Step 6. Recruit Spy

The player ends their turn by drawing 1 Spy from their deck and adding it to their hand.

Remember: If there are no Spies left to draw, the game ends early, at the end of that round (see page 12).

Missions

Missions are the main way a player will advance the goals of their Agency and score VP.

Each Agency has its own Mission deck. Both decks are identical, except for the Wall and Airlift cards, which work the same way but have different names. Details about the Missions can be found in the Card Appendix, see page 14.

Each Mission card shows the following information:

• Name: Some cards refer to other cards by their name.
• Picture: To help you identify the Missions.
• Color: This is important for the activation of blue, red, and purple cards.
• Number of Copies in the Deck: Purple cards have 2 numbers because they appear in both decks.
• Agency Icon: Used for separating the CIA deck from the KGB deck during setup.
• Effect Reminder: The main effect of the Mission is noted here.
• Effects in Detail: There are 3 kinds of effects, and each Mission has 1 or 2 of them: End of the Semester, Immediate, and Game End.

Drawing Missions

When a player draws Mission cards (usually during step 1 of the Player Turn), they may choose which Agency to draw from. Sometimes, an effect will require the player to draw from a specific Agency. When a player draws more than 1 Mission at the same time, they must draw all of them from the same Agency.

The icon showing a telephone with the number 2 means that the player must draw the indicated number of Missions from the same Agency.

Playing Missions

When a player plays a Mission, they choose which Agency to play it on, regardless of the color of the Mission played, unless an effect forces them to play a Mission on a specific Agency. If a player plays more than 1 Mission at the same time, they must play all of them on the same Agency. They may play those Missions in any order they choose.

The icon showing a pistol with the number 2 means that the player must play the indicated number of Missions on the same Agency.

Missions are usually played face down, but some Missions state that they may be played face up to activate an Immediate effect.

Example: Brigit plays 2 Missions on the KGB. She plays the 2nd one, a Politician, face up and activates its Immediate effect.

The Agency Mission Areas

The 2 long sides of the board represent the 2 Agencies: the blue side is the CIA and the red side is the KGB. When a player plays a Mission on an Agency, they place that card on the matching long side of the board (players can play cards on either side of the board).

Each Agency has 9 spaces where Missions can be placed. Missions must be placed from the bottom to the top. If all the spaces for an Agency are full, it is still possible to add more Missions—there is no limit to the number of Missions that can be played on an Agency.

Mission Effects

Unless a card states otherwise, all effects of Missions are mandatory: you must perform them in their entirety if possible. If you cannot do so, you must perform them as completely as you can.

Discarding Missions

Sometimes, Missions must be discarded. To do so, place them face down in the Discarded Missions space of the main board. No one is allowed to look at these cards for the rest of the game.

Ending a Semester

The Mission area for each Agency has icons showing the number of players in the game. At the end of a round, if the number of Missions played on at least 1 Agency has reached the icon matching the number of players, the current Semester ends (see "End of the Semester" on page 11).

Accusations

Once per game, during their turn, each player may make an Accusation. An Accusation is a list of all the players they believe are working for the opposing Agency.

To make an Accusation, the player takes the top Accusation card from the deck and places it face up in front of them. Then they take an Accusation sheet and a pencil and secretly write an X next to the letter (face) of each Agent (the name on that player's Agent board) that they think belongs to the opposing side. Finally, they fold and cover their sheet with the Accusation card so none of the other players can see it.

Important: In order for an Accusation to be correct, it must include all and only the players from the other Agency exactly.

At the end of the game, if the Accusation is correct—if it accurately identifies all the members of the opposing Agency—that Agency scores the number of points shown in the lower-left corner of the Accusation card. If there is any mistake in the Accusation (including missing any members of that Agency), the Agency loses 2 VP instead.

Remember: At the end of the round when the last Accusation card is taken (the one worth 3 VP), the game ends early.

Example: In a 5-player game, Brigit believes that she has identified Andreas and Derek as her opponents (she thinks she is part of the majority team). She takes the top Accusation card and secretly marks their names with an X on an Accusation sheet and hides it beneath the Accusation card. Her team will score 5 VP if she is right (because a card was already taken from the Accusation deck earlier on), or lose 2 VP if she's wrong.

End of a Round

As soon as the last player has finished their turn, the round ends.

First, the players check if the game ends early (because they could not draw a Spy card this round or all the Accusation cards have been used) (see "Gameplay" on page 6).

If not, they check to see if the current Semester ends. The Semester ends if at least 1 Agency has enough Missions in its Mission area to reach the space marked with the number of players in the game:

• 5 Missions for 4 players.
• 6 Missions for 5 or 6 players.
• 7 Missions for 7 players.
• 8 Missions for 8 players.

See the next page for the End of the Semester procedure.

Note: If the game ends, the Semester also ends and is resolved as normal (see next page).

Example: At the end of a round in a 5-player game, the KGB has a Mission card on the 5/6-player space, so the Semester ends. It does not matter how many Missions were played on the CIA.

Whether the Semester ends or not, the First Player marker is passed to the next player in clockwise order and a new round begins.

End of the Semester

When a Semester ends, the players must follow these steps:

• Compare the number of Missions played on each Agency during the current Semester. The Agency with fewer Missions receives 1 Gunshot token (move the corresponding Gunshot token from the current Semester to the Agency space). If they are tied, neither Agency receives a Gunshot token.

Example: This is the situation at the end of a round in a 5-player game, so the Semester ends. Since the CIA has fewer Missions than the KGB, the CIA receives 1 Gunshot token.

• Take all the cards played on each Agency and shuffle them separately, then place them in a face-up stack next to that Agency. These Missions are then resolved, starting with the CIA, then the KGB:

  • Any Mission that is the wrong color (red ones on the CIA and blue ones on the KGB) is discarded without any effect. Purple cards always work on both sides, regardless of the Agency icon depicted on them (those are used only to assign them to the proper decks at the start of the game).
  • Discard all the Decryption cards and move the same number of Encrypted Code cards, if any, played on the same Agency to the other Agency's Encrypted Code space on the main board. If there are fewer Encrypted Code cards than Decryption cards, move all of them.
  • Discard any Bagman cards and the same number of Politician cards played on the same Agency, if any. If there are fewer Politician cards than Bagman cards, discard all of them.
  • Resolve all other "End of the Semester" effects, scoring the VP indicated as follows:
    • Politician and Official Statement cards score VP for the Agency where they were played.
    • Killer and Double Agent cards deduct VP from the Agency where they were played.
  • Discard the "End of the Semester" Missions.
  • Resolve the "Game End" effect cards (Wall / Airlift and Encrypted Code cards not affected by a ) simply by placing those cards in the corresponding spaces on that Agency's side of the main board. These cards are scored only at the end of the game.

Scoring VP

When an Agency scores VP, move the VP token toward the matching end of the Score Track—toward blue for the CIA or red for the KGB—depending on which Agency earned the VP.

End of the Semester Example

These cards were played on the KGB this Semester:

• 1 of the 2 Decryption cards forces the KGB to place its Encrypted Code card on the CIA side of the board instead of the KGB side. The second Decryption card has no effect. Both Decryption cards are discarded.
• 1 of the 2 Politician cards is discarded since there's 1 Bagman. The second one scores 3 VP for the KGB, then it is discarded.
• The Official Statement scores 2 VP for the KGB, then it is discarded.

These cards were played on the CIA:

• The Wall is discarded because it's the wrong color for the CIA.
• The Killer and the Double Agent deduct 4 VP (2 + 2) for the CIA; then, they are discarded.
• The Airlift and the Encrypted Code are placed on the board in the matching CIA spaces: they will be resolved at the end of the game.

That brings the 1st Semester to an end, so the Semester marker is moved to the 2nd Semester. The KGB is now leading with 9 VP, but the CIA has 3 good cards for end-game scoring...

Game End and Final Scoring

Regardless of whether the game ends after the 3rd Semester or due to an early end, the final End of the Semester must be performed as normal. Then the Final Scoring takes place as follows:

First, all players reveal their Membership cards. If there is an odd number of players, flip the Minority card to the side matching the Agency with fewer players. The Minority team gets to count the values showing on the card:

• +1 Wall or Airlift.
• +1 Encrypted Code.
• Up to 2 Gunshots less.

Then the "Game End" effect Missions—Encrypted Code and Wall / Airlift—are scored as described in the Appendix (see page 14).

Next, the Gunshots are evaluated. Each Agency counts the total number of Gunshot tokens they have, including any on the players from that Agency and the ones on the board. The Minority team reduces their total by 2 Gunshots (as shown on the Minority card). The minimum number of Gunshots is 0. Each Agency loses 1 VP for each Gunshot token. In addition, the team with the most Gunshots loses 3 more VP.

Now all players reveal their Accusations and check if they were correct:

• For each incorrect Accusation, that player's Agency loses 2 VP.
• For each correct Accusation, that player's Agency gains the VP shown on their Accusation card.

The Agency with the most VP (that is to say, the Agency on whose side of the Score Track the VP marker ends up) wins the game! All members of that Agency share in the victory.

If the VP marker is on "V", compare the Wall and Airlift cards. The Agency with the most cards wins. If they are still tied, then the Cold War has no winner and must continue...

End Game Scoring Example

The 3rd Semester has just closed in a 5-player game. All players show their Membership cards and reveal that Andreas and Christian belong to the CIA, and Brigit, Derek, and Edith belong to the KGB. Since the CIA has fewer members, the Minority card is flipped to the CIA side.

The VP marker is on the red 7, so the KGB is currently in the lead.

There are 2 Airlift and 2 Wall cards, but the CIA adds 1 Airlift thanks to the Minority card, so there are actually 3 Airlift against 2 Wall, which means the CIA scores 7 VP.

The 2 Encrypted Codes for the CIA plus 1 from the Minority card score 7 more VP for the CIA. The 4 Encrypted Codes for the KGB award them 12 VP.

Looking at the Gunshots, the CIA (counting on players and on the board) has 4 and the KGB has 3. Again, the Minority card helps the CIA, reducing its count by 2 for a total of 2. The CIA loses 2 VP (the number of remaining Gunshots) while the KGB loses 3 VP for its Gunshots, then loses an additional 3 VP for having the most Gunshots.

Finally, the Accusations are revealed and evaluated. Andreas has correctly identified all the KGB members and scores 7 VP for the CIA. Brigit did not identify the CIA members correctly, so the KGB loses 2 VP. Derek did identify the right CIA members, earning 4 VP for the KGB. Christian and Edith never made any Accusations, so no points are awarded for either of them.

After the Final Scoring is complete, the VP marker is on the blue 4 space, so the CIA is the winner!

Card Appendix

The Missions

• Bagman

  • End of the Semester: Discard 1 Politician of the same color played on this Agency this Semester.

• Decryption

  • End of the Semester: Move 1 Encrypted Code played on this Agency this Semester to the opposing Agency. The Encrypted Code card goes in the corresponding space on the main board, not with the cards played during the current Semester—this means it can't be moved again by another Decryption.

• Double Agent

  • Immediately: If you play this Mission face up, you may place up to 3 Spies from your hand at the bottom of your deck, then draw the same number of Spies from your deck and add them to your hand.
  • End of the Semester: This Agency loses 2 VP.

• Encrypted Code

  • Game End: This Agency scores VP based on the number of Encrypted Code cards it has. If there is an odd number of players, remember to count the Minority card.

  VP	1	4	7	12	18

The Spies

• Antique Dealer: You must draw 5 Missions from the deck of your choice, then play 1 of them on the Agency of your choice. Shuffle the other 4 Missions and place them either on top or at the bottom (your choice) of the same deck.
• Chemist: Take the last 2 Missions played on an Agency of your choice (flip the face-up ones if there are any), shuffle and look at them. Then you must play them face down on the same Agency from which you had drawn them, or 1 on that Agency and 1 on the other one. If there is only 1 Mission on an Agency, you cannot perform this action on that Agency.
• Dancer: You must give 1 of your Missions to another player, who must look at it and then immediately play it on an Agency of their choice, face down. You may then play up to 2 Missions on that same Agency (face up or face down, your choice).
• Diplomat: You must play 3 Missions on the same Agency (or as many as you have if fewer than 3).
• Doctor: You must perform these steps in this order:
  • Discard 1 Gunshot from another player of your choice.
  • Look at the Missions in that player's hand.
  • Draw 2 Missions from the deck of your choice OR play 2 Missions on an Agency of your choice (or just 1 if you only have 1).
• Nurse: Discard 1 Gunshot from another player of your choice, then secretly look at their Membership card. You cannot choose a player who has no Gunshots. Remove this card in games with 4 or 5 players.
• Priest: You must draw 1 Mission from either deck and add it to your hand. Then, you must play 2 Missions (or just 1 if you only have 1) on an Agency of your choice (the deck you draw from may be the same as the Agency you play the Missions on, or not).

Paranoid Mode

If you want to play in the most thematic way possible, whenever any rule asks you to shuffle the cards, you should give them to the player to your left to shuffle them for you.