Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War
Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 26 Spy Pieces (the "Spies")
- 26 Movement Pieces
- 1 Top Secret Briefcase (the "Briefcase")
- 1 Game Board
- 2 Spy Notebooks (the "Notebooks")
- 2 Dry Erase Markers
- 1 Punchboard with 6 Special Action Tokens
- 1 Rulebook
Playing the Game
Each player has 13 Spy pieces that they move around the board to capture enemy Spies and to gain control of the Top Secret Briefcase. The twist is that each player does not see the movement capabilities of their own Spies – but they can see how their opponent's Spies can be moved. Each player deduces the capabilities of their Spies as they are moved and records them in their Spy Notebooks.
Winning the Game
The object of the game is to gain control of the Top Secret Briefcase with one of your Spies and move it to the opposite side of the board (that is, on the opponent's first row).
Setting Up
Choose which player will be White (the United States) and which will be Red (the U.S.S.R.). Each player randomly prepares his opponent's Spies as follows:
- Place your opponent's Movement Pieces (which show how a piece moves) face down and shuffle them. Face down means that all movement pieces will show the same symbol on the top side (the "move 2 in any direction" symbol), which is the symbol used when certain pieces are promoted.
- Select a Spy Piece and insert a random Movement Piece into the cutout area. Be sure the appropriate (non-promoted) side faces out. You may wish to draw the Movement Pieces from the box lid in order to ensure random selection.
- Place each of your opponent's pieces into its respective starting position on your opponent's side of the board by referring to the "Setup Diagram" on this page. The Movement Piece for each of your opponent's Spies should face you. Do not allow your opponent to see the Movement Pieces.
- Meanwhile, your opponent sets up your Spies using the same setup steps.
- Place the Top Secret Briefcase in the center of the 11 x 11 board on the marked square. Give each player the Notebook belonging to their country/color and a dry erase marker. Choose or randomly determine which player will go first.
Setup Diagram: each side's 13 Spies are set up across the first two rows on that side, one per lettered position (A through X, skipping some letters), with the Double Agent Spy ("X") in the center-most position of the front row. Two columns near each side's back rows are marked with a nuclear radiation symbol; these are used by Variant 2 ("Tight Setup") below. The Top Secret Briefcase starts on the single marked square at the exact center of the 11 x 11 board.
Game Play
On your turn, announce and make a move with one of your Spies.
Your opponent responds with "Yes" to indicate that the move is legal or with "No" to indicate that you must return your Spy to the square it occupied before attempting the move. The Spy's Movement Piece determines whether your opponent will declare that the move is legal or not.
If the move was legal and your Spy ended in the same square as an opponent's Spy, the opponent's Spy is captured and removed from the game without revealing its Movement Piece. Simply place that Spy back into the box, movement-side down.
Both players should record what they have learned by the move, legal or not, in their Notebooks. You record what you can deduce about the Spy that you just moved (or tried to move), and your opponent records what they can deduce that you know about your Spy.
Moving Your Spies
The lines on a Spy's Movement Piece show the directions and maximum distance that it can be moved (always in straight lines). No two of your Spies move in quite the same manner. A Spy need not be moved to its maximum distance. A Spy may never change direction during a single move.
The Movement Pieces on your opponent's Spies show the movement lines from your point of view. The direction of up on a Movement Piece always means towards the opponent, and down always means towards you.
A Spy cannot jump over any other Spy or the Top Secret Briefcase.
You cannot move your Spy onto a square that contains one of your own Spies. You can, however, move a Spy onto a square that contains an enemy Spy. In that case, the enemy Spy is captured and removed from the game.
Some Spies have a lock symbol displayed on them. These Spies are not always able to return to their previous square next turn depending on what movement you select for them. This symbol is for reference only.
Promoting Spies
The four Promotable Movement Pieces on each side can be identified by the Crown icon (as well as their inability to move backwards). Only these four Spies can be promoted.
If any of these Spies reach a space on the opponent's board edge, your opponent must announce the promotion and replace the Spy's Movement Piece by flipping the Movement Piece to its other side (the "Promoted Side"). The former Movement Piece is not revealed to the opponent, and care must be taken to ensure that it is not accidentally revealed.
The Top Secret Briefcase
If you move a Spy into the square occupied by the Top Secret Briefcase (capturing an enemy Spy in the same square, if applicable), place your Spy on top of the Briefcase. Your Spy now has control of the Briefcase.
If you decide to move your Spy that controls the Briefcase, you have three options:
- You can move your Spy and leave the Briefcase behind. You would now no longer have control of the Briefcase.
- You can move your Spy and carry the Briefcase with it. If you carry the Briefcase onto a square containing an enemy Spy, you would capture that enemy Spy and still maintain control of the Briefcase.
- You can move the Briefcase instead of moving your Spy. The Briefcase can only move in a direction and for a distance that your controlling Spy could move. Such a move could be denied just like a normal move. The Briefcase may not be moved to jump over any Spy. It can, however, end its move on a square that contains another Spy, either one of your Spies or an enemy Spy.
If the Briefcase ends on a square containing one of your Spies, then that Spy is placed on top of the Briefcase and gains control of it. If it ends on a square that contains an enemy Spy, the enemy Spy is placed on top of the Briefcase and takes control of it (although passing to an enemy Spy is hardly ever a good idea). The Briefcase can also end on a vacant square. In this case, neither player has control of the Briefcase.
Double Agent
Each player has a Movement Piece that shows a question mark (?) on its non-promoted side. This is the Double Agent, which is a Spy secretly working for your opponent. This Spy is set up and works just like any other Spy as described in the preceding rules. There are some differences, however.
Your opponent may freely choose whether a move of the Double Agent is legal or not, answering "Yes" or "No" after each move as your opponent desires. The opponent may even declare "Yes" to a move one turn and then "No" to the same move on a later turn. Of course, this is not very wise, because it would reveal that this Spy is the Double Agent.
Before moving a Spy on your turn, you may attempt to "Eliminate the Double Agent" by declaring that you wish to remove one of your own Spies from the game. This action is free, and is made in addition to the regular portion of your turn. This action may be taken only once per turn, but may be taken in consecutive turns. You simply select one of your own Spies to be removed (that is, the Spy you believe is your Double Agent), and it is removed from the game without revealing its Movement Piece. This action may be very important if your Double Agent has the Briefcase but your opponent refuses to allow it to move.
Alternatively, before moving a Spy on your turn, you may choose to "Eliminate the Opponent's Double Agent" by removing your opponent's Double Agent piece from the board and revealing it to your opponent to verify its identity. This action is free, and is made in addition to the regular portion of your turn. In this case, you must eliminate only your opponent's real Double Agent. You may not eliminate a different piece. This action may also be very important if your opponent's Double Agent has delivered the Briefcase to your side. You could simply eliminate the agent, and then move onto the Briefcase with your own Spy.
You may not "Eliminate the Double Agent" and "Eliminate the Opponent's Double Agent" on the same turn.
The Double Agent is eligible to win the game for you if your opponent is so foolish as to allow that Spy to carry the Briefcase to the opponent's first row.
Notebooks
The Notebooks are used to keep track of what is known about the Spies. One side of the Notebook is labeled "My Spies" to track what you know about them. The other side of the Notebook is labeled "Opponent's Spies", which you can use to keep track of your opponent's spies, because you also want to know what he knows.
The best way to keep track of information about a Spy is to cross out what the Spy cannot be. You're then left with what the Spy can be. As further possibilities are ruled out, you start to deduce the exact movement type of your Spy for that game.
Optional Rule and Variants
This section covers an optional rule and some variants that players may wish to try. They have been designed so that you can play with some or all of them and in any combination that you wish.
Optional Rule: Special Action Tokens
Included with the game are six Special Action tokens: three for each player. These tokens add some actions to the game for both players that may be used in whole or in part to help handicap play between players of different skill levels.
On a turn, you may play one (and only one) of these tokens, but not if you chose to use an "Eliminate the Double Agent" or "Eliminate the Opponent's Double Agent" action from above.
You must play the Special Action token before moving any Spies. Once played, return the token to the box, out of the game.
The tokens are used as follows:
Reveal 1: This action allows you to have the identity of any one Spy revealed to you. Your opponent picks up the Spy that you designate, and shows the Movement Piece side to you. The Spy is then returned to the board in its original position. You may choose to have one of your eliminated Spies revealed. The opponent must make sure to return the Spy back to the box in this case. After revealing one of the Spies, you make your normal move attempt, although you may not select the just-revealed Spy to move this turn.
Move 2: This action allows you to attempt two Spy moves this turn instead of the normal one Spy move. There are some limitations however. You may only move Spies that are on your half of the board, meaning the first five rows on your side. Neither of the Spies may currently be holding the Briefcase. You may not attempt to move the same Spy twice, regardless of whether the move was legal or not. You may not move a third Spy as part of your "regular move".
Swap 2: This action allows you to swap two of your Spies without revealing their Movement Pieces. There are some limitations however. You may only swap two of your Spies that are on your half of the board, meaning the first five rows on your side. Neither of the Spies may currently be holding the Briefcase. After swapping two Spies, you may make a regular movement attempt, although you may not select one of the two just-swapped Spies to move this turn. If you have no other Spies left in the game, you may select one of the just-swapped Spies to move.
Variant 1: "Honor Amongst Spies"
In this variant, the Double Agent Movement Piece is not used. Ignore the center-most setup position in the Setup Diagram (that is, Spy "X" is removed from play at setup), and instead use only the other 12 Spies in their usual starting positions.
Variant 2: "Tight Setup"
In this variant, you do not use the darkened columns on the board that are marked with the nuclear radiation symbol. They are treated as "out of play" for all purposes. This variant creates a tougher environment for Spies to move around in.
Variant 3: "Safe Extraction"
In this variant, your Spy must control the Briefcase and additionally survive for one full turn in the opponent's first row in order to win the game. If your Spy reaches your opponent's first row but is eliminated on your opponent's next turn, the game continues. This variant is good for players who are new to the game, or players who want a longer game.
Variant 4: "Variable Setup"
In this variant, players are invited to set up their pieces in any pattern that they wish, observing the following placement rules:
- You may only setup in the first and second rows as in the standard game.
- No more than seven Spies may be placed in any one row.
- At least four columns must have Spies in both rows (meaning that at least four Spies in your "home" row will be blocked from moving directly ahead on the first turn by four Spies sitting in front of them).
- Players are still not permitted to see their own Movement Pieces and extra care must be taken to avoid doing so when using this setup method.
Variant 5: "Promotion, Sir?"
In this variant, all Spies (not just those with a crown icon) are promotable with the exception of the Double Agents. The opponent asks "Do you wish to promote this Spy?" for each Spy arriving on the opponent's edge of the board. You may freely decide whether or not to promote the Spy. Once declined, the Spy remains in place unpromoted and unrevealed. If an unpromoted Spy is moved off of an edge square and back to an edge square later in the game, the promotion question is asked again.
Double Agents may not be promoted in this variant. If the opponent asks and you accept the promotion, the opponent reveals the Double Agent and it is removed from the game. In addition, the Briefcase, regardless of location, is transferred to the opponent's alphabetically first Spy regardless of his location. Most of the time this will be Spy A, but if Spy A is already eliminated, it transfers to Spy C and so on. The opponent may decline this Briefcase transfer if he wishes, and in this case, the Briefcase stays in its current location.
In this variant, it pays to know who your Spies are before promoting them. Attempting to promote a Double Agent is a sure way to have the Briefcase stolen.
Players may also combine this variant with variant #1. This would result in a game with no Double-Agent, and therefore no need to ask for promotion. However, all spies would be promotable.
Credits
Game Design: Robert Abbott. Game Development: Kevin Nesbitt and Stephen M. Buonocore. Art and Layout: David Ausloos. Production Manager: Kevin Nesbitt. Production Consultant: Stephen M. Buonocore. Special thanks to Chad Mekash for rewriting the rulebook.