Conspiracy
Conspiracy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Be the first player to bring the top secret briefcase to your headquarters.
Contents
- 1 gameboard
- 8 plastic spy playing pieces
- 1 plastic briefcase playing piece
- 4 Bank Books with tally sheets
- 1 instruction booklet
- label sheet
Important Notice to New Players
Conspiracy is not like any other game you ever played... for the following reasons:
- No one owns the spy playing pieces. Their placement on the gameboard does not effect ownership either.
- The spies do not move by spinner or dice. Players are free to move any piece from space to space along the path.
- Any player can try to stop another player's move by announcing a challenge to the move. This action is called a Move Challenge.
- One spy can permanently remove another spy from play. This action is called Blowing a Spy's Cover.
- Any player can try to stop the removal of a spy from play by challenging the Blowing of a Spy's Cover. This action is called a Cover Challenge.
How to Set Up the Game
1. Choice of Headquarters: Open up the gameboard, place it on a flat surface between players so that you and your opponents each sit behind a headquarters... either Washington D.C., London, Moscow or Peking. Whichever headquarters you're sitting behind becomes your Home Headquarters and the place where you are trying to bring the briefcase to!
2. Assembly of Playing Pieces:
The briefcase... carefully break off the two briefcase pieces from the runner and snap them together fitting the pegs of one piece into the holes of another, as in Figure 1. Then, peel off the briefcase labels and apply them to the case.
The spies... carefully break off the spy pieces from the runners. Each spy is made up of two of the same plastic pieces. To assemble a spy, just snap two identical pieces together being sure to fit the pegs of one piece into the holes of another piece, as you did with the briefcase.
3. Place the briefcase in the center "Conspiracy" space on the board. Then position the 8 spies as in Figure 2. Note, it doesn't matter which spy is placed where — remember, they DO NOT belong to any player or headquarters.
4. Game Play Spaces: Notice, there are 25 game play spaces that the spies with or without the case can be moved to. Twenty are the names of exotic cities, one is the center "Conspiracy" label space and four are the headquarters spaces which are also game play spaces. Please note: the 3 headquarters spaces of your opponents are legal spaces to move to only if you move a spy there without the case. For if you moved a spy with the case to an opponent's headquarters, your opponent would win the game!
5. The Bank Books: Each player is given a Bank Book to keep a secret record of the pay-offs he or she makes to the spies during the game. (Pencils are needed and are not provided.) Each player starts off the game with a total of $10,000 from which varying pay-offs are made to various spies.
Open up your Bank Book. The inside cover pictures all 8 spies and gives you a quick summary of "How To Pay Off A Spy." See Figure 3 for pay-off example.
Here's How You Make A Pay-Off...
A. On your turn, announce aloud that you're going to make a pay-off.
B. Open up your Bank Book. Secretly write the amount of the pay-off you wish to make under the name of the spy you wish to bribe. Do not tell your opponents the amount of the pay-off or what spy you bribed!
C. Subtract pay-off from the $10,000 balance. Record updated balance in the Account Balance Column.
D. Always make pay-offs in even $100 amounts for easier tabulation. For example, you may make a pay-off of $700 but not $750!
E. Make only one pay-off to one spy in a turn but you may pay-off as many spies as you wish during a game.
F. Once a pay-off is made it cannot be transferred to another spy.
G. Don't overdraw your account. Your total number of pay-offs cannot exceed $10,000.
How to Play the Game
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Before actual play begins, each player secretly makes an Opening Pay-Off to any spy in his or her Bank Book. Remember, the pay-off must be in even $100 amounts and it can be made only to one spy. Subtract amount from $10,000 balance.
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Choose a player to go first. Play proceeds to the left.
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On your turn, you may do ONE of the following...
MOVE ONE SPY with or without the briefcase.
MAKE A SECRET PAY-OFF to a spy in your Bank Book.
BLOW A SPY'S COVER by using one spy (called the Informer) to expose and eliminate another spy (called the Victim) from play.
All of the above actions are explained below in detail. "Moving a Spy" and "Blowing a Spy's Cover" can be challenged by any player at any time. These two kinds of challenges, the Move Challenge and the Cover Challenge, are explained in the columns to the right.
Moving One Spy
On your turn, you may choose to move one spy to an adjacent space connected by the gamepath. Here are some basic rules of movement...
- Game spaces are connected by the gamepath. When moving a spy with or without the case, you must move it to an adjacent space connected by the path, moving only one space per turn.
- You may move a spy even if you have not made a pay-off to that spy.
- No one owns the briefcase! It can be picked up and carried to another space by any spy who is on the same space with the case at the beginning of your turn. For example...
You're Player 2. Player 1 moves Spy C with the case into the space occupied by Spies A and B. Player 1's turn is now over. You (Player 2) may, if you wish, move either Spy A, Spy B or Spy C with or without the case to an adjacent space.
- The briefcase must never be moved by itself — a spy must carry it to an adjacent space, if it is to be moved.
- Any number of spies can be on the same game space at the same time.
After you move a spy, with or without the case, such a move is open to a challenge by any player. This kind of challenge is called a Move Challenge. See the specifics of making a Move Challenge in the column to the near right. If there is no challenge to your move your turn is over and play proceeds to your left.
You now know how to move a spy. If you prefer not to move a spy on your turn, you may do either of the following 2 actions... either make a secret pay-off in your bank book or blow a spy's cover. Both are discussed below.
Making a Secret Pay-Off
Secret pay-offs are strategic moves. As you can see from the "Moving A Spy" and "The Move Challenge" sections, if you have made the largest pay-off to a particular spy, then you can move that spy from space to space without losing a Move Challenge... certainly a powerful advantage!
To make a pay-off, simply add any amount in your Bank Book to the account of the spy you wish to pay-off. Then subtract that same amount from your balance. Remember to make pay-offs in amounts of even hundreds. Be sure to follow the step-by-step pay-off procedure in Rule 5 under the "Bank Books" section in "How To Set Up The Game." Here are two additional rules...
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You may make more than one pay-off to a certain spy, but only one pay-off each turn. When you do add more money to a spy's account be sure to add it to the previous pay-off in the spy's account. For example, if you had previously paid Earl E. Byrd $200 and you decide to pay him $500 more, total the $700 and enter it right under Earl's account.
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Bluffing: if you wish, you can bluff making a pay-off. Announce aloud that you're going to make a pay-off and "fake" doing so. This clever play will deceive your opponents into thinking that you may have more money on a spy than you really do.
Blowing a Spy's Cover
The purpose of blowing a spy's cover is to remove that particular spy from the game. If you wish to blow a spy's cover, you must use another spy to do so. The spy that eliminates another spy from play is called THE INFORMER; the spy that is to be eliminated is called THE VICTIM. Here's how you blow a spy's cover...
- At the beginning of your turn, both the Informer and the Victim must be on the same game space.
- You must have previously paid the Informer at least $1,000 in your Bank Book.
- Announce aloud to your opponents that you're blowing a spy's cover and declare which spy is the Informer and which spy is the Victim.
- If any player wishes to try and stop this action, he or she may make a Cover Challenge. See column to the far right for the specifics of making a Cover Challenge.
- If there are no challenges to the action, remove the Victim spy from the board and from the game.
- The Victim has now been eliminated. The cost to you for "exposing" the spy is $1,000. Deduct $1,000 from the account of the Informer spy in your Bank Book.
Important: the $1,000 cannot be taken from the balance in your Bank Book. It must be in the Informer's account and it must be there before you announce the action of blowing a spy's cover!
The Two Kinds of Challenges
The Move Challenge
Why would you make a Move Challenge? If you wish to try to stop a certain player from moving a particular spy to a particular location, then challenge that move. If you're successful in your challenge, you'll cancel out the move. If you're unsuccessful in your challenge, the move remains and you'll lose your next turn.
Who can make a Move Challenge? As soon as a spy is moved, any player may challenge that move in an attempt to cancel it out. This opportunity to challenge is done in a specific order starting to the left of the player who moved the spy and then continuing clockwise. For if one player decides not to challenge or loses the challenge, the player to his or her immediate left may then challenge. Important: you may challenge only once during an opponent's turn. If you pass up the challenge, you are not allowed to challenge again in that same opponent's turn.
How to make a Move Challenge
Do the following in order to challenge a move (the Challenger mentioned below is the player who is trying to cancel out the move; the Challenged player is the person who just moved a spy).
- Challenger calls out, "I challenge that move."
- If the Challenged player does not want to fight the challenge, he or she simply moves the spy back where it was (and the briefcase, too, if the spy was carrying it). The Challenged player's turn is then over.
- If the Challenged player wants to fight the challenge, he or she says, "Bid for it," to the Challenger. A Bidding Contest now begins. This contest involves the amount of previously placed pay-offs the Challenger and the Challenged player made in their Bank Books to the Just Moved Spy.
Important: no money is actually exchanged during a Bidding Contest... rather, amounts are revealed. Remember, only previously placed pay-offs are considered in the bidding. No additional pay-offs may be made once the bidding begins.
The Bidding Contest... in a Bidding Contest, you cannot bid more than the pay-off amount you made to the Just Moved Spy. To declare more than you paid-off would be cheating and spoil the strategy of the game. You may, of course, bid less than the amount you paid-off.
Here's How A Bidding Contest Is Conducted — Play By Play:
- Challenger announces a pay-off amount (not the total amount yet), he or she has made on the Just Moved Spy (it must be a minimum of $100).
- If the Challenged player has made that pay-off amount to the spy, he or she says "Covered."
- Then the Challenger may up his or her bid (pay-off amount) in $100 raises. The Challenged player says "Covered" each time he or she can match that bid.
- At any point in the bidding, either player may stop, even if he or she has not yet reached or revealed the total pay-off amount he or she had made.
Results of a Move Challenge: either of the following two events can happen... If a Challenger's bid is "covered" and he or she does not wish to bid higher or can't bid higher, the Challenger loses the challenge. The Just Moved Spy remains where it is and the Challenger loses his or her next turn as a penalty. Or if the Challenged player cannot "cover" or does not wish to "cover a bid," the Challenged player loses the challenge. The move is cancelled out. The Just Moved Spy is returned to its previously occupied position (and the briefcase, too, if the spy was carrying it).
Please note: it is possible that you could challenge two different players and lose before you take your next turn. If this happens, you only receive one "Lose Your Turn" penalty.
See Appendix, Section I, page 3 for examples of Bidding Contests in a Move Challenge.
The Cover Challenge
Why would you make a Cover Challenge? If you wish to try and stop a player from eliminating a certain spy from the game, then challenge the blowing of that spy's cover. If you're successful in your challenge, you'll cancel out the elimination and the spy remains in the game. If you're unsuccessful in your challenge, the spy is eliminated and you'll lose your next turn.
Who can make a Cover Challenge? Just as in a Move Challenge, any player can make a Cover Challenge as soon as the action of blowing a spy's cover is announced. The opportunity to challenge is done in the same order as a Move Challenge, always starting to the left of the player who is blowing a spy's cover. The same rules of a Move Challenge apply to a Cover Challenge and the same format of a bidding contest is conducted. The Challenger is the player who is trying to stop the action of blowing a spy's cover; the Challenged player is the player who is trying to eliminate the spy.
The most important thing to remember in a Cover Challenge is that the bidding contest involves the pay-offs made on the Informer spy, not the Victim spy.
Results of a Cover Challenge
- If the Challenger wins the Bidding Contest, the Victim spy is not eliminated from play. The Challenged player's turn is over and he or she does not have to deduct $1,000 from the Informer's account.
- If the Challenged Player wins the Bidding Contest, the Victim spy is eliminated from the game. The Challenged Player then deducts $1,000 from the account of the Informer in his or her Bank Book. The defeated Challenger loses his or her next turn as a penalty.
See Appendix, Section I, pages 3 and 4 for examples of Bidding Contests in a Cover Challenge.
Point of interest: when a spy's cover is blown and it is eliminated from the game, all players may, if they wish, reveal how large a pay-off (if any) they had on the eliminated spy. The money is lost, of course, since the spy is out of the game!
Open Discussion Between Players
In Conspiracy, players are encouraged to "table-talk" and discuss the possible meanings of certain actions. Often players can cooperate with each other to stop a certain player from making a critical move to win the game. No discussion of specific pay-off amounts, however, is ever allowed. Secret bank accounts must remain secret (except after a spy is eliminated). At the end of the game, Bank Books should be exchanged to prove the honesty of the players.
How to Win the Game
Continue to play as outlined above until one player moves a spy with the briefcase into his or her headquarters to win the game.
Appendix, Section I: Examples of Move and Cover Challenges
See the following for examples of challenges and strategy hints.
Move Challenges
Situation #1. Player 1 moves Tanya Hyde to an adjacent space. Player 1 has made a pay-off totaling $500 to Tanya. Player 2 has made a pay-off totaling $700 to Tanya and decides to challenge the move.
The Bidding Contest — Player 2 (the Challenger), $700 on Tanya Hyde, versus Player 1 (the Challenged Player), $500 on Tanya Hyde:
| Bid | Amount | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Bid | $100 | "Covered" |
| 2nd Bid | $200 | "Covered" |
| 3rd Bid | $400 | "Covered" |
| 4th Bid | $600 | "Not Covered" |
Result: Player 2 wins the challenge. Tanya Hyde returns to her previously occupied space. Player 1's turn is over. Player 2 has made a successful challenge and does not lose his or her turn.
Situation #2. Player 1 moves Tanya Hyde with the briefcase to an adjacent space. Player 1 has made a pay-off totaling $800 to Tanya. Player 4 has made a pay-off totaling $800 to Tanya and decides to challenge the move.
The Bidding Contest — Player 4 (the Challenger), $800 on Tanya Hyde, versus Player 1 (the Challenged Player), $800 on Tanya Hyde:
| Bid | Amount | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Bid | $500 (from previous challenge, it is known that Player 1 has made at least a $400 pay-off to Tanya) | "Covered" |
| 2nd Bid | $800 (Player 4 cannot bid higher) | "Covered" |
Result: Player 4 loses the challenge. Tanya Hyde stays on her present space with the briefcase. Player 4 loses his or her next turn as a penalty for losing the challenge.
Situation #3. Player 2 moves Peking Tom to an adjacent space. Player 2 has made a pay-off to Tom totaling $1,500. Player 1 has made a pay-off to Tom totaling $1,100 and decides to challenge the move.
The Bidding Contest — Player 1 (the Challenger), $1,100 on Peking Tom, versus Player 2 (the Challenged Player), $1,500 on Peking Tom:
| Bid | Amount | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Bid | $500 | "Covered" |
| 2nd Bid | $800 | "Not Covered" |
Result: Player 1 wins the challenge. Peking Tom returns to his previously occupied space. Player 2's turn is over. Player 1 has made a successful challenge and does not lose his or her next turn.
Please note: Player 2 could have "covered" the last bid of $800 but chose not to, thus keeping his or her pay-off a secret. Remember, any player can legally stop the bidding at any amount less than the total pay-off made to a spy.
Cover Challenges
Situation #1. It is known that Player 3 has made a large pay-off to Rita Palm because of previously successful defenses of Move Challenges by Player 3. Player 1 moves Rock Bottom onto the same space occupied by Rita Palm. Player 2 then decides to blow Rita's cover and announces such an action declaring Rita the Victim and Rock the Informer. Player 2 has made a pay-off to Rock Bottom totaling $1,700. Player 1 has made a pay-off to Rita Palm totaling $2,200 but has made NO pay-off to Rock Bottom. Therefore, Player 1 cannot challenge the "blowing of Rita's cover" because he or she has no money on Rock, the Informer. No other players challenge the action of blowing Rita's cover.
Result: Rita Palm is removed from the board and from play. Player 2 deducts $1,000 (the cost of the exposing) from Rock's account, leaving a balance of $700.
Situation #2. In a repeat of the above situation, if Player 3 had made a pay-off totaling $1,500 to Rock Bottom, then Player 3 would have challenged Player 2's attempt at blowing Rita Palm's cover. The following would happen. Player 3 announces a Cover Challenge and a Bidding Contest results.
The Bidding Contest — Player 3 (the Challenger), $1,500 on Rock Bottom, versus Player 2 (the Challenged Player), $1,700 on Rock Bottom:
| Bid | Amount | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Bid | $1,100 | "Covered" |
| 2nd Bid | $1,200 | "Covered" |
| 3rd Bid | $1,300 | "Covered" |
| 4th Bid | $1,400 | "Covered" |
| 5th Bid | $1,500 | "Covered" |
| No further Bid |
Result: Player 3 loses the Cover Challenge. Rita Palm is removed from the game. Player 2 deducts $1,000 for the cost of the "exposing" from Rock Bottom's account. Player 3 loses his or her next turn as a penalty for losing the challenge.
After Rita is removed from play, all players announce aloud how much money they had paid Rita... this, of course, is optional!
Situation #3. In a repeat of the above situation, if Player 3 had made a pay-off of $1,900 to Rock Bottom and Player 2 had made a pay-off of $1,700 to Rock Bottom, the following action would occur: Player 3 announces a Cover Challenge and a Bidding Contest results.
The Bidding Contest — Player 3 (the Challenger), $1,900 on Rock Bottom, versus Player 2 (the Challenged Player), $1,700 on Rock Bottom:
| Bid | Amount | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Bid | $1,100 | "Covered" |
| 2nd Bid | $1,200 | "Covered" |
| 3rd Bid | $1,500 | "Covered" |
| 4th Bid | $1,700 | "Covered" |
| 5th Bid | $1,800 | "Not Covered" |
Result: Player 3 wins the Cover Challenge. Rita Palm is saved and remains in the game. Player 2 does not deduct $1,000 from Rock Bottom's account because the action of blowing Rita's cover was never completed. Player 3 does not lose any money or his or her next turn!
Appendix, Section II: Strategy Hints
General Strategy
- Secrecy and bluffing are crucial to the game. Try to keep your pay-offs hidden as long as you can. Don't challenge too frequently or if challenged, don't always disclose the full amount of a pay-off in a Bidding Contest.
- Bluffing is fun and often very effective. Pretend to make a pay-off on your turn... you could deceive your opponents into thinking that you have more money on a spy than you actually do... often a clever ploy that will leave you free to move without being challenged.
- Hold back on making pay-offs until later in the game, so you have an insight into what spies have been paid off by which players and how much those pay-offs really are.
- Don't let a player run away with the game early. You may have to cooperate with other players (openly table-talk) to stop a player who has made a large pay-off to a spy and is moving that spy quickly towards a headquarters for a win!
- Avoid making a big pay-off to one spy early in the game. If this spy is exposed (cover blown), you may suffer a fatal loss of money. One possible strategy is to hold back making pay-offs and challenging and let your opponents do all the dirty work while you wait until later to gain control of a spy!
Tactics
Problem: How do you stop a player who seems to be about to win? Here is the situation. Player 1 has made a large pay-off to Ahmed Cahr. This is apparent to the other players because of previously successful defenses of Move Challenges to Ahmed. Player 1 has moved Ahmed and the briefcase within 2 spaces of his or her home headquarters. How do you stop Ahmed? You'll discover it will take cooperation among the other players. Here are some possible solutions...
Solution #1. Try to steal the briefcase. One player moves another spy onto the space with Ahmed. The next player picks up the case with the "just moved spy" and moves both to an adjacent space away from the headquarters in the hope that Player 1 will not challenge such a move.
Solution #2. Increase control over Ahmed by making a large pay-off to him... any number of players can do so. Then when Player 1 moves Ahmed, challenge the move and hope for a successful challenge.
Solution #3. Blow Ahmed's cover. Openly suggest to other players that a particular spy be moved into the space Ahmed occupies so that on your turn you can try and blow Ahmed's cover. Of course, this involves a sacrifice of $1,000 (cost of the "elimination") on your part, but it's worth it if you can continue play.
Problem: How do you keep a spy that you have made a big pay-off to from being eliminated in a "blowing cover" action? Here's a possible solution...
Solution #1. When it appears that an Informer spy is being moved in to eliminate a spy that you have paid off handsomely, do the following on your turn. Pay-off the suspected "Informer" spy. Then you have a chance at challenging the "blowing cover" action or a move of the suspected "Informer" spy.
Problem: How do you hide the fact that you're moving in to eliminate or blow another spy's cover? Here are 2 possible solutions...
Solution #1. In addition to your intended Informer spy, also move another decoy spy into the space occupied by the spy you wish to expose (the Victim). This might confuse your opponents... and they won't know who will be the Victim or the Informer!
Solution #2. Think ahead where the spy you wish to "expose" may be moved. Position your intended "Informer" spy in a space that the intended Victim spy is sure to move to. Once both spies are on the same space, on your turn, you can attempt to eliminate the intended Victim spy.