Sleepers
Sleepers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 hexagonal board of 61 hexes (France map)
- 30 Agents for each player (see piece summary)
- 2 foam racks
- Carrying case
Goal of the Game
There are several ways to lose Sleepers:
- Morale: a player is eliminated once ten of their agents are killed (the enemy spymaster flees the country).
- Capture: a player is eliminated if they are surrounded by active militia (the enemy spymaster is captured).
- Attrition: a player is eliminated if they cannot move (no more tiles left AND no sleeper agents).
There are also several ways to win:
- Success: make a line of active agents joining any two opposite sides of the board (your network covers the whole country).
- Liberation: create a doomsday device by making a line of 5 active Scientists (you destroy Germany and free France).
- Elimination: eliminate all other players.
Win/loss conditions are not activated abilities of the agents; they only care about the current board position, not how it got that way. In the (very rare) case of a simultaneous win, break ties in favour of the current player.
Set Up
Each player has an allocated colour (white or black). Shuffle all the tiles of your colour (30) face-down on the table. Draw four tiles and place them in your foam rack so you can see their symbols, but your opponent can't. Players alternate turns during the game until a win/lose condition is reached.
Players are not allowed to look at the sleepers after they have been placed as it slows the game down.
Play
Each turn, first take one of the following actions:
- Recruit a sleeper: Place a tile from your hand face-down in an empty hex.
- Activate up to two sleepers: a. Chose a sleeper agent, flip it face up, and follow all instructions for the tile. b. Repeat with a second sleeper agent (optional).
... and then draw back to four tiles. (If you have more than four tiles, skip this step but do not discard any excess tiles.)
Pieces
| Piece | Description |
|---|---|
| Scientist (8) | If at any time you have a straight, unbroken row of five active Scientists (liberation goal), you win. |
| Militia (5) | If at any time you surround an opponent's agent with militia and/or the edge of the board, that player is eliminated (capture goal). |
| Saboteur (1) | When activated, kill this agent and all adjacent tiles. Saboteurs count as a killed agents. |
| Police (2) | When activated, kills opposing agents by jumping them like a draughtsman (multiple jumps allowed). |
| Ringleader (2) | When activated, activate up to two more friendly sleeper agents. |
| Recruiter (2) | When activated, place another sleeper agent on the board. |
| Informant (2) | When activated, flip any agent belonging to any player. Do not activate that agent, even if it is flipped face-up. |
| Immigration (2) | When activated, return up to two other agents to their owner(s) hand(s). Bounced sleeper agents are not revealed. |
| Double agent (2) | When activated, swap this agent with any other tile in play. |
Kill: When an agent is killed, it is placed by the side of the board. Killed sleeper agents remain hidden. Note that a player is eliminated (morale) if 10 of their pieces are killed; it does not matter how those pieces are killed.
Flip: Turn over a piece on the board. Unless otherwise stated (see informant), a sleeper agent is activated as soon as it is flipped.