Spy Web Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Equipment
• Assembly
  • Labels
  • Stand-up Spy Control board
• Setup
• Object
• Gameplay
  • Set up your Spy Control boards for the first round of interrogation
  • Now begin your interrogations
    • 1. Ask one question
    • 2. Make one accusation
• How to Spy: More Rules
  • Protect your Spy Leader!
  • Are you sure?
  • Spy etiquette...
  • Some Suspects point in two directions!
  • Buying another turn...
  • How to spend your money!
• Winning the Game
• Restorage

Equipment

Plastic, stand-up Spy Control board with 2 doors, 2 city pegs (plus 2 extra pegs); 9 Green Spy + 9 Green Suspect cards; 9 Purple Spy + 9 Purple Suspect cards; 2 cardboard Spy Tracker boards; 50 "$100,000" bills.

Assembly

See the diagram and the photograph on the back of the package.

Labels

Peel and carefully apply to the Spy Control boards, as illustrated.

1. The green "Spy Web" logo on one panel; put the three small green or blue labels on this same side, on the matching plastic shapes. Put the purple "Spy Web" logo on the other panel, then add the small purple, orange and red labels.
2. Country flag/city name in the 9 recessed squares in the grid; match the name with the name etched in the plastic.
3. Three vehicles in the recesses: car on top left; boat on bottom right; airplane on top right.

Stand-up Spy Control board

1. Carefully break the 4 pegs out of the upper left corner of each plastic panel; remove the leftover plastic that held them in place. Store the two extra pegs in the holes next to the Airplane labels.
2. Break the four black Connectors and two Doors off their runners. Holding the Doors as shown, snap one onto each panel.
3. Label Doors: Stick the word "CITY" (same color as "Spy Web" logo label) in the matching shape area; the plain matching label goes below it.
4. Assemble the board: Snap two black plastic Connectors--one with 5 ribs, the other with 3 ribs--into the front of one panel as shown in the illustration. Repeat with the second panel.
5. Connect the two panels: Holding the tops together like a hinge, snap all four Connectors together.
6. Set the completed Spy Control board on the table between you.

Setup

• Cards: Decide who will control the 9 Purple "Sky" Spies (birds of prey) and who will control the 9 Green "Sea" Spies (sea creatures). Turn the Spy Control board so your color labels face you.
  • Turn all the cards face down; sort them into a purple and a green pile.
  • Next, separate each color pile into the two types: Spy and Suspect.
  • Keep your color Spy cards, and give your color Suspect cards to your opponent. You will use the Suspect cards to track each other's Spies!
• Spy Tracker board (cardboard): Take one and place it directly in front of your side of the Spy Control board, so what goes on it remains hidden from your opponent! Put the Suspect cards face up next to it.
• Money: Each player starts with $100,000. Put the rest in a stack between you. At the beginning of each round, you will collect $100,000 "salary."

Object

Your Spy Leader and your opponent's Spy Leader are hiding in "Safehouses" (the two flip-out Doors) somewhere in the world. By asking Looking, Listening and Pointing questions, you will both collect clues as you race to be first to find one another's Leader. If you beat your opponent to the solution, you collect the bounty (reward) on that Leader's head. The first player to reach one million dollars at the end of a turn wins the game. This will take several rounds of play.

Gameplay

Set up your Spy Control boards for the first round of interrogation

1. Pick your Spy Leader: With all your Spy cards face down in front of you, pick one at random. With the Door flipped shut, slide the chosen card into it from the top, so your Leader is looking at you! Keep the Door shut--don't let your opponent see your Leader!
2. Pick a city: Decide where your Spy Leader's Safehouse will be located for this round. This is indicated by placing a peg in one of the "map" holes on the Safehouse Door. Place your peg in the map hole that corresponds to the location of that city on the large 9-square grid. Example: The middle hole corresponds to Cairo.
3. Arrange your other eight Spies on your Spy Control board (plastic): Leave empty the city square that corresponds to the city you picked! With their faces, names and bounties showing, set your 8 remaining Spy cards into the 8 remaining squares. Example: Leave the Cairo square empty if that's where your Leader is hiding! Don't let your opponent see what you're doing! With experience, you will learn how to set up a Spy network that's tough to crack. Your Spies stay in these spaces for the entire round.

Now begin your interrogations

The youngest player starts the game. Thereafter, the loser of the previous round starts the next round.

Ask your opponent questions about his or her Spies. The Suspect cards you have are copies of your opponent's Spies and you will arrange--and rearrange--them on your Spy Tracker board (cardboard) depending on the answers you get. Remember to keep your Spy Tracker board hidden from your opponent!

On your turn, you may do one of two things:

1. Ask one question, OR
2. Make one accusation.

1. Ask one question

You may only ask questions based on a Suspect's actions--what he or she is Looking At, Pointing At, or Listening To. Your opponent may only answer you with the name of a Spy or a Vehicle, or the word "Nothing."

Depending on how your opponent answers, you will start to arrange the Suspect cards in position on your Spy Tracker board. The cards are like pieces of a puzzle--you may understand the relationship between a few of them, but not know where they fit in the finished puzzle.

Examples of the three types of questions you may ask:

• Your Question: "Who is Condor LOOKING AT?" Opponent's Answer: "Condor is looking at Eagle." What you do: Put the Suspect Condor card next to the Suspect Eagle card, so Condor is looking at Eagle.
• Your Question: "Who is Condor POINTING AT?" Opponent's Answer: "Condor is pointing at the Car." What you do: Put the Condor card to the right of the Car (upper left corner), so she's pointing at it.

Note: With just two questions, you have now located Condor and Eagle in the upper left corner on your Spy Tracker board!

• Your Question: "Who is Leech LISTENING TO?" Opponent's Answer: "Leech is listening to Nothing." What you do: A "Nothing" answer means one of three things--you'll have to wait for additional information to make your final deduction and place this Suspect card! It could mean:
  1. The Suspect is on an outside edge of the grid, next to "nothing"; or
  2. The Suspect is next to the empty city square (that corresponds to the city where the Leader is hiding) or
  3. The Suspect could be the Spy Leader, hiding up in the Safehouse!

2. Make one accusation

When you think you've figured out who your opponent's Spy Leader is and what city he or she is hiding in, announce that you wish to make an accusation. You must get both facts right. If you do, your opponent flips open his or her Safehouse Door to show that you were correct--and let you know how much bounty you collect for catching the Leader. Collect the amount printed on the captured Leader's card from the money stack. If you get either fact wrong, your opponent will say "Incorrect!" The round continues until one of you solves the mystery completely.

How to Spy: More Rules

Protect your Spy Leader!

If you are asked about your Leader, you always answer "Nothing."

Are you sure?

Don't jump to conclusions! Sometimes you need to clarify and verify by asking more questions about a particular Suspect.

Spy etiquette...

When you answer a question, re-state the question in your answer. Example: Your opponent asks, "Who is Eagle listening to?" Check your Spy Control board, then answer, "Eagle is listening to Raven."

Always end your turn by saying, "Done."

Some Suspects point in two directions!

To find out all they can tell you, you must bribe them! A savvy opponent will always give you the same answer when you ask about that Suspect. To find where the Suspect's other hand is pointing, you immediately bribe your opponent with $100,000 and ask, "Where does she point in the other direction?" Your opponent must give you the other piece of information!

Buying another turn...

You may pay your opponent $100,000 to take another turn and ask a question or make an accusation. You may do this only once per turn.

How to spend your money!

Use the $100,000 you collect at the beginning of each round to bribe for information, buy another turn--or save it to win the game!

Winning the Game

The first player to reach One Million Dollars at the end of a round wins the game. If collecting your salary at the beginning of a round gives you a total of one million, you must stay in the game and complete the round--the tables could turn!

If both players have reached one million dollars or more at the end of a round, the player with more money wins. If you're tied, play another round to break the tie.

Restorage

Inside the box bottom, turn over the smaller cardboard section and use it as a box to store the money and cards.

Snap apart the Spy Control board panels. (You may leave the doors and pegs in place.)