SpyMaster Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Phase One: Gather Intelligence
    • Creating Intelligence Files
    • Choosing Intelligence Files
  • Phase Two: Operations
    • Move Agents
    • Complete Missions
    • Passing
  • End of the Round
• Scoring – Endgame

Objective

Each round, a SpyMaster divides up Intelligence cards into Files, which are chosen one at a time by the players. You will then use your acquired Intelligence to move Agents to key locations and complete Missions, earning victory points for your Agency. The Agency that scores the most points wins!

Components

• 1 Global Operations game board
• 6 Agency boards (1 in each player color)
• 18 Special Agent meeples (3 in each of 6 player colors)
• 18 Freelance Agent meeples (clear)
• 1 SpyMaster card
• 1 SpyMaster pawn
• 100 Intelligence cards (25 cards in each of 4 Intelligence types)
• 60 Mission cards

Setup

• Each player selects an Agency to play, taking the associated Agency board and the Special Agents in the corresponding color.
• Place the Global Operations game board in the center of the table. The board is divided into differently colored Areas of Operation. Each Area features five locations: a Transport Hub and four Cities.
• Players simultaneously assign their Special Agents by placing them in locations on the Global Operations board. Once all Special Agents have been assigned, players randomly assign all Freelance Agents (clear meeples). At any point during the game, multiple Special Agents and/or Freelance Agents may occupy the same location.

HINT: The first time you play, randomly place your Special Agents in different Areas of the board. As you become familiar with the game, test different strategies when assigning your Special Agents.

• Shuffle the Intelligence cards, then deal them into 5 facedown stacks (one stack for each round of the game). The number of cards per stack varies depending on player count:
  • 2 players: Deal 9 cards into each stack
  • 3 players: Deal 10 cards into each stack
  • 4 players: Deal 13 cards into each stack
  • 5 players: Deal 16 cards into each stack
  • 6 players: Deal 19 cards into each stack
• Set the stacks to one side of the game board. Return all leftover Intelligence cards to the box without looking at them, as they will not be used for the remainder of the game.
• Leave room next to the game board for an Intelligence card discard pile.
• Shuffle the Mission cards. Place one Mission card facedown on each Mission card space across the top and bottom of the Global Operations board. Then place one more Mission card faceup on top of each of the facedown Mission cards. Put the stack of remaining Mission cards facedown next to the board.
• The player with the most ID's on their person gets the SpyMaster card and SpyMaster pawn to begin the game.

Gameplay

SpyMaster is played over five rounds, after which final scoring occurs and the winner is determined.

Each round consists of two phases: a Gather Intelligence phase and an Operations phase (referenced on the Agency boards).

Phase One: Gather Intelligence

In the Gather Intelligence phase, the SpyMaster divides up the Intelligence cards for the round into groups called Files. Each player then chooses a File as their Agency's resources.

Intelligence cards have an Intelligence value indicator (the number on the card) and an Intelligence type indicator (the icon and name on the card).

Creating Intelligence Files

At the beginning of the Gather Intelligence phase, the SpyMaster chooses one of the stacks of facedown Intelligence cards that were created at Setup and deals them faceup in one continuous row in the exact order they come off the stack. (If space is limited, maintain the order and "wrap" the cards into two rows.)

The SpyMaster then creates Files by dividing up the Intelligence cards into a number of sets equal to the number of players. Files do not need to be equal in size and may include any number of cards (but must include at least one card). The SpyMaster may not change the order of the cards!

The SpyMaster then adds the SpyMaster card to one of the created Intelligence Files. IMPORTANT: The SpyMaster card cannot be a File on its own; it must be added to a File containing at least one Intelligence card.

Choosing Intelligence Files

Beginning with the player to the SpyMaster's left and continuing clockwise, each player now chooses a File. The SpyMaster is always the last player to choose a File.

This File becomes your resources (hand of cards) and may be expanded with additional Files in later rounds. Intelligence cards in hand are kept secret from other players. The player who selects the File containing the SpyMaster card will become the SpyMaster at the beginning of the next round. Do not pass the SpyMaster pawn at this time, as it identifies the current round's SpyMaster.

After each player has chosen their Intelligence File, the round moves into the Operations phase.

NOTE: Keep in mind, your unused Intelligence cards carry over to the next round.

Phase Two: Operations

Starting with the current round's SpyMaster, players now take turns using their resources (Intelligence cards) to move Agents around the world in an effort to complete Missions.

During each turn of the Operations phase, there are two actions you may perform, always in the following order:

1. Move Agents
2. Complete Missions

After you choose to perform one, both, or neither of these actions, play passes clockwise to the next player.

Move Agents

At the start of each turn, you may discard one Intelligence card from your hand to gain movement points, which you use to mobilize Agents. Discarding Intelligence is referred to as "burning" the card.

The number of movement points you receive when burning Intelligence is printed in the center of each card.

You may move Freelance Agents or your own Special Agents. Moving an Agent from one location to any other location within the same Area costs one movement point. An Agent moving from one Area to another must travel from the Transport Hub of the starting Area to the Transport Hub of the new Area. Traveling between the Transport Hubs also costs one movement point. Movement points may be split between multiple Special and Freelance Agents, and points do not have to be fully spent.

HINT: The clever spy uses all their movement points to set up their next turn!

Agent Movement Example One: You are the Blue player. You burn an Intelligence card with a value of 1, gaining one movement point. Using the movement point, you may now move an Agent to any other location in its Area.

Agent Movement Example Two: You wish to move an Agent from London to Lagos. Agents cannot move directly from a City in one Area to a City in a different Area. You therefore burn an Intelligence card with a value of 3, gaining three movement points. You move the Agent to Berlin (the Transport Hub in its Area) for one point, then travel to the Transport Hub in Cairo for the second point, and finally move to Lagos with your last point.

Complete Missions

After moving Agents, you may then complete any number of faceup Missions for which your Agency meets the requirements. A Mission's requirements are identified on its card as follows:

• The depicted number of your Special Agents (black pawns) and Freelance Agents (white pawns) must be present in the City matching the one depicted on the Area's Mission card. It is acceptable to have more than the required number of Agents in the City.
• You must burn one or more Intelligence cards matching the Intelligence type shown on the Mission card. The total value of the burned Intelligence card(s) must meet or exceed the Mission card's requirement.

NOTE: The Mission requirements indicate a total value of that type of Intelligence, NOT a quantity of Intelligence cards.

Example of Completing a Mission: You are the Red player. This mission takes place in the Blue City of this Area and requires two of your Special Agents and two Freelance Agents. Once the Agents are in place, you must discard Surveillance Intelligence cards worth 3 or more points to complete the mission.

Once you complete a Mission, take the Mission card and place it facedown in the Completed Missions section of your Agency board. The Mission's point value indicates how many victory points it will add to your score at the end of the game.

At the end of your turn, where Missions have been completed, flip over the facedown Mission cards. These newly revealed Missions are now available to be completed, beginning with the next player. If both Missions within an Area have been completed, leave that Area's Mission card space empty for now.

Passing

At the start of your turn, you may choose to pass and neither Move Agents nor Complete Missions. However, if at least one other player takes an action this round (Moves Agents or Completes Missions), you may then take an action on your next turn (or pass again).

HINT: Patience can be a virtue for the clever spy.

End of the Round

The round ends immediately when either:

1. All players pass in order, OR
2. All Missions on the Global Operations board have been completed.

The SpyMaster pawn is then passed to the player who took the SpyMaster card during Phase One of the round. Mission cards that were not fulfilled during this round remain in place. Refill Mission card spaces on the Global Operations board so that each has two cards: one facedown, and one faceup on top of each facedown card.

Begin the next round with Phase One: Gather Intelligence.

Scoring – Endgame

After round five is completed, the game ends and players score their Agencies. Victory points are earned from completed Missions and Intelligence Bonuses.

First, add up the total value of your completed Missions.

Example of Mission Score: 8 + 9 + 10 + 7 + 11 = 45 Victory points

Next, determine Intelligence Bonuses as follows: Each player sorts their in-hand Intelligence resources by type, then adds up the total value for each type (burned Intelligence cards do not count). The player with the highest total value for each type of Intelligence receives 5 points. If there is a tie for highest total value of an Intelligence type, all tied players score the 5-point bonus for that type. Each type is scored separately, for a total of 20 available Intelligence Bonus points.

Example: Katie has a total Surveillance value of 4, and Ethan is the next highest with 3, so Katie gets 5 bonus points for Surveillance. Ethan has only 1 total value for Espionage, but no one else has any Espionage cards, so Ethan scores 5 bonus points for Espionage. Katie and Ethan are tied for the highest total value of Dossiers at 2 each, so they both receive the 5 bonus points for Dossiers.

Add together points from completed Missions and any Intelligence Bonus points.

The player with the highest point total is the winner! In the case of a tie, the player who selected the File containing the SpyMaster card in round 5 is the winner – even if they were not one of the tied players!