The Circle
The Circle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- A - 120 Secret Agency wooden game pieces in 6 different colours and 1 Circle wooden game piece
- B - 60 Spy Cards
- C - 1 Time Wheel with plastic rivet
- D - 6 Secret Agency markers
- E - 1 Victory Point table
- F - 1 Starting Player marker
and this multilingual (German and English) rulebook
(Printed as-is in the English component list.)
Brief Description
Gaming Order
The Circle is a turn-based game. The starting player starts a turn. After each turn the player left of the old starting player becomes the new starting player. Every turn consists of 3 phases. The players act one after the other in each phase. All players are active all the time, there are no long waiting times for the next own turn to begin.
Secrets
You are constantly looking for new secrets about the Circle, because only when you know enough about it will you be able to capture its high-ranking members. At the same time the secrets are used as bait for spies, who can be hired to gain even more secrets, capture more Circle members or get rid of rival Secret Agencies. Your most important goal, however, is to infiltrate the Circle with your spies.
Victory Through Infiltration & Capture
You will reach your goal of destroying the Circle by following two strategies: Attacking from outside by capturing, attacking from inside by infiltration.
For every successfull infiltration and every capturing you will gain Victory Points. By gaining 20 Victory Points, you wipe out the Circle and win the game.
The Circle Wins...
Every capture, regardless of the player or Secret Agency that takes it, alarms the Circle and leads it to strengthen its efforts to gain world domination. If the Circle gains 20 Victory Points before any player does, the Circle wins the game by disbanding all Secret Agencies. Only one Agency, the weakest one, will be spared to join the Circle's ranks. The player with the fewest Victory Points wins the game. In the Circle's new world order that player can call himself a 'winner'.
The Secret Agencies
In this game there are 6 Secret Agencies fighting against the Circle. Those are from top to bottom:
USA – The Military Intelligence Division (MID) of the United States Army was founded in 1885. Some parts of it still exist within INSCOM.
England – The Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was a division of the British Minstry of Defence (MoD), founded in 1888.
Russia – Ochrana (охрана) was the inofficial title of the different secret agencies and the military police in Russia. The official title was Ochrannoje Otdelenie (Охранное отделение, Security Department).
Prussia/Germany – The Abteilung III b (Division III b) was the military intelligence service of the Prussian/German army until the end of World War I (1918). The intelligence service was founded in 1889 as a division of the general staff.
France – The Deuxième Bureau is the second division of the French Foreign Intelligence Service's general staff, founded in 1871.
Japan – Kempeitai (憲兵隊) is the Japanese term for military police division. It also is the title of the military police of the Japanese Imperial army from 1881 until the end of World War II, that also performed intelligence service tasks.
(All texts taken from Wikipedia.)
All Secret Agencies have the same chances of success. The only difference is that every Secret Agency has 2 spies assigned to it who will interrupt an action if ordered so by their homeland. See section Homeland Spies on page 5.
The Secret Agencies' Divisions
All 6 Secret Agencies have an identical structure, arranged in 4 divisions. Each division is represented by a colour.
- Yellow: "Intelligence gathering and analysis" (abbreviation INT – intelligence)
- Turquoise: "Strategic planning and support" (abbreviation SUP – support)
- Orange: "Agent control and recruitment" (abbreviation REC – recruitment)
- Purple: "Security and external operations" (abbreviation OPS – operations)
The Circle's Secrets
The driving force behind the game and the means of winning over the treacherous activities of the Circle are the secrets that you gather with your Secret Agency and spies over the course of the game.
On the Victory Point table you find the four divisions, represented by their colour, beside a display of the Victory Points. Secrets are represented by an envelope symbol. Every secret you gain is shown on the Victory Point table with up to 4 wooden game pieces of your colour, separated by the Division that gained the Secret.
The Spies
Every Spy Card shows the likeness and alias of the spy as well as 3 symbols on the left side.
A Spy needs a certain amount of preparation time before he can perform his action. The uppermost value (in the octagonal Time Wheel symbol) shows the preparation time's length in turns. The Spy Card is placed beside the relevant number of the Time Wheel, which turns by one octagonal square each turn. When the Spy Card reaches square number 8, the preparations are finished.
The value in the middle shows the amount of Victory Points that the player and his Secret Agency gain when this spy is infiltrating the Circle.
The lowermost symbol shows the Spy Type, which represents the Action that this spy can perform during the game. See section Spy Actions on page 10.
The coloured border shows to which of the four divisions the spy belongs to.
'Homeland' Spies
All 60 spies in the game can be hired by any Secret Agency. They are mercenaries who use their skills for anyone willing to pay their price. However, 2 spies of each nation have preserved some loyalty to their homeland. This is represented by the symbol of their country under their likeness.
If such a spy is performing an action that his homeland Secret Agency does not agree to, it can order the spy to cancel the action. The action will then not be performed (see section Secret Agencies on page 6).
Game Preparations
Time Wheel
Stick the smaller part of the rivet trough the hole in the back side of the octagonal Time Wheel. Now lock it from the front side with the larger part of the rivet (see drawing on page 14). You should now be able to turn the Time Wheel.
Place the Time Wheel on the gaming table, leaving enough space around it to turn freely. At the start of the game, the Time Wheel may face any direction.
Spy Cards
Arrange the 60 Spy Cards by their 4 colours (Yellow, Turquoise, Orange and Purple – 10 cards each), representing their relevant division, and Grey (20 cards), representing neutral spies.
Each of the 4 colours is divided into 4 different Spy Types, represented by the values and symbols on their left side. Arrange all colours by those 4 Spy Types. You should now have 16 card stacks that are placed face-up in a 8x2 grid at the side of the gaming table.
In 12 of the 16 stacks is 1 homeland spy, represented by a Secret Agency symbol under their likeness. Place the Homeland Spies on top of their stacks.
After shuffling the 20 neutral Spy Cards, place the 2 uppermost cards face-up and the 18 remaining cards face-down beside them.
Game Pieces
The colours of the wooden game pieces are not fixed to the Secret Agencies. Instead, each player may freely choose his colour. The Starting Player goes first, followed clockwise by the other players.
Victory Point Table
Every player places one of his game pieces in the Starting Square of the grey Victory Row of the Victory Point table. The Starting Square is determined by the amount of players, represented by spy figures. For example, in a 5-player-game the game pieces are placed in the 3rd square. Now the Circle's game piece is placed in it's starting square (represented by the moth symbols of the Circle) in a similar fashion. For example, in a 5-player-game the Circle's game piece would be placed in the 1st Chaos square.
Starting Player
The most mysterious player becomes the first Starting Player. If the players cannot decide on the one of them that keeps the most secrets, you may use any way you wish to determine who goes first. The Starting Player gets the Starting Player marker.
Secret Agencies
The Starting Player chooses one of the 6 Secret Agencies and takes the relevant marker, followed clockwise by the other players. Every player turns his Secret Agency marker onto the passive side first. The marker can be activated later in the game (see section Activate Secret Agency marker on page 8).
The Starting Player's Task
Every turn consists of 3 phases. The Starting Player's task is to start each phase. The other players follow clockwise each phase. After all 3 phases of a turn have been finished, the Starting Player marker goes clockwise to the next player. He is now the Starting player and starts the phases 1 to 3 of the upcoming turn.
The Game Turn – Phase 1
4 New Secrets
In this phase, due to the constant activity of his Secret Agency, each player receives 4 new secrets. The secrets are noted by moving gaming pieces of one's own colour on the Victory Points table. The secrets can be freely distributed to the 4 divisions. You may give one secret to each division, or 4 secrets to a single one, or any other distribution of your choosing. If, for example, you want to give 2 secrets to a division that has no Secrets yet, you may move a gaming piece of your colour into the 2nd square of that division. This way the number of secrets is being raised each turn.
Each division can hold a maximum of 12 secrets.
Pay 2 Secrets to Activate a Spy
In Phase 1 you can also activate unemployed spies.
In the spy world, money is of little value--far more valuable are secrets, because even at the end of the 19th century knowledge means power.
You can only activate a spy who lies on top of one of the 16 colour stacks. Tell him 2 of the 4 secrets that your Secret Agency has gathered in this phase, to raise his attention. Of course, after being told, those 2 secrets aren't secrets any more and cannot be distributed to the divisions.
By spending 2 more secrets, you can also activate one of the grey spies lying face-up. If you use both activations, you have no secrets left to distribute in Phase 1. It is not allowed to activate two grey or two colour spies.
You are not allowed to use any other secrets for the activation than those received in this phase.
After being activated by you, the spy's Spy Card is placed at the number of the Time Wheel that matches the spy's value in the upper left of his card. Placing spies in this fashion does not mean that they belong to you, so you are not allowed to mark them with your game pieces.
After activating one of the face-up neutral spies, draw a new neutral spy from the face-down stack of neutral Spy Cards, so there are again 2 neutral spies to choose from.
Starting Player Activates One Neutral Spy
The Starting Player must always activate one neutral spy. He does not have to pay secrets for this activation and is still allowed to use up to both of his normal activations.
The Game Turn – Phase 2
Perform Actions
In this phase, a player with Active Spies (see section The Game Turn – Phase 3 on page 8) can use them to perform the action noted as symbol on their Spy Card. See section Spy Actions on page 10 for more information about the actions.
A player can use as many of his Active Spies as he wishes. The actions can be performed in a free order. All actions have to be finished before the next player announces his Active Spies' actions.
Preparation of Spies for Their Next Action
After finishing an action, a spy starts preparations for his next action immediately. The player places the spy's Spy Card at the number of the Time Wheel that matches the spy's value in the upper left of his card and puts one of his game pieces on top of it to indicate that this is his spy.
If a spy is being placed at a number of the Time Wheel that is already occupied by another spy, he is being placed farther to the outside, thus creating a row of two or more spies. It does not have to be a straight row as long as the order of the row is clearly distinguishable (see page 15), because later in the game the spies are coming back into their player's possession in that order, starting with the innermost spy.
Activate Secret Agency Marker
By spending 1 Victory Point, a player may activate his passive Secret Agency marker, turning it onto its coloured side. Only by having an activated marker is he allowed to later order one of his Homeland spies to cancel an action. The Homeland spy will then not perform the action he was about to perform. Instead he will be placed at the Time Wheel as usual and the Secret Agency marker will be turned back onto its passive side.
In the next turn it may be re-activated by losing another Victory Point.
Infiltration
A spy who hasn't performed an action in this phase can be used to infiltrate the Circle. To do this, the player turns the Spy Card onto its back side (Infiltration Side) and places it in front of him. The player immediately gains the Victory Points shown on the back and moves his game piece to the according square of the Victory Point table.
A player can only use one single spy per turn to infiltrate the Circle (there are exceptions to this rule – see Spy Actions on page 11) and gain the relevant Victory Points.
Special Victory Point for Team Infiltration
On the back side of each of the colour Spy Cards you can see a quarter of the moth that is the symbol of the Circle. All spies of one division have the same quarter of the moth on their back side. If you manage to have 4 of your spies infiltrate the Circle, completing the moth picture, you will score one additional Victory Point, because those 4 spies from four different divisions complement each other perfectly.
Neutral spies without a quarter of the moth on their back side can be used as jokers to fill in any missing part of the moth picture.
Unmasking of an Infiltrating Spy
In the dire situation of the Circle getting very close to achieving world domination, it can be a good idea for a player to massively weaken the Circle by sacrificing a pawn.
Blow the cover of one of your spies who has already infiltrated the Circle! This will shake up the organization and stop its immediate plans. Both you and the Circle lose an amount of Victory Points equal to the value of the spy. The Spy Card is removed from the game.
The Game Turn – Phase 3
Turn the Time Wheel
At the beginning of Phase 3 the Starting Player turns the Time Wheel clockwise (as shown by the arrows) by one square of the octagon. The Spy cards lying around it are not moved, so all of them automatically move to a time number one below the previous number.
Hiring Colour Spies
Now its time to hire new spies for your Secret Agency. Every spy without a game piece ending up in square 8 (marked with a golden arrow) of the Time Wheel after its turning will become a member of a Secret Agency. If there are two or more spies placed beside square 8, the players start their distribution with the Spy Card lying closest to the Time Square, and so on, according to the card's position. When the border of the Spy Card indicates that the spy is specialized in one specific division (see section The Spies on page 4), he will automatically go to the Secret Agency that is leading in this field. The player, whose division indicated by the Spy Card's border has the most secrets, can take the spy and place him in front of him. This spy is ready to take an action.
Spy Auction in Case of a Draw
If there are 2 or more players with the same amount of the most secrets in the division indicated by the Spy Card's border, they can use the secrets in those division to auction for the spy. The Starting Player (or the one of the auction's participants who sits closest to the Starting Player in a clockwise direction) starts the auction. He can drop out of the auction or bid 1 secret of the colour of the relevant division. The next auction participant in clockwise direction may now choose to drop out of the auction or highen the bid by 1 additional secret. It is not allowed to loose a turn or highen the bid by more than 1 secret.
A player who drops out of the auction or hasn't enough secrets of the relevant colour to highen the bid can no longer take part in the auction. As soon as only one participant remains, that player can take the Spy Card and place it in front of him. Afterwards he moves his game piece in the relevant division down a number of squares equal to the secrets he bid.
Hiring Neutral (Grey) Spies
If there is a neutral spy (one without a specialization in one division) lying at square 8 of the Time Wheel, all players can participate in his auction.
The colour in the middle Victory Point symbol indicates which secrets are being used to bid for the spy. For example, if there is a yellow colour, then the players may only use secrets in their yellow "Intelligence gathering and analysis (INT)" division.
If the colour in the middle Victory Point symbol is grey, then secrets from all 4 divisions may be used for bidding. The highest bidder decides, which secrets from which divisions to give away after winning the bid.
The auction is being held in the same fashion as for the colour spy auction in case of a draw.
Spy Actions
All Spy Actions (apart from very few exceptions) take place in Phase 2 and are resolved immediately, which means that, for example, you would gain a new secret to distribute to one of your divisions immediately after playing the relevant Spy Action.
After performing his action, the spy stays in your service and immediately begins preparation for his next action. After resolving his action, you place his Spy Card at the square of the Time Wheel whose number matches the spy's value in the upper left of his card. This is the time in turns that he requires before he becomes fully operational again. Also place one game piece of your colour on top of the card to indicate that this spy belongs to you.
Spy Actions of the INT Division (Yellow)
The "Intelligence gathering and analysis" division concentrates on acquiring new secrets. It's spies will make sure that you gain many new secrets for recruitment of new spies and capturing of Circle members.
2 (neutral: 1) additional secrets
This spy is a master in gathering new data. You gain 2 new secrets (1 new secret in case of a neutral spy) that you can immediately distribute to 1 or 2 of your own or other player's Secret Agency divisions.
2 (neutral: 1) destroyed secrets
The spy sneaks into the archives and destroys some of the gathered intelligence. Immediately reduce the amount of secrets by a total of 2 (1 in case of a neutral spy) in 1 or 2 of your own or other player's Secret Agency divisions.
2 (neutral: 1) additional secrets in an auction
This spy has unknown secrets in his possession that he can use in an auction in Phase 3 (see page 8f.). Winning an auction does not require you to use the spy. When you use him however, you may reduce the number of your secrets by 2 fewer (1 fewer in case of a neutral spy) than you have bid. This spy also allows you to bid up to 2 secrets in an auction for which you don't own any relevant secrets. After performing his action in Phase 3, the Spy Card will immediately be placed at the Time Wheel.
2 (neutral: 3) instead of 4 new secrets of an opponent
This spy destroys important sources of information. Place the Spy Card in front of another player, with one of your gaming pieces on top of it. The player attacked by this spy will only receive 2 new secrets (3 new secrets in case of a neutral spy) in his next Phase 1. After performing his action in Phase 3 (see page 6f.), the Spy Card will immediately be placed at the Time Wheel.
Spy Actions of SUP Division (Turquoise)
The spies of the "Strategic planning and support" division are masters of time and will be called upon when something has to happen in a hurry.
Perfect Support: Gaining time +2 (neutral: +1)
This spy's support helps to hurry the preparations of his colleagues. Move 2 spies at the Time Wheel 1 square forward or 1 spy 2 squares forward (neutral spy: move 1 spy 1 square forward).
Unexpected Obstacles: Losing time –2 (neutral: –1)
This spy knows perfect methods to hinder the preparations of his opponents. Move 2 spies at the Time Wheel 1 square backwards or 1 spy 2 squares backwards (neutral spy: move 1 spy 1 square backwards).
Do the Time Warp
This spy is the perfect master of preparations. You can use him after the Starting Player – that may be yourself – turned the Time Wheel and all game effects resulting from it are fully resolved. Turn the Time Wheel one additional time with all relevant consequences. After performing his action in Phase 3, the Spy Card will immediately be placed at the Time Wheel.
Infiltrate the Circle with one additional spy
This spy is an expert at infiltrations. You may use him to infiltrate the Circle with one additional spy in this turn. However, the additonal infiltrator cannot be the spy performing this action.
Spy Actions of REC Division (Orange)
The "Agent control and recruitment" division makes sure that the right people join the Agency's ranks or leave their opponent's ranks and also takes care of security.
Changing into another division
This spy is a perfect reqruiter. Place him half under a grey or colour Spy Card that lies at the Time Wheel an has no game piece on top of it. When this spy reaches square 8 of the Time Wheel and is offering his services to the Secret Agencies, you may choose the division that he wants to get hired by, according to the rules for hiring colour spies (See section Hiring colour spies on page 9). After performing his action in Phase 3, the recruitment spy's Spy Card will immediately be placed at the Time Wheel.
Changing specialization to neutral
This spy knows how to blurr the facts. Place him at a colour Spy Card that lies at the Time Wheel and has no game piece on top of it. When this spy is offering his services, he is automatically considered neutral and all players may bid for him. After performing this action in Phase 3, the Spy Card will immediately be placed at the Time Wheel.
Quitting
This recruitment spy has the right arguments against the current employer. Remove the game piece from a Spy Card at the Time Wheel. This can also be one of your game pieces. When that spy reaches square 8 of the Time Wheel, he is considered unemployed hired in the usual way.
Personal Guard
This spy is a highly capable bodyguard . Place him at a Spy Card of your choice. If that spy is being attacked by any kind of attack, that attack fails. The attacking spy and the bodyguard spy will then both be placed at the Time Wheel.
As an alternative you can place the bodyguard spy in front of you. He then protects all of your spies lying in front of you, including himself. Spys lying at the Time Wheel or being active at other players are not protected. If an attack of any kind takes place against one of the protected spies, the attack is repelled and the bodyguard spy is placed at the Time Wheel. You may also choose to not repel an attack (unless the bodyguard spy himself is the attacker's target). In that case the bodyguard spy is not placed at the Time Wheel.
The bodyguard only protects your spies, not yourself. If your own options are limited by a spy's attack, the bodyguard cannot protect you against it.
Spy Actions of OPS Division (Purple)
The members of the "Security and external operations" division do the hard and dirty work. Precisely and scrupulous.
Capture a Circle member (1 Victory Point)
This spy knows the target, the place and the time, and after performing his action, another Circle member is being arrested. You gain 1 Victory Point. However, the Circle is being alarmed by your action and also receives 1 Victory Point.
Permanent removal of 1 spy
The 'how' is up to this spy, but he has to make sure that it looks like an accident. One spy of any one Secret Agency is permanently taken out of the picture (and his Spy Card removed from the game).
Double Agents: 2 spy's exchange their employer
This spy can be used to blow the cover of double agents. Any two spies from different Secret Services not lying at the Time Wheel or being active at a player exchange sides. The spy triggering the exchange cannot uncover himself as being a double agent.
Foiling an action
This spy allows you to prevent an action. Play him against a ready Spy Card not lying at the Time Wheel or being active at a player. The targeted spy has to start his preparations anew and is placed at the Time Wheel immediately.
As an alternative you may use this Spy Card to prevent the infiltration of the Circle by another player. Place the card in front of another player with a game piece on top of it. The player attacked by this spy may not infiltrate the Circle with any of his spies in his next Phase 2 (and only in that phase). After hindering the opponent in Phase 2, the Spy Card will be placed at the Time Wheel.
Victory Points
Victory Points are gained by capturing high-ranking members of the Circle or infiltrate it's ranks with your spies. Infiltration only takes place in Phase 2 of a turn. Don't forget the Special Victory Point that may be gained by team infiltration (see section Phase 2 on page 8).
Victory Points for capturing can be gained in two ways:
Spies with the Capture Action
You can reqruit spies trained on capturing Circle members and use them frequently during the game. Every capture gains you – and the Circle! – 1 Victory Point. Move the Victory Point markers accordingly.
Arrestment: 12 Secrets for 2 Captured Circle Members
If one of your divisions gaines enough secrets, this will automatically lead to the arrestment of Circle members. With the 13th secret gained by a division, 12 of these secrets are immediately being used to capture 2 Circle members. After moving over the arrest line of a division, your secret marker will be moved back to square 1. You gain 2 Victory Points, but the Circle also gains 2 Victory Points. Move both Victory Point markers accordingly.
Capturing Members Alarms the Circle
Whilst infiltration of the Circle by your spies takes place unnoticed, capturing it's members will alarm it and lead it to strenghten it's efforts to gain world domination. Every Victory Point gained by a player through capturing will also provide the Circle with one Victory Point, so the player has to move it's Victory Point marker accordingly towards 'Chaos'.
End of the Game
Victory: The Players Win
As soon as one Player crosses the Victory line by gaining 20 or more Victory Points the game ends after completely resolving Phase 2. The other players complete their Phase 2 and may be able to acquire additional Victory Points to grab victory form the leading player's hands.
If two or more players have gained 20 or more Victory Points, the one with the most Victory Points wins the game. In case of a draw the player with the most secrets in all of his 4 divisions added together wins the game. If this also results in a tie, then both players win.
Chaos: The Circle Wins
If the Circle gains his 20th Victory Point, it has acquired world domination and casts the world into chaos. Shame on the players and their Secret Agencies' efforts. It doesn't even count if one or more of them has also gained 20 or more Victory points in the same turn. After gaining world domination, the Circle will destroy all Secret Agencies that caused him so much trouble in the past. But wait. One Secret Agency will be spared by the Circle to do it's biddings in the future. This will be the Secret Agency with the lowest amount of Victory Points at the end of the game. This player now sits at the heart of global power, deeply within the inner Circle and may think of himself as the winner...
If two or more players are tied in having the fewest Victory Points, the one with the least secrets in all of his 4 divisions added together will be recruited by the Circle. If this also results in a tie, then both players 'win'.
Assembly of the Time Wheel
(Illustrated on page 14 of the booklet as diagrams A and B, "Assembly of the Time Wheel". The diagrams show the rivet pushed up through the back of the wheel in A and the rivet head fixed from the top in B. See also Game Preparations – Time Wheel.)
Example Game Situation
Page 15 of the booklet shows a "Possible game situation after a couple of turns" with the following printed labels: Player 1 to Player 4; Game pieces; Passive secret agency marker; Infiltrating Spy; Card stacks; Time wheel with recruitable spies (no game pieces) and with spies preparing for their next action (with game piece); Cards become active this round. The yellow spy will be hired by the green player.; Victory Point table; Starting Player marker; Active secret agency marker; Recruited Spies who can perform actions.; Cards, which belong to a player.