Undercover Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Overview
• Course of the Game
  • 1. Activate an Agent
  • 2. Issue Instructions
  • 3. Arrange a Meeting
  • 4. Evaluate Information
• End of the Game
• Easily Forgotten Details
• Variant: "Classified" Game
  • Setup
  • Course of the Game
  • End of the Game
  • Final Scoring

Components

20 Tiles

• 6 Headquarters (black frame): London, Berlin, Moscow, Washington, Buenos Aires, Peking. Each secret service is represented by its own color and symbol. The backs show a Joker.
• 2 additional Jokers, for the 4-player game.

12 Agents (light frame): Each Agent is unique and has an official side and an undercover side. The two sides of each Agent always show two neighboring secret services on the Information Center. The possible secret services of the undercover side are shown on the back of the Agent.

Components for each player in 6 colors

• 5 Secret Service Staffers
• 1 Special Staffer
• 1 Instructions File
• 1 Information Center

1 Information Track (2-sided): Standard side / Classified side (variant)

30 Point Tokens (5 per color, numbered from 4 to 8)

1 Starting Player token

1 Rulebook

Setup

1. Standard: Place the Information Track with the Standard side face up at the side of the gameplay area.

2. For a 2-player game, place the Point Tokens with a value of 4 back into the box.

3. Shuffle the Point Tokens face down. Place them face up onto the rightmost spaces of the corresponding color on the Information Track.

4. Each player chooses a color and takes the 6 Staffers, the Instructions File, and the Information Center of that color. Place the components of colors not chosen back into the box.

5. Each player places their Staffers on the color spaces of their Information Center. They are now in charge of the information they get from the secret service of that color. The Special Staffer is placed on the bottom x2 space. This bottom space shows the color of the Opposite Side of the player, providing the most valuable information for him.

6. Place all 6 Headquarters in the middle of the table as per the diagram, connected together, creating a single, huge office.

7. In games with 3 or 4 players, remove the Headquarters of the colors which were not chosen by any player, and place them aside, Joker side up.

Game Overview

Each player is trying to collect the most valuable information (Point Tokens) for his or her secret agency. The player who collects the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Each agency has two official Agents that look identical on their front side. However, each Agent works undercover for one of two other agencies. The two possible agencies that an Agent works for are always neighboring on your Information Center.

To collect points, you must arrange meetings by picking up Agents and placing them onto the play area, matching the colors of adjacent tiles. You may not pick up Agents of the Opposite Side.

Course of the Game

Beginning with the starting player, and proceeding clockwise around the table, players take individual turns. On your turn, you must perform the following 4 steps, in this order:

1. Activate an Agent
2. Issue Instructions
3. Arrange a Meeting
4. Evaluate Information

1. Activate an Agent

To activate an Agent, pick up one of the following:

• the topmost Agent of one of the draw piles.
• an Agent already placed, as long as that Agent has no Instructions File on it.
• your own Joker, if not already placed.

When you pick up an Agent, you may flip it (from official to undercover or vice versa). Before you flip it, make sure that all players have seen the currently face up side. If you choose to flip the Agent, you may not then change your mind and flip it back. The two small symbols on the picture show which colors could be on the other side. A Joker may never be flipped over.

IMPORTANT: You may not activate an Agent which is currently working for your Opposite Side (showing your opposite color face up before being taken). The Opposite Side of each player is the color at the bottom of his or her Information Center, marked with x2. However, it is allowed to take an Agent who is revealed to work for the Opposite Side after being flipped.

Notes: An Agent may be picked up, even if it is enclosed on all four sides. It is also legal to pick up an Agent that would cause tiles on the board to become isolated from the other tiles. Headquarters and placed Jokers (black frames) may not be picked up.

Remember: The hidden side of each agent can often be deduced from the visible sides. There are two of each agent in the game and these two agents always have different backs.

Special case: If you cannot legally activate an Agent because only Agents from the Opposite Side are available and your Joker has already been placed, draw an Agent from the bottom of one of the draw piles instead.

Example: It's Purple's turn. She may pick up any one of the indicated Agents. She may not take the Agents with Instruction Files or the Yellow one from the draw pile, because Yellow is the Opposite Side of Purple. She activates a Blue Agent and chooses to flip it. The other side is Green.

2. Issue Instructions

Pick up your Instructions File and put it on the Agent (or Joker) you just activated.

Example: Purple puts her Instruction File onto the Green Agent.

3. Arrange a Meeting

Place the Agent you picked up onto the play area, orthogonally adjacent to one or more tiles already placed (Headquarters, Agents, Jokers). All adjacent tiles have to be either a Joker, or one of the colors shown on the front of the Agent. This is the color of the Agent itself, and the two neighbouring colors.

If, in step 1, you took an already placed Agent, and did not flip it, it must be placed in a different position than it was picked up from. If the Agent was flipped, it may be placed on the same spot it was picked up from – as long as the colors match.

The placed Agent and all tiles orthogonally adjacent to it are now part of a meeting for this turn.

Special case: If it is impossible to place the Agent according to the rules, place the Agent in such a way that it touches any one or more agents diagonally. However, if you do this, skip step 4 this turn; no information is evaluated.

Example: Purple places the Green Agent onto a spot where it is also adjacent to a Yellow and a Blue Agent.

A Joker may be placed adjacent to any tile(s).

Example: This Joker is placed adjacent to Green, Purple and Orange. This is not possible with any Agent.

4. Evaluate Information

ATTENTION! In the first round, this step is skipped by all players.

In this step, your Staffers in charge of the Agents and Headquarters that are part of the meeting advance from left to right on the Information Track. The first advancement of a Staffer moves it from your Information Center to the leftmost space on the corresponding lane of the Information Track.

Example: Yellow moves 2 spaces in Orange and 1 space in Red.

• The Staffer in charge of the color of the activated Agent moves 1 space forward. If the Agent was flipped during step 1, the Staffer is moved 2 spaces forward instead.
• For each Agent and Headquarters adjacent to the activated Agent (or Joker), the Staffer in charge of the corresponding color moves 1 space forward.
• A Joker itself does not cause any Staffer to move, but an activated Joker does trigger all adjacent tiles.

After all movement has been completed, if a Staffer ends on a space occupied by another Staffer, it is moved forward to the next unoccupied space.

At the end of this step, if your Staffer is on a Space with a Point Token, take the token and place it face down onto the corresponding space of your Information Center. That Staffer will then not move for the rest of the game and you will not evaluate information for that color anymore.

A Staffer stops automatically and immediately, if there are no further spaces with a Point Token anymore, even if the evaluation suggests to move forward.

Example: Since the activated Agent was flipped, Purple moves 2 spaces forward on the Green lane and 1 space forward on Yellow and Blue. The space on the Yellow lane is occupied, so the Staffer jumps ahead to the next free space. Purple takes the Yellow Point Token "8". The Purple Staffer will not move again in this game.

End of the Game

When a player gets his sixth Point Token, continue playing until the player to the right of the starting player finishes their turn (each player should have the same number of turns in the game).

After that, the final scoring takes place:

All players reveal their collected Point Tokens and add their points. The value of any token for the Opposite Side is doubled (x2 on the Information Center). The Player with the most total points wins the game.

In case of a tie, the player with the most Staffers on the rightmost occupied column of the Information Track wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players win.

Easily Forgotten Details

• You may not activate an Agent that is the color of your Opposite Side.
• Place your Instruction File on the tile you picked up.
• You may always flip an Agent after activating them, from one side to the other.
• After flipping an Agent, you also may place the tile on the same spot you took it from – if it matches the adjacent tiles.
• You have one Joker. Use it wisely.

Variant: "Classified" Game

Do not use the Point Tokens. Flip the Information Track to its reverse side. For this game, the following special changes apply:

Setup

In a 2-player game: Place the Staffers of one of the 4 colors not chosen on the rightmost space of each lane of the Information Track. This column is now blocked.

Course of the Game

Staffers only stop moving during the game when they reach the rightmost column, or all further spaces are blocked by other Staffers.

End of the Game

When a player gets his sixth Staffer beyond the black line, play until all players have had the same number of turns as normal.

Final Scoring

Starting with the starting player and then clockwise, determine the points for each player:

• Each Staffer is worth the number of points as depicted at the bottom of the column the Staffer is in.
• The points of the Special Staffer, responsible for the Opposite Side, are doubled (x2) – even if negative!
• A Staffer still on the Information Center counts "0".
• The Player with the most points wins the game.
• Ties are resolved as usual.