James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game

From: Cheapass Games
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game is a new Card Game from Cheapass Games.
James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game is a simple game of spies and evil villains and blowing up their lairs. You as the player are the evil villain. You have spies to use against your evil villain opponents and a lair that you secretly build. Previously called Before I Kill You,….oh wait, can not say that anymore, “cease and desists” tend to do that … this game is a hilarious little game. It has lots of player interaction, replayability and friendship-breaking backstabbing.
From the page # 1: “When you’ve trapped the secret agent in your lair, don’t drag things out.”
There are 4 types of cards with two types of card-backs. Spies and bombs have a purple-colored back. These are intermixed with lair cards and doubler/taunt cards, which have a more black/blue back. The entire deck is shuffled together and each player is given 5 cards (6 for groups of 2 or 3 players).
The basic goal of the game is to build points by capturing enemy agents. You do this by having a large valued lair that is hard to blow up. Players send out spies to destroy lairs. A player can play a spy card (or bomb card) from anywhere – his own hand, other players hand, or the top of the deck. The only catch with playing a spy (or bomb) from anywhere other than your own hand is that you do not know if its going to be a bomb or a spy. If a bomb is drawn, it blows up the lair regardless of value. However, if a spy is drawn, it may blow up the lair or get captured (see details below).
If the value of the spy is greater than the lair value, the lair is blown up and the spy escapes (out of play). If the value of the spy is smaller than the total value of your lair, then the spy is captured. There are two ways to gain points from a spy – kill or taunt. Kill means you get the value of the spy as points and he is discarded. Instead of a kill, the player can attempt a taunt. The taunt is accomplished through a doubler card (which doubles the points if successful), but it can be countered by a doubler card of the same type (defined by a letter in the corner) player by the other player. In the case of a foiled taunt, the spy escapes and he blows up the lair.
If a player thinks that an opponent has a lair that is entirely too powerful, then that player can send in a team. A team is a group of spy cards played as one on an opponents lair. If successful, the lair is blown up like a normal spy.
The winner is the first player to get 33 points worth of spies.
The game has interesting dynamic. You can play all the spies you want from your own hand to start with but to gain more points, you will need to draw them from other sources. There is a lot of player interaction, with players pulling cards from other players’ hands, playing teams against each other, or countering taunts. It is a fun, fast-paced game that does not take a lot of time.
In conclusion, I like this game and would recommend it as a casual, fun, and family-friendly game. It is a nice looking game with good art and, in general, is an easy game to play.
For more details on Cheapass Games and their new Card Game “James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game” check them out at their website http://www.cheapass.com, and at all of your local game stores.
James Ernest’s Totally Renamed Spy Game
From: Cheapass Games
Type of Game: Card Game
Written by: James Ernest
Art by: Cheyenne Wright
Number of Pages: 1 page rulebook
Game Components Included: 112 cards, rules page
Retail Price: $ $14.95 (US)
Number of Players: 3-6
Player Ages: 12+
Play Time: 45+
Website: www.cheapass.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung