Secrets Version 2 - Sid's Secrets

By Allan Stagg, incorporating ideas by Paul Scott

A game for 3 - 6 players. Each player has seven secret agents, called SID's, that he may use to discover other players' secrets, or to protect his or her own secrets. The player who after 5 turns has gained the greatest number of points from stolen secrets and captured SIDs is the winner.

Basic Game

Each player has 10 secrets, numbered 1 - 10. These have a value of twice their number, -1 (so secret 1 = 1, 2 = 3, 3 = 5 etc.). A player also has secret agents, known as SIDs, who are ranked from 1 to 7. SIDs may try to steal secrets from the other players, or protect their own player's secrets. Orders should make clear what action each SID is undertaking, e.g.

SID 1 steal Tony 9, SID 2 steal Tony 6,

SID 4 steal David 8, SID 5 steal David 7

SID 3 guard secret 6, SID 6 guard secret 7, SID 7 guard secret 9.

There will be three possible outcomes to the steal order.

1 - Your SID attempts to steal a secret guarded by a SID. The attempt fails. If the guarding SID is of an equal or higher rank than your SID, your SID is captured and can not be used again. Five points are added to the capturing player's score. If the guarding SID is of a lower rank than your SID, the attempt fails, but your SID escapes arrest.

2 - Two or more SIDS attempt to steal the same unguarded secret. The SID with the highest rank is successful. If there is more than one SID with the highest rank, they frustrate each other and come away empty-handed; the secret remains with its owner. (This is true even if other, lower ranked SIDs also attempt to steal the secret - they are frightened off by the higher ranked SIDs).

3 - The SID is the only one attempting to steal a secret that is not protected. The attempt is successful, the secret is removed from the owning player's stock, and the points value is added to the successful player's score.

If a SID guards a secret that is not the subject of a steal attempt in a turn, he can not guard the same secret with the same SID in the next turn.

A player may send two or more SIDS to steal or guard the same secret. In this case, the value of the SIDs' ranks, added together, is used when comparing rank with other players SIDs.

After the fifth round each player adds the score for the secrets he has stolen and the spies he has captured. The player with the highest score is the winner.

If a player NMR's, that player's SIDs are on strike, and are not placed. If a SID is ordered to a secret that has already been stolen, they are not placed in that turn

Allan Stagg

29 September 1999