Components

• 1 deck of 60 cards
• 1 scorepad
• Rulebook

Object of the Game

In Black Spy, your objective is to be the player with the lowest score when one player reaches the score required to end the game.

Card Deck

The card deck is composed of 60 cards: 11 cards each of blue, yellow, red, and green color - one Informer, one Interrogator, one Infiltrator, one Saboteur, one Assassin, one Agent, one Spy, one Double Agent, one Code Breaker, one Deputy Director, and one Director. 16 black cards - the same card as above plus 5 more "Spy" cards.

The Deal

Each game is divided into a number of deals.

To determine the first dealer, each player draws a card. The player who draws the highest card becomes the first dealer.

In case of a tie for high card, the tied players draw again until one player has the lone high card.

The dealer deals out all the cards to the players, one at a time to each player, starting with the player on his left.

The number of cards each player will receive varies with the number of players: three players - 20 cards each; four players - 15 cards each; five players - 12 cards each; six players - 10 cards each.

After the first deal, the deal proceeds clockwise (going left) around the table, each player dealing in turn.

The Pass

Each deal, each player must pass any three of his cards (face down) to one other player. The pass alternates each deal: on the first round, players pass their cards to the player to their left; on the second round, the one to their right.

Players will thus pass left, right, left, right, and so forth. In a four-player game, alternate the pass in this way: left, right, across, left, right, across, etc. A player may not look at the cards he is being passed until he has passed his three cards.

The Play

Each deal consists of a number of tricks.

The player with the Red 1 (this card shows a red star) leads the first trick by playing the first card. A black card may not be lead on the first trick. Play then proceeds clockwise (to the left) around the table, with each player playing one card per turn.

A player must play one card each time it is his turn to play. Each player must play a card of the same color or a card of the same rank as the lead card. If a player does not have a card of the same color or rank, he may play any card.

After each player has played one card, the one who played the highest-ranking card in the color that was lead takes the trick. (If a black card was lead and two or more players have played a Black Spy, and the Black Spy is the highest-ranking card played, the one who played the first Black Spy takes the trick).

That player picks up all the cards and places them face- down in from of him. This player also leads the next trick by playing any card. Play continues in this manner until every card has been played.

Scoring a Deal

Special scoring situation: At the end of a deal, if a player collected all 16 black cards (regardless of the other cards he may have collected), then that player scores 0 points and every other player scores 60 points.

End of the Game

One player records the scores on the scorepad. The game is over when a player's score reaches or exceeds a certain end-value.

This value varies with the number of players: 200 points in a three-player game, 150 points in a four-player game, 120 points in a five-player game or 100 points in a six-player game. The player with the lowest score is the winner.

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