Fruit Spy

About this board game

Fruit Spy is a 3–5-player bluffing and area-control game that plays in about 20 minutes. Competing animal spies place hidden cards around a circle of farmhouses, trying to claim the most valuable fruit before the game ends.

Six farmhouse boards are arranged in a random order, with fruit tokens worth 1–7 placed across them. Each player has eight spy cards: trick cards valued from 1 to 7, plus one tool card. On a turn, play one card face down on any farmhouse. If another face-down card is already there, the card is revealed, creating a tense contest of open and hidden information.

• Bluffing and deduction: Look for signs that opponents are hiding strength—or setting a trap.
• Tool cards: When a revealed card is a tool, both it and the newly played card are discarded.
• Moving figures: Cards played where Daly or Farmer Papa stands move that figure around the farmhouses.
• Variable setup: Farmhouse order and fruit placement change from game to game.

Daly moves clockwise, while Farmer Papa moves counterclockwise. The game ends when either figure reaches its starting farmhouse or when everyone has played all their cards, so every placement can affect the timing of the finale.

Fruit is awarded farmhouse by farmhouse according to each player’s total strength. The strongest player takes the highest-valued available fruit, followed by the next strongest, while any leftovers go to the strongest player. Daly counts as a fruit token worth 10; Farmer Papa empties the farmhouse where he finishes, sending everyone there away empty-handed.

With hidden plays, changing threats, and valuable fruit at stake, Fruit Spy rewards careful timing and reading the table. The player with the highest total Yum-yum value wins.