Secrets

About this board game

Secrets is a hidden-team card game for 4–8 players that plays in about 35 minutes. Players secretly belong to either the CIA or KGB and work to collect the most points for their side, while one or two hidden Hippies pursue an entirely different goal.

On each turn, a player draws two agent cards at random and offers one of them to another player. The recipient must decide whether to accept the agent and score its points, or refuse it and send the card back to the offering player, who then scores it instead. Each card has a point value and a good or bad ability, creating uncertainty with every offer.

The game ends as soon as one player has five cards. At that point, all teams are revealed and the CIA and KGB compare their combined scores. The highest-scoring team wins—unless a Hippie has the single lowest score, in which case that player wins by fighting the Man.

• Hidden teams: Work for the CIA or KGB, or secretly play as an anti-establishment Hippie.
• Risky offers: Give another player a choice that may benefit either side.
• Discoverable abilities: Learn what the character cards do during play rather than through a lengthy rules explanation.

The interactions between the character cards provide the spice of Secrets. Because the abilities are discovered as the game unfolds, it can be taught in about three minutes, getting players quickly into its tense cycle of offers, refusals, points, and hidden loyalties.