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Top Secret Spies

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Heimlich & Co

Top Secret Spies (German: Heimlich & Co.) is a spy-themed German-style board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and published in 1984 by Ravensburger. The game, also known as Under Cover or Detective & Co, won the Spiel des Jahres award in 1986.

Gameplay

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The object of the game is to score the most points, while not revealing which colour you are until the end. It requires good bluffing and analytical skills. 7 colours are used, and there can be up to 4 "robot" colours moving around. On their turn a player rolls a die and can move any number of pieces a total number of spaces that adds up to the number on the die. This can result in a score, and the game continues until one player reaches 129+ points. At this time all players make secret guesses as to which player is which colour (gaining +5 points at the end of the game for each correct answer). The game ends when a spy reaches 142+ points, and then a winner is determined after guess points are added.

Reception

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Upon its release the game won the Spiel des Jahres award in 1986.[1] It is remembered in part as the first game to feature a score track encircling the board, now a common feature in many games, as well as the game that introduced thin wooden human-shaped gaming pieces (meeples).[2] In a 1990 interview, Kramer revealed that Heimlich & Co. was not one of his personal favourites.[3]

Reviews

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  • Games #76 (as "Under Cover")[4]
  • 1986 Games 100 (as "Under Cover")[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Heimlich & Co".
  2. ^ Wallis, James (2023-03-14). Everybody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-83908-191-0.
  3. ^ Walker, Brian (February–March 1990). "The GI Interview: Wolfgang Kramer". Games International. No. 13. pp. 19–20.
  4. ^ "GAMES Magazine #76". June 1986.
  5. ^ "GAMES Magazine #81". November 1986.
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