Sub Rosa: Spies for Hire

Black and White, Print and Play

Assembly Instructions

Using thick paper or card, print pages 3 and 4, double-

sided, with your printer set to flip along the long edge.

Cut out the five agent cards, which are now double-sided
cards. Cut out the player tokens - one side will show only
the player icon, the other side will show the player icon
with a number and sometimes a star.

Print the rules on regular paper, for reference.

Player icons from Game-icons.net. CC BY 3.0; Lorc,

John Colburn, and Delapouite
Also available:

Version date: 4th February, 2016 The Martian Investigations

Copyright: Robin David OKeeffe/Uncanny Cardboard A narrative-deduction game for 1-5 players

You may redistribute this document without the authors
consent. This document must not be edited in any way.
More information: http://www.robindavid.info
Feedback: robin@robindavid.info
Twitter @robindavid_dice
The Martian Investigations puts you in the shoes of
Hayley Bendis - one of the best detectives at
Habitat Corporation's disposal. When a series of
murders occur in a mining colony on Mars, the
corporation sends you down to the planet surface
to uncover the truth and bring the perpetrators to
swift justice.
Taking inspiration from games such as Arkham
Investigator, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detec-
tive and Gumshoe, The Martian Investigations
gives you free reign over your story, allowing to go
where you want, when you want, to talk to whoever
you want. You'll need to have your wits about you
to solve these crimes!

Check it out here: https://payhip.com/b/Tzd8

After playing, please rate Sub Rosa on

BoardGameGeek
 Sub Rosa: Spies for Hire
A micro-game of bidding, bluffing and deception for 2-4 players
As the leader of a top-secret spy agency, your task is to
win control of various mercenary agents in the field. Use
your influence to manipulate your opponents and place
your bids to win agents to your organisation.
Objective
Players are trying to gain control of the most number of
mercenary agents (cards) by placing bids with their
tokens and manipulating the bids of their opponents.
After six turns, (seven turns with two-players) the player
with the most agents in their organisation wins the game.
Set Up
Shuffle and randomly flip the 5 agent cards. For 2
players, place 3 agent cards on the table. For 3 players,
place 4 agent cards on the table. For 4 players, place 5
agent cards on the table.
Give each player a coloured set of tokens. These are
numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and two tokens have a 3 and a star.
The tokens with stars are known as action tokens.
Gameplay
Players take turns in a clockwise direction. Determine
first player by drawing a random token from hand - the
player with the higher number token goes first.
On a players turn, they must place a token from their
hand, next to a card on the table. If that token does not
have a star, they place it face-down without revealing its
number and take no further action. If that token is an
action token, the player places it face-up and must
perform the action on the agent card.
Tokens should be placed in a column next to the card so
that the order of when the tokens were placed is
apparent. Later tokens should be placed at the bottom of
a column.
Newer tokens
are placed on the
bottom of this
column.
Keep taking turns placing tokens until every player has
only 1 token left in their hand. In a two-player game,
play continues until both players have placed all their
tokens.
Reveal all the tokens placed next to cards and calculate
the combined values for each players tokens on each
card. The action tokens have a value of 3. The token on
the bottom of each column has its value reduced by 1
point. For example, a 3 token would have a value of 2 if
it is on the bottom of a column.
Check out Sub Rosa: Spies for Hire, on Kickstarter in March 2016!
For each card, the player who has the highest cumulative
value of tokens on that card, wins the card. That player
who won the card places the card in their score area. In
the case of a tie, the tied player who most recently placed
a token on that card (whose number is further to the
bottom of the column of tokens), wins the card.
Once all cards have been scored, the player with the
most cards is the overall winner. If this is a tie, the player
with the highest value token still in hand is the winner.
If it is still a tie, the winner is determined through a
rematch or a fight to the death - you choose!
Note: Action tokens only take effect if they are placed as
the main token on a players turn. They do not take effect
as the result of moving or swapping tokens.
Card Descriptions
1. Promote. Action tokens placed here are worth +1
when determining who has won control of the card.
2. Charm. Choose a card. Players cannot place tokens
on that card until your next turn. Tokens can still be
moved there by other card effects (eg. Sabotage and
Diversion).
3. Coup. Move one token within the same card. Any
token can be chosen and moved to any position within
the card.
4. Change Mission. Swap any two cards in play. Tokens
do not move with the cards.
5. Reconnaissance. Secretly look at the value on any
two tokens.
6. False Intelligence. Choose two tokens in play to swap
places.
7. Diversion. Choose a token belonging to any player.
That player must move that token to a different card.
8. Infiltration. Move any one token to the end of any
other card.
9. Sabotage. Choose another players token. That player
must swap that token with a token from their hand.
10. Decoy. Swap one of your own played tokens with a
token from your hand.
Game Design: Robin David (www.robindavid.info)
Visual Design: Tiffany Moon (www.tiffymoon.com)
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