Recess! Media

By this point in the summer, the children in your household are probably ready for some intrigue, deception, and suspense — the kind provided by daring, fictional spies and crackers of mysteries like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and the “Spy Kids,” the most recent of these self-sufficient, inventive, and true of heart young people. Now there’s “Spy Alley,” which explores this ever popular world of sleuthing in a surprisingly playful rather than treacherous way.

“Spy Alley” is a board game that lets both children and adults experience the sheer fun of subterfuge. The game is played by having each participant become a spy for a specific country. The aim is for everyone to collect their spy equipment and return to the embassy of their home country, before another spy can figure out the country they are spying for. It sounds a bit confusing, but the entire game is actually very easy to learn and quick to play by up to six players. Once a spy is uncovered, the other players continue the game until the first spy makes it home, or until only one spy remains on the board.

Although it shares many of the traits of a traditional board game, “Spy Alley” is a refreshing break from many slower paced games. It also offers something more, a bit of role-playing humor to throw into the competitive mix of espionage. The game includes suggestions for adding subtle layers to your bag of tricks, like trying to acquire spy equipment from a country other than your own in order to confuse the other players, or like luring your adversaries into divulging their country of allegiance. And we haven’t even gotten to the accents and disguises.

“Spy Alley” is made by a family-owned company, Spy Alley Partners, that is dedicated to the creation of high quality games for the whole family which are easy to learn and challenging to play. Such commitment has led, in the case of “Spy Alley,” to a game that’s well-crafted and fully enjoyable, and to numerous awards, such as the prestigious Parents’ Choice Award.

If you’re ready for a board game that won’t leave you bored, “Spy Alley” may be just the kind of mission, should you decide to accept it, that will ensnare you for a good many nights to come. Who knows, the whole family may even want to get into full spy mode and take an investigative research road trip and visit the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Links:

http://www.spymuseum.org/

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