The Best Bond-esque Board Games for Spies!
To celebrate the latest release of Daniel Craig's potato face on huge screens - otherwise known as Spectre, out in cinemas yesterday - we're bringing you the five best Bond-esque board games!
That's right.
'It's Games. Spy Games.'
Whether you're a James Bond aficionado or just someone who likes to run through busy market stalls shooting guns, these spy-based games will prepare you for that final stand-off with the (almost always) European super villain. Choose which Bond character suits you best and see which game should become your next weapon!
1. If you're M, play...
CODENAMES! As Head of the Secret Intelligence Service, you'll need the right leadership skills to guide a bunch of flailing baboons around a very simple task. In Codenames, 2 rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their CODENAMES. Spymasters give one-word clues that can point to multiple words (codenames) on the board. Their teammates try to guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. And everyone wants to avoid the deadly assassin...
2. If you're Miss Moneypenny, play...
WITNESS! Memory, logic, concentration and some brilliant organisational skills... this case-solvin', code-bustin' board game is Miss Moneypenny all over. Secretary turned badass, she's the glue holding the Bond missions together - exactly the kind of person you need in Witness! The game is cooperative: each player embodies a character and has access to some information via their personal booklet. Then the players whisper clues to each other in the course of 4 specific phases, so that everyone can try to piece together the solution... Less dramatic than a car chase, but still - professional agents only.
3. If you're Q, play...
SPY OR DIE TRYING! A brain to be afraid of, Q is the tiny genius man-child behind the weaponry and the Web. In Spy or Die Trying, players will transform into 'Q's in order to save the world! Somewhere in the Caribbean lies a Secret World Order (S.W.O.R.D) base where scientists are creating a terrifying Doomsday Weapon. In one hour the base will go into lockdown – no one will get in or out – and nothing will stand between the S.W.O.R.D and world domination. The Peace Enforcing Nations (P.E.N) have dispatched their top agents to infiltrate the base. If they can acquire vital intelligence, the S.W.O.R.D's evil scheme may still be thwarted. They’ll need a combination of stealth and force to deal with guards, cameras, fiendish traps a criminal mastermind before the base is sealed. With just sixty minutes to save (or enslave) the world, it’s time to spy… or die trying!
4. If you're the bad guy, play...
MAFIA DE CUBA! In Mafia de Cuba, you're either an honestly terrible gangster, a terribly honest gangster, or an undercover CIA agent who's about to blow everyone's head off. The beauty of a Bond villain is that sometimes they're a little bit of all three! In this game, Don Alessandro is conductin' business with his henchmen when he gets called into the back office. At this point, each player pokes their hands into the boss' precious cigar box - will you betray him and steal some diamonds, knowing that he'll punish you if he finds out? Or will you be a secret agent who tattles on everyone there?! Well, you're the Bond villain. You can do anything you please.
5. If you're Bond, play...
SPECTER OPS! The spelling could have made this SO GOOD (how annoying!) but this game's still the perfect fit for any martini-drinkin', cigar-smokin', lady-lovin' Bond. Specter Ops is a sci-fi, stealth ops game of hidden movement that's similar to Scotland Yard. Players are trying to locate/capture a mysterious agent, who keeps track of their sneaking via a private map. The other players take control of unique characters who must use their wits, abilities and technology to help them hunt down this infiltrator. Items like flash grenades, scanners, and the like are at the disposal of this covert agent, and his name... is not James Bond, but wouldn't that be awesome?!
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