2-5 Players, 60-90 Minutes, Ages 13+
Specter Ops is a thrilling one vs. all hidden movement game set in a sci-fi dystopian future in which the evil Raxxon Corporation owns everyone and everything and is, in general, a total bummer. For 2-5 players! Luckily for humanity/society a resistance movement has started, and has tasked an Agent to infiltrate a Raxxon Facility, sabotage it, and escape. Obviously Raxxon doesn’t take kindly to its nice things getting broken and have sent up to four genetically enhanced super soldiers to locate and capture the agent.
Agent players record their movements on a separate map included with the game that mirrors the game board. Agents must sneak around and avoid the hunters while completing objectives using only their wits and a few special items. Complete three out of four objectives and escape and the agent wins! Hunters must deduce the agents location, but just because the Hunters cant see the Agent doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Each Hunter also has three special abilities and car with a motion sensor to help track down the Agent. If the Hunters successful find and deal four hits of damage to the agent, the Agent has been captured and the Hunters win!
I’ve had a lot of fun with Specter Ops. It comes with a six page rule book so its very simple to learn and teach. The game is well balanced with different set up variants depending on how many players. In a four player game, Agents’ objectives are kept secret from the Hunters and the Agent gets to start with more items. In five player games, There is a traitor element, in which one of the Hunters is actually working with the Agent to help hide and break things. Though there are some instances where Hunters may go a whole game without ever finding the Agent, and while might be super fun for the Agent player, it is super boring for Hunters. Luckily those kind of instances are few are far between but they do happen from time to time and it can be a bummer. In general the game takes about a hour and a half to play but be aware some games can go on much longer depending on the person playing the Agent. I’ve found that berating said player helps. Overall Specter Ops is an awesome thrill ride of a board game. It iss a fun and intense experience for all players. Put on the Hackers soundtrack for ambiance and go wild!
-Mikey