How to play

The story

U.S. intelligence operatives have earned a night off. You are at a gathering—music, drinks, small talk. The brief is simple: blend in, relax, and keep your cover.

There is a complication. Soviet assets walk among you. They look like friends. Their mission is not to blow cover—it is to steer the night, complete covert assignments, and if the cell coordinates, poison the punch: eliminate loyal operatives one by one until the balance shifts.

No one reveals their dossier aloud. Trust is a liability. Observation is the job.

Roles

• U.S. INTEL — You are loyal and out for a good time. Your goal is to notice who is steering the party toward chaos and vote them out during tribunals.
• SOVIET ASSET — You are hostile. Each round you get a covert mission (something sneaky to pull off in conversation). Your cell tracks cell progress: everyone on your side must log their mission before elimination votes fully count. You also coordinate who to poison—which loyal operative to eliminate—when the time is right.

Phases of a round

1. Mission — Timed. Operatives mingle. Soviet assets pursue covert assignments and mark a poison target when ready; loyal players pursue cover and suspicion.
2. Debrief / interrogation — The table compares stories. If someone was eliminated by hostile action, that outcome is surfaced here.
3. Tribunal — Each surviving player casts one accusation. Votes are revealed ballot-by-ballot—then a verdict removes someone from the operation.
4. Next round — If neither side has won, the cell starts another mission.

How Soviet assets operate

• Cover assignment — Your handler gives you a concrete task for the round. Log it when complete so your cell knows you are still in play.
• Cell progress — The side mission only advances when every Soviet asset still in the game has logged their assignment.
• Poison the punch — Your cell votes on which loyal player to eliminate. Votes can be placed early, but elimination only resolves when the rules say the strike is allowed—typically once every asset has logged their mission for the round.
• Ties — If votes tie for who gets poisoned, the operation may break ties at random—do not assume mercy.

How loyal operatives fight back

• Use debrief time to pressure inconsistencies—not personalities.
• In tribunal, vote your best read. There are no take-backs.
• Eliminating every Soviet asset wins the night for the loyal side.

If you are compromised

Removed players are out of the living game, but not out of the fiction. From the ghost channel you can add covert assignments to a shared pool and vote on which ideas should haunt future rounds—so the living never quite control the agenda.

Victory

• U.S. INTEL wins when hostile influence is voted off the floor.
• Soviet assets win when loyal numbers fall far enough that the party belongs to them—or when the mission completes on terms your handler sets.

Exact parity rules are enforced by the operation software at the table—when in doubt, read the on-screen verdict.