Inkognito: The Card Game
Inkognito: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Game for 4 Players
Contents
1 deck of 66 cards 1 clues-sheet 4 rules sheets in 4 languages
Cards
The 66 cards include:
- 25 location cards: 5 sets of 5 cards (well known Venetian landmarks); 4 sets are marked along the top in blue, yellow, green and pink. The 5th set is marked in black; this is the Ambassador's set.
- 20 identity cards: 5 sets of 4 cards with the portraits of Lord Fiddlebottom, Colonel Bubble, Agent X and Mme Zsa Zsa. 4 sets are marked along the top in the 4 colours. During the game the players will use these to exchange secret informations. The 5th set has a black background with a jagged border on top. Each player will be dealt one of these: it will reveal to him his "true identity".
- 20 number cards: 5 sets of 4 cards showing the 4 segments of a possible telephone number (52 - 11 - 0 - 29). 4 sets are marked along the top in the 4 colours; these, too, will be used by the players to exchange secret informations. The 5th set has a black background with a jagged border on top. Each player will be dealt one of these. It will reveal to him his own segment of the telephone number.
- 1 telephone card (shows a telephone booth).
Before You Start
Make a good number of copies of the clues-sheet and cut them along the dotted line. Each player will need one of these at the start of each game.
Take the other 3 rules sheets and the original clues-sheet. Fold each of these to form a folder with the words "top secret" facing the other players. During the game you will hide your clues-sheet in this folder and make secret notations on it.
Number of Players
The standard game is for 4 players. Variants for 3 and 5 are explained following the standard game.
Objective
At the start of the game you know who you are, but not who your partner is. So perfect are your disguises, that no one can tell one from the other. You also possess one segment of the telephone number, but don't know which segments are possessed by the others.
Your task, then, is to find your partner, piece together, in the proper order, the four segments of the telephone number then call the number... and win the game!
Preparations
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Place the telephone card face up in the centre of the table.
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Each player chooses a colour and receives the following: a. A folder (see above) b. A copy of the clues-sheet. Note on it the names and colours of the other players (Ex. Anna-blue, Mario-red, David-green). Hide this sheet in your folder and place the folder so that the others see only the words "top secret". Remember: no one must know what you write on your clues-sheet. c. The 13 cards marked in his colour:
- 4 identity cards with the portraits of the 4 agents,
- 4 number cards with 4 segment of the mysterious telephone number,
- 5 location cards with views of 5 Venetian landmarks. Keep these 5 cards separate from your other cards.
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Remaining are the 13 "black cards": 4 identity cards and 4 number cards with black backgrounds and jagged tops, plus the 5 location cards with black markings.
Shuffle these 5 black location cards and put them aside, face down: this is the Ambassador's pack.
Then shuffle the 4 black identity cards, deal one face down to each player and do likewise with the 4 black number cards.
These black cards tell you which agent you are and which segment of the mysterious telephone number you possess. Note this on your clues-sheet. (Ex. If you were dealt Col. Bubble and 11, mark 11 under the letter B in the up-per left-hand corner of your sheet.)
Playing the Game
1. Visiting sites
Each player in turn, clockwise, chooses a location he wishes to visit and plays the corresponding card face up before him. When all have played, the top card of the Ambassador's pack is turned up as well.
2. Information
The aim of these visits is to obtain secret information, which can occur only when two agents meet alone in a location, or when one agent meets the Ambassador alone.
In other words, if the same location (for example, RIALTO) appears on two cards - not just on one nor on more than two - information can be obtained. Otherwise not.
a. If two agents meet alone in a location, they exchange informations. Each chooses two of his cards, one and only one of which must be the truth (i.e., correspond to one of his "black cards") and passes them to the other player - who examines them, notes the information on his clues-sheet, then passes them back. (In the course of a game you may meet the same agent more than once. When this happens, do not show him again the same pair of cards. At least one of the two cards must be different.)
b. If an agent meets the Ambassador alone, the agent may demand that another agent show him one of his black cards - that is, he will receive directly a piece of authentic information.
3. Taking notes
After each meeting, note the cards you were shown on your clues-sheet. Use a separate column for each meeting. And to avoid showing the same pair of cards twice, note also in the same column the cards you show to the other player. For example, mark those you are shown with X and those you show with a dot.
Note: When you are sure that you know who your partner is, reveal this to him the next time you meet by showing him one of your black cards.
4. New round
When each has played his location card, and the 5 cards have been compared for opportunities to swap informations, the round is over and another round of visits can begin, starting with the player left of the player who had started the previous round. The cards of the previous round remain face up on the table and the series of rounds continues in this fashion for 5 rounds, at which time all the location cards will have been used.
Then each picks up their cards again, the Ambassador's cards are reshuffled as before and a new series can begin.
End of Game
You have discovered the mysterious telephone number... but the game is not over yet! You must still meet your partner one last time and only then, instead of exchanging information, may you pick up the telephone card from the table and "call" the number. (For example, "I am dialling 5211029! - 52 Anna-Lord Fiddlebottom, 11 me-Col. Bubble, 0 Mario -Mme Zsa Zsa and 29 David-Agent X!")
If the number is correct, you and your partner win, if not, the other pair wins.
Match Play
The winning partners of a game score 1 point each (regardless of which of the two had announced the winning number). Play several games in succession, naturally each time with a new mix of "black" cards and a clean sheet from the score pad. First player to score 3 points is the winner.
Variants
(if you are already familiar with the game for 4)
The Game for 3 Players
Very similar to the game for 4.
The main differences:
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Each player plays for himself.
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The fourth agent is a dummy-agent: He has a "place" at the table and during the game he is made to play regularly in turn by another player (unlike the Ambassador who is always made to play last).
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Preparations: Same, except that the fourth agent is dealt only his 5 coloured location cards and the 2 black cards (not his coloured identity and number cards). The two black cards are placed face down on each side of his location cards.
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Play: Same, except that if you meet the fourth agent alone in a location, you can look secretly at one of his black cards. Nothing happens when the Ambassador meets the fourth agent alone.
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End: Once you have pieced together the telephone number, meet any one of the other agents or the ambassador alone, then pick up the telephone card and call the number. If it is correct, you score 1 point, if it is not, each opponent scores 1 point. Winner is the first who score 3 points.
The Game for 5 Players
Also quite similar to the game for 4. The principal differences:
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Each player plays for himself.
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The fifth player impersonates the Ambassador. He, too, in his own way, tries to piece together the coveted number and win the game.
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Preparations: Same, except that the Ambassador needs 2 clues-sheets, since he must seek informations from all 4 agents.
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Rounds: At the start of each round, the Ambassador chooses a location card from his hand and puts it face down before him. The others play their cards face up in the usual way, one at a time. That done, the Ambassador turns his card face up, too.
- If the Ambassador meets an agent alone in a location, that agent may, as in the game for four, demand that another agent show him one of his black cards, but he must then show this card to the Ambassador as well.
- If the Ambassador meets two players in a location, these, as in the game for four, cannot exchange informations but must, instead, each show two of their cards to the Ambassador, one of which must be the truth.
- In all other cases proceed as in the game for four.
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End: When you have figured out the elusive telephone number, meet once again another agent or the Ambassador alone or if you are the Ambassador, meet one or two agents then pick up the phone card and call the number. If it is correct, you score 1 point, if it is not, each opponent scores 1 point. First to score 3 points is the winner.
Example of the Beginning of a Game
You are Col. Bubble and your number is 11.
You start and play your RIALTO card. Anna, next to you, plays RIALTO, too. Mario plays SAN MARCO and so does David. But the top card of the Ambassador's pile is also SAN MARCO: there are now three SAN MARCO cards on the table, therefore nothing can happen there. But you and Anna have met at the RIALTO alone and can exchange information. You show her Col. Bubble (true) and 0 (false). She notes this on her sheet but it doesn't mean much to her. She shows you Lord Fiddlebottom and 11. This is very interesting! Since you yourself have 11, she must be Lord Fiddlebottom and therefore your partner. Note this on you sheet.
A few rounds later. You have not been able to meet Anna again and so couldn't tell her that she is your partner, but you found out other things: that David is Agent X, and therefore, automatically, that Mario is Mme Zsa Zsa; and that Mario's number is 0 (you wrote 0, of course, under the letter Z in the upper left-hand corner of your sheet). Now you only need to find out who has one of the two remaining numbers, since you would then also know automatically who had the other - and this might easily happen at your next meeting with either David or Anna...)