Under Cover (2018)

Under Cover is a light-hearted game of spy-collecting -- a set collection game, with a theme of intrigue. Manage your resources, in order to build your spy network. The more spies you have in the field, the higher your score. Put the most spies into active duty to win the game! Build your team of spies, informants, sleeper cells, whistle-blowers, and double-agents to infiltrate enemy targets. Steal agents from your opponents, call upon underworld contacts. Do what you must to ensure your forces are stronger than your enemy's.

As a set collecting game, the obvious goal of Under Cover is to gather the largest sets of cards -- larger sets of cards laid down scores more points. But, each card also has a special ability, which allows you to do special actions, such as drawing more cards, stealing from opponents' sets, forcing your opponent to draw cards (to put them over the hand limit), or taking cards from the "Veterans Pile" (the set of cards that have already been spent for their special abilities). On your turn, you may draw cards, then you'll decide how you want to act. You can lay down cards to score points, discard cards to make room in your hand, or play special ability cards. All of the cards are special ability cards. Under Cover even requires special ability cards to pick up a set from the table, so you can add to it.

Each game begins with a simple shuffling of the deck. That's all the setup required, so the 15-30 minute play time is entirely playing. The cleanup at the end of the game is just as simple: put the cards back in the box. The Solo mode of the game is just as simple as the multiple-player mode, but it becomes more of a puzzle game -- instead of trying to get more points than the other player(s), you have to score large enough sets in ALL the color groups. That is impossible without using the abilities on the cards in a tactical manner.

Under Cover has strategic choices to make, but it's a quick game that sets up in moments, and can be put away in seconds. It can be taught in five minutes, but can be played over and over -- with a quick shuffle, you're back in the game. It works as a great filler, or a fun game to play with your kids.