Spy Master is a rules-light setting where you are playing International spies. Right off the bat, this caught my eye as I do enjoy some good spy games antics. Yet sadly, often they are bogged down with too much crunch to enjoy. Refreshingly, this is where Spy Master stands out from the crowd!

Spy Master is at its heart a love letter to the James Bond era of suit wearing, casino royale backdrops of cash guns and high stakes adventure. Spy Master thrives in a world where your so good you not only confront the bad guy at his own party, you sit down with him over drinks and tell him just how you are going to take him down to his face over a game of cards.

How is it played? Well, the absolute best possible way that a 1970s spy movie game could ever be played that's how WITH CARDS! You read that right, In Spy Master, if you want to complete a task in the game you're playing Black Jack against the Director (GM)

My full review can be found on my blog at Runkle Plays Games. Thank you Symatt for letting me get a deep look into a Great Game!

A fun game with an intresting system. the system is open enugh that you can use it to play a large varity of games. we used it for a heist game. if you are in to adventure and spys check this game out.

I got asked to playtest Spymaster just before its initial release and had said "yes" as soon as @Symatt, the author, said "it uses cards instead of dice". I've never played a Spy/ secret agent based game before as id always seen complex rules systems as overriding the seat of the pants style action that many "spy" films follow. Not so with Spymaster. the system is very quick to pick up - i dont know anyone that hasnt played pontoon / blackjack / 21 - and aside from a little getting used to what the suits represent, my players dove straight in with pregenerated characters into a very fast paced adventure that by its nature can bring you back to anything from the Connery era Bond films, through Get Carter, the Bourne films, and anything similar. It'd also work with very little tweaking for a tv style game if you wanted to do, say, The A-Team, or McGyver, or similar. The simple system belies a lot of hidden choice - beyond just a game of 21, if players are resourceful enough to count their cards they can make decisions on how they play, how they push their luck and how much of a risk theyre prepared to take. Villains are easily generated, from minions to named threats to powerful NPCs that match or even beat the PCs at their own game. all in all it has been a breath of fresh air and a damn good introductory game to the genre, hopefully the first of a few using the same system (called System21) and many more from the producers.

By first-time author Symatt, Spy Master is a fast, simple game that aims to capture the spirit of classic James Bond adventures. It uses of the card game 21 (also known as pontoon) as it basic mechanics which fits well with the games theme. There are no dice, just a deck of cards and a combination of player luck and skill. The character sheet is basic, little more than four numbers to represent the character's basic expertise in very loosely defined areas of expertise. All player actions come down to a playing a game of 21 combining randomly drawn cards and one of the four basic character stats. The game also provides a lot of ideas for using cards to generate character background, locations, names and so on.

The game uses various movie related terms like director, scenes and acts to enhance the theme and tone of the game. The book also includes a bit of background on spy organisations and fictional enemies along with examples of play to help players get into the genre.

There is nothing bad about this game but there are areas where it could be better. A lack of experience in the writing and the layout is evident and the game would have benefited from a good editor and or graphic artist. The weaknesses are not enough to spoil the game and even on a quick read through the rules were quickly understandable.