If you are the Spy, you begin maneuvering your character similar to how the NPCs move and get into the AI mindset you’re trying to blend in with the crowd. Thankfully, SpyParty designer Chris Hecker and his friends are there to walk you through the process with tips. You read the instruction manual, but oh God, every last juicy detail about the controls has slipped your mind under the pressure of playing in front of a live audience. You now get to choose if you want to be the Sniper or the Spy, select what the major characters will look like, and pick up to four Spy objectives. You sit down in one of two chairs next to a table holding two back-to-back televisions. You pass the time by watching the current players do their thing, and begin thinking to yourself, “Hey, I totally get this now.”

For the curious, here’s what it looks like.Īfter that, you put the manual down and wait for your turn to play. It is densely packed with the game’s backstory, controls for both the Spy and the Sniper, and everything else you may or may not need to eventually know. You start off by grabbing a copy of the aforementioned instruction manual. So, what was the complete SpyParty experience? It goes a little something like this: Oh, and the ridiculously in-depth instruction manuals that were being handed out helped, sort of. As PAX progressed, though, a chain reaction of friends telling friends about how rad and unlike anything else it was occurred in a tremendous way.īecause SpyParty is complex, and doesn’t immediately scream what it’s all about explicitly, PAX attendees were forced to stick around until their curiosity was met by Chris Hecker and co. The game’s obscurity and “how does it work?” nature seemed to be two of the bigger factors.Īt the beginning of the show, virtually no one knew what SpyParty was it’s a bummer, I know. As far as I can tell, there were a few reasons for this. I don’t want to go full-on hyperbolic and say that SpyPartywas the most-talked-about game at PAX Prime, but it certainly ranks up there near the top.

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