Agent Avenue: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Bluffing, I Split You Choose
Player Age: 8+ Player Count: 2 Players (Variant for 3 and 4 players)Time to Play: 10 - 20 Minutes
Game Designer: Christian Kudahl, Laura KudahlGame Artist: Fanny Pastor BerliePublisher: Nerdlab GamesYear Published: 2024BGG Weight: 1.42Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Player Age: 8+
Game Designer: Christian Kudahl, Laura Kudahl
Introduction:
Agent Avenue is a deduction game that has two spies enlisting the help of the whole neighborhood in pursuit of catching or overtaking the other player. This is a quick game of bluffing your opponents through an "I Split, You Choose" mechanism as each turn you will choose two different agent cards, one face-up and one face-down. Your opponent will choose which card each player is assigned and a player will win if they land on the same spot or surpass the opponent's spot on the board. The other way to win is to gain three Codebreaker cards, or you could lose by gaining three Daredevil cards.
Game Anatomy:
Board:
The board contains 14 movement locations, two starting locations for the opposing sides, and the direction that they will move.
In the advanced game there will be four black market locations which a player will activate if they end their movement here.
Agent Cards:
Eight different agents fill the neighborhood. Each agent will have three numbers on their left-hand side. The first number is how much the player will move the first time they gain this agent, the second number is how much the player will move if gained a second time, and the last value is for the third time (and any subsequent times) they gain that card.
Two agents (Mole and Sidekick) break the main rule and only have one value on the left-hand side.
The Codebreaker and Daredevil don't have a third movement value. Instead, the third time gained will either win or lose that player the game.
Black Market Cards:
Black market cards are gained if a player ends their movement on a black market space on the advanced board. That player will be able to choose one out of the three cards face-up.
These will either be instant effects that occur immediately or ongoing abilities that will add additional layers of strategy and bluffing.
Setup:
- Place the board in the center of the table (standard side up).
- Place each player's meeple at their designated starting location. Blue house for the blue player and green house for the green player.
- Shuffle the agent cards and deal four to each player.
How to Play:
The game will continue until one player has met the win or lose condition. If both players meet the victory condition then the winner will be the active player. On your turn, you will have three steps; Play, Recruit, and End.
In the play step, the active player will select two different agents from their hand, one face-up and one face-down. Four times during the game each player can discard one card and immediately redraw to allow for better options. In the recruit step, the other player will select which of the two agents they will add to their tableu and move. The un-selected agent will in turn be added to your tableu and move your meeple. The end step will have the players checking for win-or-lose conditions as well as re-drawing back up to four agent cards.
Final Thoughts:
- Great use of I-pick-you-chose mechanism combined with bluffing.
- Simple to understand but hard to master.
- Black market cards shake up the bluffing and strategy but do not add too much learning.
Agent Avenue is a game that is perfect for repeated plays. After the first game, you will see the depth of agents available and understand your opponent better. This is where the bluffing and second-guessing comes into play as there will be multiple moments when your opponent will be at a loss on which card to choose, as you anxiously await their decision to see if you prevailed in your plan. Once the core game is mastered the black market cards drastically change the battlefield and add plenty of layers to the bluffing. If you enjoy quick games that you can dive into with the same opponent then I can easily recommend Agent Avenue and it will be earning a Silver Seal of Approval.
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