Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 60-120 min
Age requirements: 9+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

Specter Ops is a hidden movement game. One to four hunters must find the agent before he or she completes three missions and escapes the board.

Specter Ops Rules Description:

Spector Ops is a one versus all board game, unless you have five players that is. Then one of the hunters is a traitor and secretly helps the agent.

Before you start the agent player must secretly pick which agent they want to play. The agent player also receives that agent’s unique and any generic equipment. And each hunter player must choose the hunter they want too.

The board is made up of spaces lettered A to W across and 1 to 32. Only spaces you can occupy are given a letter and number assignment. All other spaces are structures and block line of sight.

The agent may move up to four spaces and notes their ending location on their movement sheet. If the agent ends their movement in the line of sight of a hunter, you place their miniature on the board. If the agent merely crosses the line of sight of a hunter, you place the agent’s last seen token in the appropriate space. The agent must reach three of the four mission tokens then escape to win.

The hunters win if they reduce the agent’s health to zero or prevent the agent from escaping before the end of turn 40. Each hunter can move up to move spaces and attack the agent. To hit the agent, a hunter must roll the number of spaces the agent is away or greater on a d6. The hunters also have a vehicle. It can move ten spaces but only on road spaces. The vehicle is equipped with a motion sensor. If the agent moved three or more spaces, it can tell the hunters the direction the agent is in from the vehicle.

There is only a traitor if you have five players. The traitor is known by the agent and the agent does not have to place their miniature or the last seen token when they are in the traitor’s line of sight. If the agent comes into a hunter’s line of sight and the traitor should have seen them, the traitor becomes an agent. Then the traitor immediately moves, has four health and two equipment cards. The traitor must escape the with board with the agent for them to win.

Quick Review of Specter Ops:

Specter Ops is a hidden movement game with a couple different twists on this mechanic. You must find and attack the hidden agent before they complete their mission and escape.

Set in a futuristic world, the components add to the atmosphere and theme of this game. The miniatures look great and the art and design are fantastic. The rules are easy to read and follow and help make the game easy to teach.

For a hidden movement game this one has a lot of replay value. The different agents, hunters and equipment keep it fresh. You can try new combinations to change each side plays. The random starting mission locations also helps keep things different from game to game.

I like that you can’t get away with just finding the agent. You need to take them down. The system for resolving attacks is quick and easy too. Just count and roll.

The only negative thing about this game is something common to its genre. It is more fun to be the agent than one of the hunters. The hunters do have unique powers that help with this a bit, but it is still more fun to play the agent.

If you like hidden movement games, you should pick up Specter Ops. It is truly one of the best. If you have not tried a hidden movement game, this is a good one to try. However if you don’t like hidden movement games, I don’t think this one will change your mind.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6