The Developer of SpyParty said that I "Played a Perfect Game"

Okay so I didn't exactly play the perfect game of SpyParty but I was a part of it... as the loser.

There’s been a lot of SpyParty talk on the net as of late so I figured I would throw in my two cents seeing as a lot of it involves me. A little over a week ago, I had a 3-hour SpyParty session with another player, Anthony "Tytalus", who is also in the SpyParty BETA. Chris Hecker, the sole developer of SpyParty, was there for a few of the matches and took interest in one match in particular. It was a match in which I was set up, by Anthony, to go after an NPC; tricking me into killing an innocent so he would win the match. Before I get into the specifics of the match, it is imperative that you understand what SpyParty is all about.

The Beauty of SpyParty

SpyParty, simply put, is a game about behavior. It is a game in which one player acts as a Spy trying to accomplish a set of goals while the other player (the sniper) is trying to kill the Spy before they can complete their tasks. The situation is a party with several attendees with varying degrees of importance. Attendees such as the waiter, bodyguard, and several random NPCs are less important to the spy while other high-profile attendees such as the Ambassador, the Double Agent, and the Seduction target serve as important targets for the Spy. Other tasks for the Spy include moving microfilm, swapping objects, and inspecting statues. The whole time the Spy is doing this, the Sniper is watching from afar, trying to determine who their target actually is; a daunting task at a party with upwards of 20 people in attendance. If the Spy is able to complete a predetermined number of tasks within the time limit, they win the match. The Spy’s goal is to complete these tasks without drawing attention to themselves. If the Sniper sees a Spy walk up to the Ambassador and reach out and touch them it is game over for the Spy. Naturally, the Spy must be subtle and cool headed while at the same time being quick and aggressive.

I am by no means a master of SpyParty. When Anthony and I started playing, I believe my total number of games was 26 and his was around 1100. It is safe to say that he had the upper hand, and I learned it quickly. When I play as the Spy I am almost too afraid to do anything because I think I am being watched the entire time. As the Sniper I have the problem of spending too much time on one or two partygoers while I almost completely ignore others. Anthony and I played around 50 games, and at first I didn’t stand a chance; I think I lost 10 in a row at one point. I started to win a few games and this is because there is something almost magical about the way this game makes people feel. I have NEVER once been angry after losing a match of SpyParty. I even saw this when I played in a SpyParty tournament at PAX Prime a while back. This game which pits two people against each other yet always seems to bring them together by the end. When the round is over, both players are smiling and sharing strategies.

When I lose, I don’t yell or scream (well sometimes I do but it’s not out of anger). I ask what I did that got myself shot and I try to learn from my mistakes and push forward. I have never met a winner who did not immediately offer advice to the loser. Anthony would always say things like “Oh you can’t interrupt an NPC talking as the Spy or they’ll shoot you a dirty look which is a giveaway for the Sniper.” I learned more in these matches than I ever have before. I went back and watched the footage from all of the matches afterwards (around 6 hours), each time watching whoever played Sniper first while trying to guess who the Spy was. I was able to catch so many things that I never saw before and I know I have improved greatly as a result.

The Match in Question

In one particular match, Chris Hecker particularly liked that Anthony (the spy) would bait me into killing an NPC by doing things to draw my attention to him/her.

Here is me playing as the Sniper:

I will write some of my thoughts here because at the time of the recording, Anthony was listening to the 4Player stream so we could talk to each other. We had played several games and I was beginning to notice that when Anthony played as the Spy he would normally try to get in a few statue inspects and swaps first, so I would immediately highlight people who went to the statues first. I took note of the people at the statues and of what statues went where in case I saw one get swapped. I noticed that "red dress" went from one statue directly to another; not unheard of from an NPC but not normal either. I noticed that I was staying on one NPC for too long so I took another look around the map. Then "red dress" initiated a conversation with a suspected Double Agent and at the same time got WAY too close to the Ambassador. I thought I had him so I took the shot... and I was wrong. I had a little freak out because I didn’t suspect him at all, and the reason is because he didn’t do anything! Why would you suspect a person is a Spy if they don’t do anything suspicious?

Here is Anthony as the Spy:

If you would like a much better break down of the situation, be sure to check out Chris Hecker's blog post over at SpyParty’s site.

The folks here at 4Player have nothing but love for this game. It is everything I want in a stealth game and I constantly complain about how I wish Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer was more like SpyParty. PLEASE head over to SpyParty.com and sign up for the BETA. Chris normally sends out ~500 invites a week. I will try to stream the game more, but this end-of-year rush is forcing me to try and finish off some games before our award shows.

You can follow SpyParty on Twitter for more updates and regular tweets on elite players streaming the game.