CHECKPOINT: Danger!®
Copyright 1978, IDEAL TOY CORPORATION, Hollis, NY 11423
I thought an alternate name (for the game) of "Espionage" would be good since the game is described on the box with the following:
Enter the world of global espionage. Set up a network of secret agents. Then scan the globe and expose the enemy's network before he uncovers yours.
It is a two player game, where each player has his own grid (just like in Battleship/Battleboats, but this game has a lot more strategy). It is a 7x9 grid, with seven rows and nine columns. The columns are numbered 1 through 9, and the rows are labeled A-G, each letter corresponding to that area of the globe.
The backdrop behind the board is world map, with vague outlines of the continents and oceans. And there are horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines extending from each point to each neighboring point to help the players easily line things up. (But here I'm drawing it with little detail).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Arctic | | | | | | | | | | Arctic
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Bering | | | | | | | | | | Bering
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Canadian | | | | | | | | | | Canadian
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Desert | | | | | | | | | | Desert
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Equator | | | | | | | | | | Equator
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Fiji | | | | | | | | | | Fiji
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Glacier | | | | | | | | | | Glacier
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Before the game begins, each player hides four secret Agents anywhere on the board. The object of the game is to find all four of your opponent's Agents before he finds yours. Player 1 (selected at random) begins by calling a square (e.g. "Canadian 3!"). Under normal circumstances, a player must call a square that is not occupied by one of his own Agents. (See "Checkpoint Danger" below). Player 2 looks at his board, and if one of his Agents is at that location, he says "HIT" and player one marks his board as such. If that square is not a hit, then player 2 must determine how many of his Agents can be seen from that square by looking in all eight directions from that square, and player one marks his board with that number.
Example: Player 1 calls "Fiji 6" and here is Player 2's board: ("A2" indicated Player 2's Agents).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Arctic | | | | | | | | | | Arctic
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Bering | | A2 | | | | | | | | Bering
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Canadian | | | | | | | A2 | | | Canadian
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Desert | | | | | | | | | | Desert
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Equator | | | | | | | | | | Equator
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Fiji | A2 | | A2 | | | P | | | | Fiji
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Glacier | | | | | | | | | | Glacier
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
In this case, Player 2 must declare that TWO Agents can
be seen from this square: the Agent at Fiji-3 and the one at
Bering-2.NOTE: One cannot "see through" Agents, so in the above example, the Agent at Fiji-3 is blocking the one at Fiji-1. At this point, Player 2 knows that Player 1 doesn't have one of his Agents at Fiji-6 (since one cannot call such a square without calling "Checkpoint Danger"), so Player 2 places a marker called an Enemy Probe at this point so he knows he need not try this square in a later play. Also at this point, Player 1 knows that there are two of his opponent's Agents somewhere along the eight straight lines from Fiji-6, so places a "2" marker at this point and now he has a starting point for future guesses.
Special Rule: Checkpoint Danger!If a player calls a square, and it's not a hit, his opponent will report the number of Agents which can be "seen" from that point. This number can, of course, be anywhere between 0-4. Getting back a number of "4" is, of course, excellent, since he knows that all four of his opponent's Agents are within easy reach. However, getting back a number of "zero" is also a good number, because now he can place Eliminators along each of the eight lines coming from that point, thereby eliminating many squares and making the process of elimination of finding his opponent's Agents easier.If a player wants to call a square which contains one of his own Agents, he must precede the location of the square with "Checkpoint Danger!". (e.g. "Checkpoint Danger, Desert-3!"). Of course, one would want to only use this as a last resort (when all other squares have been tried and it's certain that the opponent's Agent is at that square) because he would be giving his opponent the exact location of his own Agent.
Example: Player 1 calls "Canadian 2" and Player 2 reports "0", so Player 1 can "eliminate" many squares:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Arctic | | X | | X | | | | | | Arctic
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Bering | X | X | X | | | | | | | Bering
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Canadian | X | 0 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | Canadian
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Desert | X | X | X | | | | | | | Desert
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Equator | | X | | X | | | | | | Equator
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Fiji | | X | | | X | | | | | Fiji
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Glacier | | X | | | | X | | | | Glacier
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
When a player makes a "hit" by finding an opponent's Agent, he
shall immediately take another turn. Otherwise, players alternate
turns.
The game ends when one player finds all of his opponent's Agents.