Red Notice

Red Notice is a two player game of cat and mouse. The criminal and the international police agent race around the globe. The criminal wins by cashing in a total of 1,000,000 in cheques. The agent wins by catching the criminal a third time. 

The world map is divided into six regions. The location of the agent is public information. However, that of the criminal is secret. The criminal’s location is only exposed when she performs certain actions. The agent knows where she is at that point in time, but when she starts moving again, her location becomes hidden again. 

During the game both agent and criminal are able to collect cheques. Cheques are the winning condition for the criminal. They come in specific colours and they can only be cashed in in matching regions. Whenever the criminal cashes in a cheque, her exact location is exposed. The agent also gains a benefit, for example a permanent road block. The agent can cash in cheques too, and she gains a benefit whenever she does so. As the game progresses, the agent gets more and more advantages that help her catch the criminal. 

This action board is how players compete to perform actions. Every round you have three tokens to place. You have your own pool of tokens, and this pool is the same as your opponent's. However every round the three tokens you draw are random. You can place your token next to any of the four action cards and on either side. Tokens are placed face-down and they are only revealed after all have been placed. You compare your token values against your opponent's. If you have the same value, you each perform only the action shown on your side of the card. If you have a higher value, you get to perform the actions on both sides, but your opponent still performs the action on their side. If only you have a token next to a card, you perform both actions. Your opponent doesn't get to perform any, since they don't have a token at all. 

Now there is a Pow token, which beats all number tokens. If you have played this, you remove your opponent's token. So you will get to perform both actions, and your opponent none. 

The actions in the game are moving, drawing cheques, cashing in cheques and security related actions. On the action cards there is also a wild icon. If you win that, you can choose any action. The security action differs between players. The agent can set up road blocks or radars. Radars cover a whole region. When the criminal enters a region, the alarm goes off, and the radar is removed. When the criminal performs the security action, she collects security action points. These action points can later be used to disable radars and roadblocks. 

In the screenshot above you can see black and white radars (large discs) and roadblocks (crosses). The white ones are the normal ones. Black ones are permanent and they come from the agent's upgraded abilities. This screenshot above is the perspective of the criminal, because you can see the criminal (purple pawn) in South America. The agent is the orange pawn and she is in Africa. 

This is a game in which the tension keeps building. I played the criminal first, and I felt the pressure escalate. At first I felt it was a little unfair. Why did the agent get upgrades regardless of who cashed in a cheque? Why was the net closing in on me and I had no relief at all? Only after having played more I understood this was a better balance, in addition to being more exciting. The only time the criminal gets any relief is when she is caught for the first and second times. You have two identity cards you can burn when you are caught, and they give you some actions, e.g. moving to a new location ignoring roadblocks and radars. Being the criminal was a tense experience. I had to work hard to stay ahead of the agent. The cheques I drew somewhat determined where I needed to go. But some places were riskier than others, and sometimes I decided not to even attempt certain regions. 

Strictly speaking there was no time pressure. I could play carefully and keep a safe distance away. Although the agent gained an upgrade whenever either of us cashed in a cheque, there was no other mechanism that forced me to rush. Sometimes it was the temptation to rush for the win that made me take risks. 

The action selection mechanism creates unpredictability. You can't plan your actions precisely. You don't know when your opponent will play the Pow token. You need to put some thought into placing those tokens. 

When I switched to play the agent, I realised how difficult it was to catch the criminal. I should have been more aggressive in cashing in cheques myself, to build my arsenal of weapons. There is much variety in the agent's tools, which can create different board situations. The criminal has several different identities, but only two will be used each game. These create replayability. I think it is fair to call this the grown up and married version of Scotland Yard.