Spy

Spy
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Attack
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Base
Illustrator(s)	Michael Menzel
Card text
+1 Card +1 Action Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck and either discards it or puts it back, your choice.

Spy is an Action-Attack card from the first edition of the Base set. It is a cantrip, meaning it provides +1 Card/+1 Action, and so it doesn't prevent you from drawing or playing other Action cards too. It is also a weak deck order attack.

It was removed from the second edition of Dominion.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• Spy causes all players, including the one who played it, to reveal the top card of their Deck.
• Note that you draw your card for playing Spy before any cards are revealed.
• Anyone who does not have any cards left in their Deck shuffles in order to have something to reveal. Anyone who still has no cards to reveal doesn't reveal one.
• If players care about the order in which things happen for this, you do yourself first, then each other player in turn order.
• Revealed cards that aren't discarded are returned to the top of their players' Decks.

Other Rules clarifications

• In a strict interpretation of the rules, each player reveals their card and returns it or discards it before the next player does, and for certain cards (such as Chariot Race), this can matter when it comes to deciding which each player should do. However, in practice, it's usually fine for all players to reveal their cards at the same time for efficiency's sake, provided there's no effect in the game that cares about the order of revealing.

Strategy

Before it was removed, Spy was a weak card with an effect that was rarely impactful. Spy’s deck reordering ability is inessential enough that it is more commonly gained for its cantrip status, which can be useful when combined with cards like Throne Room. Spy’s attack is usually inconsequential, affecting only the top card in your opponent’s deck. If there is nothing in the Kingdom worth gaining at or less (which is quite rare), it can be better than Silver because it is not a stop card.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+1 Card +1 Action Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck and either discards it or puts it back, your choice.	Dominion 1st Edition	October 2008
		+1 Card +1 Action Each player (including you) reveals the top card of their deck and either discards it or puts it back, your choice.	Dominion 1st Edition	November 2021

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	間諜 (pron. jiàndié)
Czech	Špion
Dutch	Spion			+1 kaart +1 Actie Alle spelers tonen de bovenste kaart van hun trekstapel. De spion bepaalt of ze blijven liggen of worden afgelegd.
Finnish	Vakooja
French	Espion
German	Spion			+1 Karte +1 Aktion Alle Spieler (auch du) decken die oberste Karte ihres Nachziehstapels auf. Du entscheidest, wer seine Karte ablegen und wer sie wieder auf seinen Nachziehstapel zurücklegen muss.	(2013)
Greek	Κατάσκοπος (pron. kataskopos)
Hungarian	Kém
Italian	Spia
Japanese	密偵 (pron. mittei)
Korean	첩자 (pron. cheobja)
Norwegian	Spion
Polish	Szpieg			+1 karta +1 akcja Każdy gracz (włączając ciebie) odkrywa wierzchnią kartę swojej talii. Następnie decydujesz, czy ma ją odłożyć z powrotem na wierzch talii, czy odrzucić.
Romanian	Spion
Russian	Шпион (pron. shpion)
Spanish	Espía

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

I made this for the 4th expansion during development of the main set, and almost immediately stole it for the main set. It was just too perfect; it's an attack that doesn't feel like the other ones, it interacts with a bunch of things, it's hard to evaluate. It's "free" (it has +1 card, +1 action, so playing it doesn't use up your action and it doesn't take up space in your hand), and those cards are hot tickets.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dominion Cards

Retrospective

And finally there's Spy. Spy is slow to resolve, that's the big thing. Over the years I have learned that ideally Spy-type attacks don't have +1 action, or don't involve a decision, or both. Rabble is exactly what I want. Spy has +1 action and involves a decision, so you potentially make tons of decisions per turn. I like decisions but man Spy is not where to get them. It initially got to interact with two attacks that trashed cards from the top of your deck, and that's cool, but now it only interacts with Thief (in the main set that is), and that combo just isn't worth the slot.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, What Donald X. Might Do With a Dominion Time Machine

Why does Spy cost 4?

It's pretty random. I didn't know as much what I was doing then; I tried it at and people bought it and you didn't have to. These days I wouldn't make it at all - it's too slow for what you get, and charging less doesn't fix that. Rabble is the way to do Spy.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Interview with Donald X

Second Edition Removal

This is both weak and slow. Make one decision per player; now play another Spy and make another decision per player. These days I prefer Spies to look more like Rabble and Fortune Teller: no +1 Action, no decision. I thought I would replace Spy with something like Rabble, but as you can see I didn't. Dominion itself is joining the ranks of the later expansions, that go lighter on attacks and heavier on non-attack interaction.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dominion 2nd Editions

Nothing directly replaces this. It's slow and weak; I prefer the at least faster form of Rabble. But there is still potential to someday do a new Spy.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Product Idea - Dominion: Memories