COLLECTION: A GAME OF INFLUENCE AND COLLABORATION

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06714440
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2017
• Case Number: F-2017-01240
• Publication Date: February 1, 2017

Approved for Release: 2017/11/29 C06714440
JLLECTION!
A Game of Influence and Collaboration
RULE BOOK
Contents
Introduction
2
Sequence of Play
5
Roles and Components
2
Completing Scenarios
6
- Player Roles
2
Detailed Player Roles
7
- The Game Board
2
Annotated Game Board
8
- Crisis Ladder
3
- Collector Spaces.
3
- Response Ladder
3
- Reports Circle
3
- Cards, Gems, and Coins
3
- Scenario Cards
3
- Collection Cards
3
- Crisis Gems
3
- Engagement Gems
3
- Report Gems
4
Setup
4
Victory / Defeat
4
Updated February 2017
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1. Introduction
COLLECTION is a collaborative training
game designed to teach how analysts
and collectors in the Intelligence
Community work together against a
variety of challenges. Players play the
roles of analysts working together as a
team. The object of the game is to
engage intelligence collectors to drive
reporting, providing policymakers with
enough information to simultaneously
manage several international scenarios.
2. Roles & Components
A game of COLLECTION can be played
with 3 to 7 people, and contains the
following materials:
� 1 game board
� 7 PLAYER ROLE CARDS
� 12 SCENARIO CARDS
� 80 COLLECTION CARDS
� 1 container each of small blue, red
and green ENGAGEMENT / REPORT
GEMS
� 1 container of 18 COLLECTOR COINS,
containing three coins each for DH,
DO, NGA, DO, OSE, and STATE.
� 3 large red CRISIS GEMS
� 10 ten-sided dice
� Several player tokens of varying
colors, including red, green and
blue.
� A spare copy of this rule book.
2.1 Player Roles
Players chose between seven different
analytic roles, three mandatory
(POLITICAL ANALYST, MILITARY ANALYST,
ECONOMIC ANALYST) and four optional
(COLLECTION ANALYST, LEADERSHIP
ANALYST, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND
WEAPONS ANALYST, TARGETING
ANALYST). In a game with only three
players, each player must choose one of
the mandatory roles. In a game with
four players, the fourth player is
assigned the COLLECTION ANALYST. If
there are five or more players, the
remaining players can choose from the
remaining optional roles. There can be
only one of each kind of analytic role in
each game. Each analytic role has
different advantages and disadvantages
in the game (see the PLAYER ROLE
CARDS or DETAILED PLAYER ROLES
annex in this rulebook for specifics):
- The POLITICAL ANALYST, MILITARY
ANALYST AND ECONOMIC ANALYST
are highly effective at driving
reporting for their particular
discipline, but are unable to drive
other kinds of reporting.
- The COLLECTION ANALYST and
TARGETING ANALYST can drive
multiple kinds of reporting, but face
limitations when doing so.
- The LEADERSHIP ANALYST drives and
uses political reporting like the
POLITICAL ANALYST, but provides
different collaboration bonuses to
other players.
- The SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND
WEAPONS ANALYST drives and uses
military reporting like the MILITARY
ANALYST, but provides different
collaboration bonuses to other
players.
All players also provide collaboration
bonuses to each other when they are
collocated on the game board (identified
on the PLAYER ROLE CARDS and the
DETAILED PLAYER ROLES annex in this
rule book).
2.2 The Game Board
The game board depicts elements for
three simultaneous scenarios that the
players will be working against. Each
scenario is isolated except for the fact
that the players will be moving between
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scenarios to manage them - what
happens in one scenario generally does
not affect the others, with a few
exceptions. Each scenario on the board
contains the following elements
(depicted in the ANNOTATED GAME
BOARD annex of this rulebook):
Crisis Ladder: The crisis level of each
scenario is depicted by the position of a
large red gem on each scenario's CRISIS
LADDER. The higher the crisis level, the
more unmanageable the scenario is
becoming. If any scenario reaches a
crisis level of 10, the game is over and
the players have lost.
Collector Spaces: During the game
the players will move between the
COLLECTOR SPACES in each scenario at
the bottom of the board, representing
analytic contact with a specific
intelligence collector. Each COLLECTOR
SPACE is colored two different colors,
representing the kinds of reporting that
collector has an affinity for: political
(blue), military (red), or economic
(green).
Response Ladder: A collector's
position on the RESPONSE LADDER -
represented by their COLLECTOR COIN -
indicates how much effort they are
putting against that scenario. The
higher the collector is on the ladder.
The easier it will be for players to get
them to generate reporting. Collectors
move up and down the ladder through
the effects Of COLLECTION CARDS.
Reports Circle: As the players get the
collectors to generate reporting on each
scenario, they will place those reports
(represented by REPORT GEMS) in this
circle, helping policymakers to
strategically manage the scenario.
Each scenario requires some mix of 10
political, military, and economic reports,
as identified by the SCENARIO CARDS.
2.3 Cards, Gems, and Coins
Each game set has two card decks:
- SCENARIO: Each SCENARIO CARD
represents an intelligence problem
that the players are facing, and tells
them what mix of reporting -
political, military, and economic -
they need to solve the scenario.
The game starts with one active
scenario, but additional ones will
become active as the game is
played, for a total of three scenarios
over the course of the game.
- COLLECTION: Each player draws a
COLLECTION CARD at the end of their
turn; COLLECTION CARDS can
negatively or positively affect the
scenarios and the players' ability to
engage collectors. Red labeled
cards must be played immediately,
Blue labeled cards can be played
immediately, or held and played later
in the game. Players can only play
held COLLECTION CARDS during their
own turn.
Colored gems are used in the game to
track scenario crisis levels, player
engagement with collectors, and reports
provided to policymakers.
- CRISIS: The large red Crisis Gems
are used to track the crisis level of
each scenario via its CRISIS LADDER
on the game board.
- ENGAGEMENT: Every turn the
players will have a chance to place
small ENGAGEMENT GEMS on a
collector space; the gems represent
how much effort the player has
made to reach out to that collector in
that scenario. There are three kinds
of engagement: political (blue),
military (red), economic (green).
The kind(s) Of ENGAGEMENT GEMS
the player can place are dictated by
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their analytic role. A player must be
located on a collector space in order
to place an ENGAGEMENT GEM there,
and once a gem has been placed on
a particular space, it cannot be
moved elsewhere.
7 REPORT: When a collector
successfully generates an
intelligence report, the player places
a small gem of the corresponding
color � blue for political, red for
military, green for economic � in the
REPORTS CIRCLE for that scenario.
One a gem has been placed in the
REPORTS CIRCLE, it cannot be
moved elsewhere.
COLLECTOR COINS are used to track
where a collector is on the RESPONSE
LADDER in each scenario.
3. Set Up
Each player chooses their analytic role,
keeping in mind that you must have one
POLITICAL ANALYST, one MILITARY
ANALYST, and one ECONOMIC ANALYST,
and that there can only be one of each
type of analyst in a game.
Shuffle the SCENARIO and COLLECTION
card decks and place each one face
down next to the game board.
Choose the top SCENARIO CARD, place it
in the SCENARIO CARD space on
Scenario A, and place a large red CRISIS
GEM at level one of the CRISIS LADDER
for Scenario A.
Play begins with whichever player wants
to go first, and continues around the
board clockwise, following the
Sequence of Play rules in the next
section.
4. Generating New Scenarios
The game starts with one active
scenario at set up, but two additional
scenarios may become active over the
course of the game. The first time that a
"Crisis Expansion" COLLECTION CARD is
drawn that expands the crisis in a
scenario which is not active, players
must draw a new SCENARIO CARD, place
it on the game board in the scenario
identified on the COLLECTION CARD, and
place a large red CRISIS GEM at level
one on the CRISIS LADDER for that
scenario.
5. Victory / Defeat
The game ends when the players have
filled the REPORTS CIRCLES of all active
scenarios on the board (victory!) or
when one of the scenarios reaches 10
on its CRISIS LADDER (defeat!)
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6. Sequence of Play
Each player can take two actions on
their turn, choosing from three possible
actions: MOVE, ENGAGE, or ROLL FOR
REPORTING. They can take any
combination of the three types of actions
(e.g. taking two MOVE actions) as long
as they only take two actions.
- MOVE: As a single action, players
can move between two different
COLLECTOR SPACES in the same
scenario (for example, from NSA in
Scenario A to OSE in Scenario A),
or between the same collector in two
different scenarios (for example,
from DH in Scenario A to DH in
Scenario C).
- ENGAGE: As a single action, players
can place one ENGAGEMENT GEM on
the COLLECTOR SPACE where they
are currently located. The color of
ENGAGEMENT GEM they can place is
determined by their ANALYST ROLE,
per their PLAYER ROLE CARD and the
DETAILED PLAYER ROLES annex of
this rulebook.
- ROLL FOR REPORTING: As a single
action, players can roll dice to see if
the collector on whose COLLECTOR
SPACE they are currently located
generates a report of interest, per
the instructions in the section 6.2.
At the end of their turn, each player
draws a COLLECTION CARD and follows
the directions on the card, playing it
immediately if it has a red label, or
choosing to play or hold the card if it has
a blue label. A player may play a held
COLLECTION CARD at any time during
their turn.
6.1 Engaging Collectors
The first time that an ENGAGEMENT GEM
(of any color) is placed on a COLLECTOR
SPACE in a scenario, place the
collector's COLLECTOR COIN on the
RESPONSE LADDER for that scenario.
The coin is placed at the current crisis
level or three, whichever is lower.
Once placed, an ENGAGEMENT GEM
cannot be moved to a different
COLLECTOR SPACE. Players are not
limited by the number of ENGAGEMENT
GEMS they can place on a COLLECTOR
SPACE over the course of a game, but
they can only place one ENGAGEMENT
GEM per action (two actions per turn).
6.2 Rolling for Reporting
Players roll a number of ten-sided dice
to determine whether a collector they
have engaged provides a report of
interest. Players get to roll one die for
each ENGAGEMENT GEM of the same
color as the kind of report they are trying
to generate (blue for political, red for
military, green for economic). If any one
of the dice rolled is less than the
collector's level on the RESPONSE
LADDER, the collector provides a report
of interest to the analyst.
- Different analysts may be limited in
the kinds of reporting they can roll
for or the number of dice they get to
roll for reporting, as indicated on the
PLAYER ROLE CARDS and the
DETAILED PLAYER ROLES annex of
this rulebook.
- The number "0" on a ten-sided die
counts as a 10, and is always a
failure.
- No matter how many successes
players get on their dice roll, only
one report is generated per action.
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- Being collocated with other analysts
can provide bonuses to the number
of dice that players can roll or the
collector's response level, as
indicated on the PLAYER ROLE
CARDS and the DETAILED PLAYER
ROLES annex of this rulebook.
Example of Rolling for Reporting
Sarah, a political analyst, is currently
located on the DO space in Scenario
A, where she has 4 blue Engagement
Gems. DO is currently at a collector
response level of 6 on the Scenario A
Response Ladder. Sarah gets to roll
four dice; if any of them is below a 6,
she gets a report from the DO for use
in Scenario A.
6.3 Using Reports
When a collector has generated a report
of interest, most players have a choice
as to how to use it. They can either use
the report to place an appropriately
colored REPORT GEM (blue for political,
red for military, green for economic) in
the REPORTS CIRCLE for the scenario
where the report was generated, or they
can use the report to reduce the crisis
level on the scenario's CRISIS LADDER
by one, to a minimum of four.
- Once a report has been placed in
the REPORTS CIRCLE, it cannot be
removed (i.e. it can't later be used to
decrease the crisis level).
- Once a scenario's crisis level has
gone above four on the CRISIS
LADDER, reports cannot be used to
reduce it back below four.
- COLLECTION ANALYSTS can only use
reporting to fill the REPORTS CIRCLE,
as indicated on the PLAYER ROLE
CARDS and the DETAILED PLAYER
ROLES annex of this rulebook.
7. Completing Scenarios
Once the reporting requirements for a
scenario have been met and the
REPORTS CIRCLE for that scenario has
been filled, take the following actions:
- Turn the SCENARIO CARD over.
- Reduce the crisis level on the CRISIS
LADDER down to level one.
- Reduce all collector responses on
the RESPONSE LADDER by three.
Fill the REPORTS CIRCLES for all active
scenarios and the game is won!
- COLLECTION CARDS can still affect
completed scenarios, so players
should keep an eye on them, just in
case.
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Annex 1: Detailed Player Roles
ROLE
eOLLABORAITION BONUS ,
ENGAGEMENT
REPORTING
POLITICAL ANALYST
Can only place blue
(political) ENGAGEMENT
GEMS.
Can only roll for political reporting, but can
use reports to reduce CRISIS LADDER level or
fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the POLITICAL ANALYST can add one
die when rolling for reporting if there are any blue
ENGAGEMENT GEMS on the COLLECTOR SPACE.
MILITARY ANALYST
�
Can only place red
(military) ENGAGEMENT
GEMS.
-
Can only roll for military reporting, but can
use reports to reduce CRISIS LADDER level or
fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated With the MILITARY ANALYST can add one
die when rolling for reporting if there are any red
ENGAGEMENT GEMS on the COLLECTOR SPACE.
ECONOMIC ANALYST
Can only place green
(economic)
ENGAGEMENT GEMS.
Can only roll for economic reporting, but can
use reports to reduce CRISIS LADDER level or
fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the ECONOMIC ANALYST can add one
die when rolling for reporting if there are any green
ENGAGEMENT GEMS on the COLLECTOR SPACE.
COLLECTION ANALYST
Can place any color
,
ENGAGEMENT GEMS.
Can roll for any kind of reporting, but only
counts 50% (round up) of relevant
, � GEMS towards the number ,
ENGAGEMENT k...7EMS to:Maros tne numuer 01
dice being rolled, and can only use reports to
fill the REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the COLLECTION ANALYST benefit from
a temporary +1 to any collector's level on the RESPONSE
LADDER when rolling for reporting.
LEADERSHIP ANALYST
Can only place blue
(political) ENGAGEMENT
GEMS.
Can only roll for political reporting, but can
use reports to reduce CRISIS LADDER level or
fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the LEADERSHIP ANALYST benefit from
a temporary +1 to OSE's or STATE's level on the RESPONSE
LADDER when rolling for reporting.
SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND
WEAPONS ANALYST
Can only place red
(military) ENGAGEMENT
GEMS.
Can only roll for military.reporting, but can
use reports to reduce CRISIS LADDER level or
fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the ST&W ANALYST benefit from a
temporary +1 to NGA's or NSA 's level on the RESPONSE
LADDER when rolling for reporting.
TARGETING ANALYST
C ENGAGEMENT l n y co lor
an pace a
GEMS.
Can roll for any kind of reporting, but only
counts 50% (round up) of relevant
ENGAGEMENT GEMS towards the number of
dice being rolled; can use reports to reduce
CRISIS LADDER level Or fill REPORTS CIRCLE.
Players collocated with the TARGETING ANALYST benefit from
a temporary +1 to NSA's, DO's or DH's level on the
RESPONSE LADDER when rolling for reporting.
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Annex 2: Annotated Game Board
NGA
�
CISCENARIO R
NSA
DO
STATE
1. CRISIS LADDER
2. COLLECTOR SPACES
3. RESPONSE LADDER
45 SCENARIO B
9
7
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5
4.
2
DH
NGA
NSA
aro.
STATE
DH
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kirJECOCIIILIEL,
NGA
101 SCENARIO C
4. REPORTS CIRCLE
5. SCENARIO LETTER
6. SPACE FOR SCENARIO CARD
(411111LITAR'fOutICAL
DO
STATE
8
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