When I am a spy in “The Resistance,” one of the most difficult tasks is finding the Blind Spy. Not knowing if she is secretly on a mission scares me. The group I play with has a guideline that the Blind Spy should play a fail card whenever they’re on a mission. The logic for this is that she cannot collaborate with teammates, so her best contribution is failing missions.
But this forces her teammates to play around her.
As an example, imagine it is a ten-player game and you’re a spy. You’re selected for a mission. From the Revelation phase, you know some teammates. But they’re not on the mission, so it is only players you know nothing about. They could all be rebels or include the Blind Spy.
What is the probability that she is on the proposed mission?
| Players | Mission size (including you) | Probability of having the Blind Spy |
| 10 or 9 | 5 | 57% |
| 10 or 9 | 4 | 43% |
| 10 or 9 | 3 | 29% |
| 8 | 5 | 67% |
| 8 | 4 | 50% |
| 8 | 3 | 33% |
| 7 | 4 | 60% |
| 7 | 3 | 40% |
| 7 | 2 | 20% |
In most cases, you have at least a one-in-three probability, and it increases as the mission size increases.
So when you find yourself in this situation, what should you do?
You can vote for the mission to fail or succeed. A fail vote risks revealing two spies, but will earn your team a point. A success vote can give the other team an early lead, or earn your team a point because the Blind Spy was on the mission and failed it.
To fail, or not to fail, that is the question. The answer depends on the context. In my opinion, for the first mission, you probably shouldn’t risk it and make it more difficult for the spies. But if the rebels are about to win, then you know you gotta. Otherwise, for the rest, I’ve leave you with this advice piece of advice for now, “Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”
What to Look for
The faster we can find the Blind Spy, the easier it will be to fail missions.
Contradictions
Differences between words and actions. I witnessed a player make a “protest” team. He said that he didn’t like this team and it was bad, but he proposed it anyways to make a point. When he silently approved the team.