They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! is a tabletop roleplaying game wherein Players take on the roles of agents, inventors, assassins, and all manner of spies working on the side of freedom, justice, and queen and country (or the President, if you’re from that side of the Atlantic). It’s the Director’s role to introduce mystery, drama, and sizzling romance while your agents push the adventure and plot forward, culminating in a communal story of dynamic combat, malevolent masterminds, and heroic deaths! This book is an avenue to all the fun you know from movies such as From Russia With Love and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and TV series, such as The Avengers and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

While espionage is at the shadowed core of this game, surrounding it is the excitement of flashy casinos, the thrill of dizzying cocktails, the buzz of inventive gadgets, and of course forced dialogue, bad special effects, and silly plots. Don’t fret, agent: This game contains enough detail to be played with utter seriousness, and I’d expect you to take on villainous groups such as SMERSH and PHANTOM with all the grim determination of a spy looking to save the world, but gameplay and the indulgences of this genre are designed as much to engage and amuse, too.