Agent Avenue Game Review

Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.

Spy vs. Spy

I’ll admit I hadn’t heard much about this game — I didn’t even know it existed. When Final Titan from Nerdlab Games showed up at my door, it came with a small box game featuring two cunning anthropomorphic animals on the cover. I glanced at it, gave a positively neutral shrug, and shelved it with the other small box games, not thinking twice. And there it sat, still in shrink, for a couple of months, like a sunken treasure hiding beneath the waves.

They say better late than never, and I really wish I’d played this sooner so I could have been preaching from the mountaintops about how great it is.

Agent Avenue is a 2-player bluffing and deduction game designed by Christian and Laura Kudahl, with 1950s-style animal suburbia art by Fanny Pastor-Berile. Like something out of Zootopia, this “I cut, you choose” game pits two rival animal spies against each other in a tense game of cat and mouse. It was a top nominee for a Golden Geek in the 2-player category and, more recently, a Spiel des Jahres 2025 nominee.

Spying on Your Neighbors

The game features a “simple” and an “advanced” side of the board, with the advanced version adding black market cards that shake up the game state. Players draft a hand of four agent cards. On a turn, the active player lays out two cards to be drafted: one face-up, one face-down. The non-active player chooses one to play into their tableau, and the active player takes the remaining card.

Players move their spy marker a number of spaces as indicated on the card. If that agent is already in their tableau, they use the secondary movement number instead, which is usually further.

The game ends in one of three ways:

1. One player lands on the same space as the other, revealing their secret identity.
2. A player collects three Codebreakers to win.
3. A player collects three Daredevils and loses.

The advanced side includes spaces that allow players to gain black market cards, which alter rules with new win or loss conditions, instant effects, ongoing powers, and other twists. There’s also a 2v2 team variant, where you keep card information hidden from your partner, adding a great layer of cooperative deduction.

Rock Down to Electric (Agent) Avenue

This game completely surprised me. The table presence isn’t anything special — no flashy components or oversized miniatures — but the gameplay? Absolute chef’s kiss.

The back-and-forth of baiting your opponent into making the wrong choice while you try to outwit their next move creates a fantastic deduction dance. Every decision feels like a mini mind game, and the tension ramps up as the gap between players shrinks. Even if deduction games aren’t your thing, the sudden wins, surprise losses, and tight finishes are addictive enough to make you immediately shuffle up and go again.

The best part? It’s fast. Like, really fast. Each game lasted between 5 and 15 minutes, which means it hits that perfect sweet spot for filler games that feel more substantial than they have any right to. It’s the kind of game that turns into a “best of three,” then five, then seven, and suddenly it’s an hour later and you’re still talking about how you totally had them on the ropes three games ago.

You spend the entire match puzzling out movement, trying to stay out of your opponent’s reach while simultaneously closing the distance to trap them. When your opponent is just one or two spaces behind you, the tension is real. One wrong move, one misread draft, and you’re exposed — caught red-pawed. Calculative mind games start running: do they know what I’m trying to do? Or do they think I’m trying to look like I’m doing something else?

You’re also constantly watching their tableau. You don’t want to give them the one card that hands them the win, but you also don’t want to play too cautiously and miss your shot. Or maybe you’re trying to set them up, tricking them into unknowingly grabbing a third Daredevil card and losing the game. One game I got bold, tried to bait a Daredevil draft, and ended up skunking myself instead. Classic.

The black market cards are a whole different flavor of fun. They introduce asymmetric abilities, new win or loss conditions, and game-altering effects that crank the replayability even higher. Having to work around ongoing powers or conditions adds a deeper tactical layer, forcing you to adapt on the fly and think a couple of turns ahead. Sometimes you just don’t have the right cards to make the perfect play — and while you can discard and redraw, you’re limited to just four discards for the entire game. Those four are precious, and choosing when to use them is a delicious little agony. Mismanage them, and you might as well hang up your trench coat and retire from the agency.

The charming animal art gives it a welcoming, whimsical flair, but thematically, this game could wear just about any skin. Still, the stylized 1950s animal suburbia aesthetic adds to the charm and gives the bluffing just a bit of extra sweetness.

The 2v2 mode? That’s an entirely different game. Much like The Crew, teammates can’t talk about what they’re holding. You’re left to interpret your partner’s moves, hoping they’re on the same wavelength — or at least in the same neighborhood. When it works, it’s magical. When it doesn’t, it’s hilarious. Either way, it’s an engaging twist that makes the game feel fresh all over again.

Honestly, it’s tough to find many faults here. If I had to nitpick, I’d say the box is a little too big for what’s inside, which makes it just barely miss the mark for being a fully portable “throw in your bag” game. Maybe that’s intentional, a bit of future-proofing for expansions — and if so, sign me up. I’d love to see even more content for this already-excellent game.

Agent Avenue is easily one of the most unexpected hits I’ve come across this year. I only wish I hadn’t let it collect dust on my shelf, because now I’m making up for lost time… one spy mission at a time.