I Spy An Open Beta For Spy Party

Like most people, I remember the day I first started lusting after Spy Party. It was long before the lengthy, fairly exclusive closed beta, new look, and (I'm pretty sure) my own birth, but I'll never forget it. But now - finally, mercifully, joyously - anybody can play. Me, you, an especially deceptive Toucan - whoever. All you need is $15 and the steely resolve of an unreadable machine who's never even contemplated death, let alone feared it.

Just go here, chip in $15 via PayPal, and that's it: you're in the multiplayer pretend-to-be-an-NPC-or-die espionage-er's open beta. You can play Spy Party. You are complete. Here's what unfalteringly dedicated creator Chris Hecker had to say about it:

"I will eventually write something really awesome about all the cool stuff I have planned for the game this year like more maps and missions, spectation and replays, and more, and how friendly and helpful the community is for new players, and even the plan for getting the new artwork in, but right now, I’m about to collapse from exhaustion, so you get this slightly lame paragraph of meta instead."

Those things do sound very neat, though! The ability to spectate will be especially nice, given that Spy Party can be absolutely brutal to those who don't know its ruthlessly specific dimples and curves. For now, though, it's absolutely worth trying out, as it's one of the more uniquely dastardly, brilliantly sophisticated multiplayer experiences to come along in the past few years. So go! Do it now! Run, don't walk!

You're easier to spot that way.