What qualifies as an Espionage/Spy game or setting?
Some games are easy to fit in. Top Secret (both of them), James Bond 007, SpyCraft (you can do other types of gaming with it), MSPE are "spy" games.
But what about Millennium's End, Conspiracy X (both versions), Men in Black (D6 game), Technothrillers (a True 20 setting), Agents of Oblivion (a setting for True 20 and Savage Worlds), and Weird Wars Two (a setting for d20 and Savage Worlds).
Millennium's End has long been covered on this site. But is working for the Black Eagle (Detective) Agency really "spying" ?
Technothrillers styles itself as "a True 20 espionage roleplaying toolkit". The characters are a team kind of like the old Mission Impossible TV series.
Conspiracy X is about the player's conspiracy stopping an US Government/Alien conspiracy or several different Alien conspiracies from taking over the world. The classic version also has supernatural elements and "magic" in the mix. Is this really a "spy" game? If not, what genre is it?
Men in Black was a rather tongue in cheek game about a secret government organization protecting the earth and friendly alien residents from hostile and/or illegal extraterrestrial aliens. Is this really a "spy" game? If not, what genre is it?
Agents of Oblivion is billed as a Spy/Horror setting. Is "horror" or the "supernatural" a valid part of the "spy" genre?
In Weird Wars Two the characters are an OSS/Military team fighting Hitler's horrors - created/summoned monsters, weird science and magic- during World War Two. Is "magic" a valid part of the "spy" genre? Are military "commandos" part of the "spy" genre?
La Femm Nikita (the TV series) was billed as a "spy" show. Was it really? Some episodes delt with classic spying, but many were para-military raids on an enemy base. Is having a para-military team shoot the place up "spying"?
Seal Team Seven (a series of books) is about the adventures of a fictional, active duty, US Navy Seal Team that works for the CIA. Because the team is active duty military many would say this was not "spying". If the team were civilians working for the CIA or MI6 or another government spy agency would this be "spying"?
What games or settings qualify as spy or espionage games and which do not?
