Designer Diary: Five Spheres: Designing the Strategic DNA of Agency
When we set out to design Agency, our upcoming digital card game set in a high-stakes world of espionage and global influence, we knew early on we wanted players to build decks not just based on mechanics, but worldviews. The covert world of spycraft is filled with competing philosophies, tactics, and tradecraft, each shaped by history, culture, and ideology. So, in order to meld this thematic element with something more mechanical, we had to get creative.
That’s where the spheres come in.
In Agency, spheres are the building blocks of your deck, and fuel every decision you make. Mechanically, they serve a role not unlike mana in Magic: The Gathering, Colors in Elder Scrolls: Legends, or aspects in Legends of Runeterra. But thematically, they’re something deeper: a statement about what your agency values, how your agents operate, and what you believe wins in the shadow wars of the near future.
That is because each of the five spheres in the game are named (and themed) for a key dimension of espionage strategy. And every card in the game is tied to one or more of these spheres. Further, every faction is based on a combination of two spheres, which drives their philosophical purpose. Therefore, when you build a deck in Agency, you’re not just choosing cards, you’re choosing an operating system based on the options provided by your spheres.
Why Spheres?
In most strategy card games, complexity comes from the rules, card effects, and synergies. Our goal was to minimize complexity for complexity’s sake, especially for new players. By organizing the world of Agency into five clearly defined spheres, we give players a structured lens through which to understand the game, both narratively and mechanically, but which also layers in depth and an immersive connection of theme and mechanics.
Each sphere carries a flavor, a logic, and a counter-logic. The presence of a sphere tells you what the deck does. Its absence tells you what it doesn’t do. That duality is central to how we designed the game’s asymmetric play.
The Five Spheres of Agency
Here’s a brief rundown of the five spheres (and corresponding color scheme) and what they represent (the language in italics is more the story side/thematic narrative function of these spheres):
Infrastructure (Color: Yellow) – Logistics and long-game resource control. Agents who specialize here are known for openly relying on their resource advantage. Absence implies self-reliance, improvisation or short-term gains.
Incursion (Color: Red) – Aggression, force, and confrontation. The blunt instrument of spycraft. Absence implies non-confrontation, diplomacy, or evasion.
Infiltration (Color: Purple) – Stealth, disguise, and sabotage. Specialists who move through shadows and rely on cover. Absence implies operations are in the open and direct.
Intelligence (Color: Blue) – Information gathering, surveillance, and analysis. Staying one step ahead. Absence implies improvisation or radical transparency.
Influence (Color: Green) – Political power, manipulation, and persuasion. Think soft power and shadow deals. Absence implies a more direct approach.
For obvious reasons, we sometimes refer to the spheres as “the Five I’s”. (A not so subtle wink to the real world spy organization with a similar name!)
Deckbuilding with Identity
From a game design perspective, spheres do more than organize cards, they provide natural deck-building guardrails. Each faction in Agency begins with two of the five spheres, and a third sphere is added by the “Captain” you choose to lead your “deck/mission team.” Cards can only be included in a deck if they match the spheres of its Captain.
This system prevents overpowered “best of everything” decks, encourages strategic tradeoffs, and ensures each faction plays differently. Want overwhelming force? Give up intelligence analysis. Want cunning and secrecy? Sacrifice raw muscle. This creates rich asymmetry and a high level of replayability.
We also use sphere adjacency as a subtle design layer. The five spheres are arranged in a circle (or color wheel), and adjacent spheres open up combo synergies or thematic overlap. Once you know the order (Infrastructure, Incursion, Infiltration, Intelligence, Influence) it starts to shape your instincts.
A Language of Espionage
Spheres help players think like spies, not just play like them. Once you learn what the spheres represent, you begin to spot patterns, anticipate your opponent’s tactics, and lean into your own strengths.
“This deck runs Infiltration and Intelligence, it’s about secrets and surveillance.”
Or: “I’m facing Incursion and Infrastructure. They’re building and bashing. I need to stay out of reach.”
Spheres are a shorthand for strategy and identity. And once you know them, you’ll start to see the whole game differently.
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. In future designer diaries, we’ll explore how each faction draws from its sphere combinations, how agents and assets embody those worldviews, and how asymmetric espionage strategy plays out across missions.
Until then, ask yourself this:
What kind of spy will you be?
Because in Agency, your philosophy is your most powerful weapon.