The Cold War is here. In the dark shadows, agencies gather information about financial institutions, political figures, military installations and top-secret technological advances. However, where an agency believes it has exclusive access to information, leaks within the network allow information to be spread around the world. Which agency will be able to gather sufficient information on their prominent targets and at what cost? Who built the best Shadow Network?

Shadow Network is a worker-placement style game where players deploy their agents around the world to collect snippets of information. These fragments are then promoted into a usable state that can be used against a prominent target and earning player influence - the in-game currency. As the players gather information from one city, information is also leaked to other cities, potentially helping other agencies. Additional agents can be deployed, but for a fee. Additionally, handlers can help exchange information, giving the agency an edge. At the end of four rounds of play, agencies will bribe their prominent targets for greater influence. Ultimately, the player with the most influence is the winner.