Decoy
A FAIR DECOY
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Decoy the raccoon has one talent: sitting very still and looking extremely important.
Before the game, Decoy helped Red plan its army. "Here's what everyone looks for," Decoy explained. "A piece in the back row that never moves, with brambles next to it. That's what a Moonstone looks like."
"So we hide our Moonstone somewhere else," said Draftsy.
"Yes," said Decoy, grinning. "And over here, in the other corner, we build something that looks exactly like a Moonstone and isn't one."
They put a 4 in the back corner and two brambles beside it. The real Moonstone went somewhere far more ordinary, behind a 6 on the side, with nothing special around it.
The game began. Decoy's piece never moved. The two brambles never moved. To anyone watching, that corner shouted: treasure here!
Blue took the bait. They sent a 3, a bramble-clearer, all the way across the board. It cleared one bramble. Then a 5 came to strike the guarded piece.
Bump. The 5 met a 4 and won, but it had found nothing. Just a 4 sitting still.
On the other side of the board, Red had used all those turns to push forward. By the time Blue realised the corner was empty, Red's 3 was already clearing Blue's real brambles.
Decoy felt a quiet glow, and also a small question. Was that sneaky? he wondered.
Quillby, who keeps the Belief Ledger, answered him. "Both players know decoys are part of this game. Blue built one too, last match. Nobody broke a rule, and nobody pretended about something outside the game. A decoy is a puzzle you set for someone who agreed to solve puzzles."
Decoy nodded. That felt right.
That's Decoy's rule. A piece that never moves and is well guarded looks like the treasure. That's a guess, not a fact. A good player sets a fair decoy, and a good player treats every still, guarded piece as a question, not an answer.
Hear it as an audio drama
A short play starring Decoy, from BluffForge. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.
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Read the drama script
- Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and BluffForge — this is Decoy, in chapter 1 of the BluffForge cast.
- Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
- Narrator: This is the story of a 4. Not strong, not weak. And very, very good at sitting still.
- Four: My job tonight was to do absolutely nothing. For the whole game.
- Decoy: Everyone looks for a piece in the back row that never moves, with brambles beside it. That looks like the Moonstone.
- Decoy: So we build one that looks exactly like that, and isn't.
- Four: They put me in the back corner, with two brambles next to me. The real Moonstone was somewhere boring, behind a 6.
- Narrator: The game began. The four never moved. To anyone watching, that corner shouted: treasure here!
- Four: Blue sent a badger all the way across the board to clear a bramble. Then a 5 came for me.
- Narrator: The 5 met the 4 and won. But it found nothing worth finding.
- Four: I went home. But Blue had spent turn after turn on an empty corner.
- Narrator: Meanwhile, Red had pushed forward on the other side.
- Decoy: Was that sneaky?
- Quillby: Both players know decoys are part of this game. Blue built one last match. Nobody broke a rule.
- Quillby: A still, guarded piece is evidence, not proof. It's a question, not an answer.
- Four: Sitting still is a job too. Mine bought Red half a game.
- Narrator: Set fair decoys, and treat still pieces as questions. That's the four's story.
- Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
- Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
- Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
- Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.
The BluffForge ensemble
Decoy is one of the friends in BluffForge. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.
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Pricetag
Spends a small piece on purpose to learn what a big one is - information has a price
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Bluster
Walks a small piece as if it were big - a bluff both players agreed is part of the game
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Matchley
Knows equal numbers both go home
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Fairwell
Stops endless chasing - three trips back and forth between two squares, then no more
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Quillby
Keeps the Belief Ledger honest - a guess only sticks with a reason you actually saw
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Draftsy
Runs the Blueprint studio - varies every setup so no habit can be learned
