Watergate

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Details

Sourced from: https://jmo.name/games

Player Aid Author: Jarrod Moore

Description

Hide or expose the greatest American political scandal in a tug of war for evidence.

  • Decide who will play as Nixon and who will play as the newspaper editor
  • Each player takes the card deck corresponding to their character:
    • Each deck contains 20 player cards + 1 momentum card
  • Place the game board such that your character's end of the research track is closest to you
  • Place your momentum card on your side of the board
  • Place the initiative card next to the research track with the initiative arrows pointed to the editor
  • Place 1 initiative token and 1 momentum token on the 0 space of the research track

The game is played over a series of rounds, where each round contains the following phases:

  • Initial Phase
  • Card Phase
  • Evaluation Phase

  • Pick up as many cards as the initiative card says to on the side facing you to form your hand for the round:
    • If you run out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw deck
  • Nixon then prepares the evidence tokens:
    • Draw 3 evidence tokens from the token bag and looks at them in secret
    • Place them on the 0 space of the research track face-down:
      • At any time, Nixon may look at the face-down research tokens but the editor may not

  • Starting with the player who has the initiative, each player plays a card:
    • When you play a card, you play it for one of two things:
      • The card's value
      • The card's action

If at any time a token reaches the 5 space on your side of the board, you instantly gain the benefit of that token:

  • Evidence token:
    • Place on the evidence board on a space matching the evidence token colour:
      • The editor places it face-up
      • Nixon places it face-down to black out the space
  • Momentum token:
    • Place it on your momentum card
    • Gain any benefits listed on the card
  • Initiative token:
    • You will gain the initiative next round

The card has a particular colour of evidence token and a number written on it You can choose to move one of the following things:

  • Initiative token:
    • Move it the number of spaces written on the card towards your side of the board
  • Momentum token:
    • Move it the number of spaces written on the card towards your side of the board
  • Evidence token:
    • You must move a token of the same colour as shown on the card
    • If the chosen token is face-up and matches a colour of evidence token on the card, move it the number of spaces given on the card
    • If the chosen token is face-down:
      • If Nixon wants to move a face-down evidence token:
        • Choose one evidence token of a matching colour
        • Flip it face up
        • Move it the number of spaces towards their side of the board as shown on the card
      • If the editor wants to move a face-down evidence token:
        • The editor asks Nixon if any of the evidence tokens on the track are of one chosen colour:
          • This chosen colour must be one of the colours on the evidence token shown on the card
          • If such a token does exist:
            • Nixon chooses one of the matching colour evidence tokens and flips it face-up
            • The token is then moved the number of spaces shown on the card towards the editor
          • If no such token exists:
            • You cannot move any evidence token this turn
            • You must move the initiative token or momentum token instead

After the move has been completed, discard the card into your personal discard pile

If you choose to play a card for its action, what you do with it depends on the type of card:

  • Events:
    • Follow instructions on the card
    • These cards usually require you to exile the card from the game completely, meaning they do not go into your discard pile but are removed from the game completely
  • Conspirators:
    • Only Nixon has these cards
    • Follow instructions on the card and then discard into your personal discard pile
  • Journalists:
    • Only the editor has these cards
    • Follow instructions on the card and then discard into your personal discard pile

Note: Some cards have requirements that must be met to be able to play them

When following instructions, you can ignore any that are not able to be carried out at that time

Once both players have run out of cards, move to the evaluation phase

  • Return any evidence tokens on the 0 space of the research track
  • Give the initiative token to the player whose side of the track the token finished the card phase on:
    • If it's on the 0 space, the player who did not have initiative last round will get it now
    • Turn the initiative card to point the arrows toward the player who has the initiative
  • Give the momentum token to the player whose side of the track the token finished the card phase on:
    • Place the token on your momentum card and receive any printed benefits
    • If it's on the 0 space, neither player receives it this round
  • Place the initiative token and 1 momentum token on the 0 space of the research track:
    • If you cannot place the momentum token on the research track because none are left in the supply, Nixon wins
  • Each player then gains all evidence tokens on their side of the research track:
    • The player who has the initiative places all of their research tokens on the board first
    • Then the other player places their evidence tokens

If no player has won, then a new round is started

  • The game ends in the following ways:
    • If Nixon gets 5 momentum tokens on their card, Nixon wins
    • If during the evaluation phase you cannot place a momentum token on the research track because none are left in the supply, Nixon wins
    • If the editor can connect two informants with picture tiles on the evidence board to Nixon in the middle, the editor wins

Thumbnail courtesy of BoardGameGeek and the respective publisher.