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Much has been written about Nixon and the Watergate scandal. From historical texts to award winning films, the incident has been poured over from every conceivable angle. It even entered our vocabulary as we began to use the suffix “-gate” to refer to every scandal under the sun. This is manifested in the evidence board, which has the sort of look you might expect to find in a conspiracy theorist’s basement. It’s perfect. The Editor always places picture tiles face up (as recruited informants), while Nixon places them face down.
Watergate (board game) - Wikipedia
In the two-player game Watergate, one player represents the Nixon administration and tries not to resign before the end of the game while the other player represents The Washington Post and tries to show the connections between Nixon and some of his informers. The #1 Reddit source for news, information, and discussion about modern board games and board game culture. Before I played it, I’d heard Watergate described as ‘Twilight Struggle Lite’. Twilight Struggle, if you don’t know, is one of the best two-player games ever made, which has a tug of war of power through playing cards. It’s also very deep and needs a lot of concentration. So when I heard that comparison, I was a little worried, as I’ve played Twilight Struggle, and it is brilliant, but it’s hard to learn and doesn’t easily win over new players.Starting with the player who has the initiative (the player that the arrows on the initiative card are pointing towards), the two of you take alternating turns until neither of you has any cards left in hand. Whenever you gain an evidence token (or are instructed by a card to pin one to the evidence board), place it onto any empty evidence space that is marked with a slip of that token's color (or - in the case of a two-colored token - one of its two colors).
Watergate Review | Board Game Quest Watergate Review | Board Game Quest
If you are the Editor, place it face up (to create connections). If you are Nixon, place it face down (to disrupt connections). Over the following two years, they discover that the five men were directed from within the White House to spy on political opponents. As a consequence, in 1974 President Richard Nixon resigns from office to avoid impeachment.I’m not a huge politics buff, but I have to say game designer Matthias Cramer did a fantastic job with Watergate. He took one of the most notorious political scandals and built a game around it that not only embraces its theme wholeheartedly but is an absolute blast to play. Cards can be used for their value to move markers and tokens. When you use the value part of your card to move an evidence token, it must be a token of the color shown on that card A or a two-colored evidence token that includes that color. As Nixon, to move a face-down evidence token with the color shown on your card, simply flip the token face up and move it accordingly. (Remember that you can always look at face-down evidence tokens). In WATERGATE, one player assumes the role of a Newspaper Editor, while the other embodies the Nixon Administration - each with a unique set of cards.
Watergate Review - Tabletop Gaming Watergate Review - Tabletop Gaming
If the Editor gains the momentum token but has no free space on the momentum card, remove that momentum token from the game! An informant is considered connected to Nixon if a thread coming from that informant's face-up picture tile runs all the way through face- up evidence tokens to Nixon's picture in the center (empty spaces and face-down evidence tokens disrupt connections). The need to keep one eye on the momentum disk and the other on evidence and which informants are in play is key to success, but at the same time, you can’t simply ignore initiative either, since whoever holds it has an extra card (and thus a whole extra turn) for as long as they hold it. Whilst spending enough effort to move evidence or one of the tokens off the board in your direction means securing that item is certain, it isn’t always the most efficient way to play. Instead, it can often be better to have an item just on your side of the board so that when the round ends (when all cards are used) you obtain it anyway – albeit in the most efficient possible way. The asymmetrical, easy to learn gameplay hit home with me right away and each subsequent play has been more enjoyable than the last. If you are looking for a card-driven, two-player game that fully embraces its theme, the grab a copy of Watergate from Capstone Games.Only the Editor has journalists. After the Editor uses the action part of a journalist card, it goes to the Editor's discard pile. a b c "The Watergate Board Game Is a Perfectly Timed Two-Player Treat". pastemagazine.com. 2019-11-21 . Retrieved 2022-03-23.
game about the most notorious of all A card-driven 2-player game about the most notorious of all
Another feature that I really like about Watergate is its ease of teaching, learning, remembering and playing. You can get this game setup and underway with a new player in about ten minutes, and they’ll know all the rules within about fifteen and the first game will be over in under an hour, no doubt about it. What this does tend to mean is that a player who gets into it and enjoys it will want to play again, and Watergate is definitely the kind of game that rewards multiple repeat plays between the same two players – swapping sides and trying different strategies. So, how do you win? The journalists win if they manage to create a chain of evidence between Nixon and two recruited informants, thus bringing disgrace on the President. Nixon wins if he manages to thwart the journalists’ efforts long enough to win 5 momentum tokens or run down the game supply of momentum tokens, signifying that Nixon was successful in whitewashing Watergate long enough for Nixon to complete his term in office and the public to become disinterested/come down on the President’s side – #FakeNews. ThoughtsIf there is no face- down evidence token with that color (and Nixon tells you so), you may instead move either the initiative token, the momentum token, or an already face-up evidence token with that color (or - in the case of a joker - any color). In June 1972, five men are arrested in Washington's Watergate Building. What looks like a third-rate burglary attempt on the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee induces journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post to start a thorough investigation.