Overview

Watergate is an asymmetric 2-player card-driven game set during the 1972–1974 Watergate scandal. One player takes the role of the Newspaper Editor (representing journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post), while the other plays the Nixon Administration.

Victory Conditions (checked continuously throughout the game):

• Nixon wins as soon as Nixon has placed a total of 5 momentum tokens onto their momentum card, OR if no momentum token remains in the supply to be placed on the research track at the start of a new round.
• Editor wins as soon as at least 2 informants (face-up picture tiles) on the evidence board are connected via a continuous chain of face-up evidence tokens to Nixon’s picture in the center. Empty spaces and face-down evidence tokens break connections.

The game is a race: Nixon tries to survive his full term by accumulating momentum, while the Editor gathers and connects evidence before time runs out.

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Components

Component	Quantity
Game board (with research track and evidence board)	1
Player cards – Editor	20
Momentum card – Editor	1
Player cards – Nixon Administration	20
Momentum card – Nixon Administration	1
Initiative card	1
End of round overview card	1
Evidence tokens (blue, yellow, green, and two-colored)	36 (30 in bag at start)
Picture tiles (potential informants)	7
Momentum tokens	9 (1 starts on board, 8 in supply)
Initiative token	1
Bag (for evidence tokens)	1

Evidence token colors:

• Blue – represents checks for Nixon’s re-election campaign
• Yellow – represents ground-plans of the Watergate complex
• Green – represents transcripts of the Nixon White House tapes
• Two-colored tokens – can serve as either of their two colors

The 7 Informants (picture tiles): Alexander Butterfield, Hugh Sloan, Martha Mitchell, Rose Mary Woods, John Dean, Alfred Baldwin, James McCord, and Deep Throat (Mark Felt).

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Setup

1. Place the game board between both players so the Editor sees it right-side up and Nixon sees it upside down.
2. Each player takes their 21 cards (20 player cards + 1 momentum card).
3. Place each player’s momentum card face up next to the research track on their side of the board.
4. Shuffle your 20 player cards and place them face down as your personal draw deck in front of you.
5. Place the initiative card face up beside the 0 space of the research track, between the two momentum cards, with arrows pointing toward the Editor (Editor has initiative first).
6. Place the End of round overview card next to the initiative card.
7. Place the initiative token and 1 momentum token on the 0 space of the research track.
8. Form a supply of the remaining 8 momentum tokens beside the board.
9. Create a supply of the 7 picture tiles — this is called the “potential informant supply”.
10. Put all 30 evidence tokens in the bag and place the bag nearby. (6 tokens are reserved for later rounds.)
11. Nixon only: Draw 3 evidence tokens from the bag secretly. Look at them, then place them face down onto the 0 space of the research track. Nixon may look at face-down evidence tokens on the research track at any time; the Editor may not.

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Turn Structure

Each round consists of 3 phases:

A) Initial Phase

Carry out both steps:

1. Draw cards: Both players look at the side of the initiative card pointing toward them and draw that many cards from their personal draw deck (4 or 5 cards). If your draw deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck.
2. Place new evidence tokens: Nixon draws 3 evidence tokens from the bag secretly and places them face down onto the 0 space of the research track.

B) Card Phase

Starting with the player who has the initiative (indicated by the arrows on the initiative card), players alternate turns until neither player has any cards left in hand.

On your turn: You must play exactly ONE card from your hand and use either its value part OR its action part (not both).

After using a card’s value part, discard it face up to your personal discard pile.

After using a card’s action part:

• Events are removed from the game (placed in the box) after use — except “Gambit” which has an alternative (see Special Rules).
• Conspirators (Nixon only) go to Nixon’s discard pile.
• Journalists (Editor only) go to the Editor’s discard pile.

Important: When following a card’s instructions, you must fully carry out all instructions that are possible. Instructions that cannot be carried out (e.g., a token that should be moved is not present) can be ignored.

C) Evaluation Phase

Once neither player has cards in hand, carry out these 5 steps in order:

1. Return neutral evidence tokens to the bag: Any evidence tokens on the 0 space of the research track (face up or face down) are returned to the bag.
2. Award this round’s initiative token: Give the initiative token to the player whose side of the research track it is on. If it is on the 0 space, it goes to the player who did not have the initiative this round. (Skip if it was gained earlier this round.)
3. Award this round’s momentum token: Give the momentum token to the player whose side of the research track it is on. If it is on the 0 space, neither player gains it — return it to the supply. (Skip if it was gained earlier this round.)
4. Place initiative token and new momentum token on the 0 space: Take the initiative token from the initiative card and place it on the 0 space. Then take 1 momentum token from the supply and place it on the 0 space. If no momentum token remains in the supply, Nixon wins immediately.
5. Award this round’s evidence tokens: The player with the initiative pins all evidence tokens from their side of the research track to the evidence board, then the other player does the same for tokens on their side (see “Pinning Evidence Tokens” below).

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Actions

Value Part

Move 1 token on the research track as many spaces toward your side as the value shown (1–4). You may choose:

• The initiative token
• The momentum token
• An evidence token

Choosing which evidence token to move:

• You may move any evidence token, face up or face down (unless the card instruction clearly states otherwise).
• The token must match the color shown on your card, or be a two-colored token that includes that color.
• If the card shows a joker (all 3 colors), you may move any evidence token.

Moving a face-down evidence token:

• As Nixon: Simply flip the token face up and move it accordingly. (Nixon can always look at face-down tokens.)
• As the Editor: Ask Nixon if there is a face-down token with the color on your card (or name a color if using a joker). If one exists, Nixon must flip it face up and move it toward the Editor’s side. If multiple such tokens exist, Nixon chooses which one to flip and move. If no matching face-down token exists (Nixon tells you so), you may instead move the initiative token, the momentum token, or an already face-up evidence token of the matching color.

Moving a token to space 5 (gaining a token mid-round): Whenever you move a token to space 5 on your side during the card phase, any extra steps are forfeited and you gain that token immediately. Once a token has been gained, it is removed from the research track and cannot be moved again.

• Gaining the initiative token: Take it from the research track, place it on the initiative card, and turn the card so its arrows point toward you (you now have the initiative).
• Gaining the momentum token: Take it from the research track and place it on your momentum card on the lowest-numbered empty space. If there is instruction text next to that space, carry it out immediately. Special rule for Editor: If the Editor gains the momentum token but has no free space on their momentum card, remove that momentum token from the game.

Action Part — Card Types

Events: Most cards feature an event. After use, the card is removed from the game (placed in the box). Some events have requirements that must be met to use them. Some events are reaction cards that can only be played in direct response to a specific action by your opponent (see Card Overview below).

Conspirators (Nixon only): After using the action part, the card goes to Nixon’s discard pile (not removed from game).

Journalists (Editor only): After using the action part, the card goes to the Editor’s discard pile (not removed from game).

Common Card Instructions

• “Pin a picture to the evidence board”: Take the named person’s picture tile from the potential informant supply and place it on that person’s informant space. The Editor places picture tiles face up (recruited informants). Nixon places them face down (blocked informants).
• “Move [token] X steps”: Move that token on the research track X spaces toward your side.
• “Move [token] to space X”: Move the token directly to that space on the research track.
• “Pin an evidence token to the evidence board”: Follow the rules in “Pinning Evidence Tokens” below.
• When instructed to move evidence tokens, you may choose from all tokens on the research track, whether face up or face down (unless the instruction clearly states otherwise). Moving a face-down token always flips it face up.

Pinning Evidence Tokens to the Evidence Board

Whenever you gain an evidence token (from the research track reaching space 5, or via a card instruction):

1. Place it on any empty evidence space marked with a slip of the token’s color (or one of its colors, for two-colored tokens).
2. If you are the Editor, place it face up (creates connections between informants and Nixon).
3. If you are Nixon, place it face down (blocks connections).

Special symbol: If the evidence token shows the “momentum” symbol, also move the momentum token on the research track 1 space toward your side.

At any time:

• Both players may look at face-down evidence tokens already on the evidence board.
• Both players may look at the cards of either discard pile and any cards already removed from the game (but never the face-down draw decks).

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Scoring / Victory Conditions

There is no point scoring. The game ends immediately when either victory condition is met (checked throughout the game, not only at round end):

Nixon Wins

• Nixon places his 5th momentum token on his momentum card, OR
• During step 4 of the evaluation phase, no momentum token remains in the supply to place on the research track.

Editor Wins

• At least 2 informants on the evidence board are simultaneously connected to Nixon’s central picture via a continuous chain of face-up evidence tokens. An informant is connected when a thread from a face-up picture tile runs through face-up evidence tokens all the way to Nixon’s picture. Empty evidence spaces and face-down evidence tokens break connections.

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Special Rules & Edge Cases

Reaction Cards

Certain cards are reaction cards that can only be played as a direct response to a specific action. They are played immediately when the triggering condition occurs.

Ben Bradlee (Editor — Journalist reaction):

• Can only be used when Nixon plays a Conspirator card and uses its action part.
• Play immediately to cancel that Conspirator’s action entirely. Nixon must also remove that Conspirator card from the game.
• May be played as a re-reaction to Conspirator John Mitchell (to perform the event that Mitchell blocked).

John Mitchell (Nixon — Conspirator reaction):

• Can only be used when the Editor uses the action part of an Event card.
• Play immediately to cancel that action entirely. The Editor must discard their card unused to their discard pile.
• May be played as a re-reaction to the Event “Mass demonstration” (to perform the action blocked by “Mass demonstration”).
• Cannot be played as a re-reaction to Journalist Ben Bradlee.

Mass demonstration (Editor — Event reaction):

• Can only be used when Nixon plays a Conspirator card and uses its action part.
• Play immediately to cancel that Conspirator’s action entirely. Nixon must also remove that Conspirator card from the game.
• May be played as a re-reaction to Conspirator John Mitchell.

“Follow the money!” (Editor — Event reaction):

• Can only be used as a direct response when Nixon uses the value part of a card to move an evidence token.
• As soon as Nixon moves that evidence token, play “Follow the money!” to cancel the movement.
• Then move that same evidence token from its original position (before Nixon’s move) as many spaces toward the Editor’s side as Nixon’s card value stated.
• Nixon must discard their card to their discard pile unused.

“Gambit” Card (Nixon)

When played for its action part, “Gambit” has an alternative to being removed from the game: If Nixon simultaneously holds a Conspirator card in hand, Nixon may remove that Conspirator from the game to discard “Gambit” to their discard pile instead of removing it. Note that doing so means Nixon has one fewer card to play that round.

“A Brilliant Mood” Card (Nixon)

• Cannot be used on Nixon’s first turn of a round.
• Once played and its action part used (on second or later turn), for the rest of that round, the Editor may only play their Event cards for their value part (not their action part). Journalists may still be played for their action part.

“The System Works” Card (Editor)

When played for its action part, look through all of your own cards that have been removed from the game. Choose one and use that card’s action part now as if you had played it normally (it cannot be a reaction card). Afterwards, remove that card from the game again along with “The System Works.”

Howard Hunt (Nixon — Conspirator)

When using the action part of this card, move the momentum token first. If the momentum token was already claimed earlier this round, draw and play the top card from your draw deck anyway.

Face-Down Evidence Token Visibility

• Nixon may look at face-down evidence tokens on the research track at any time.
• The Editor may not look at face-down evidence tokens on the research track.
• Both players may look at face-down evidence tokens that are already on the evidence board.

Initiative on the 0 Space

If the initiative token is on the 0 space at evaluation, it goes to the player who did not have the initiative this round (it switches).

Momentum Token on the 0 Space

If the momentum token is on the 0 space at evaluation, it is not gained by either player — it is returned to the supply.

Editor’s Full Momentum Card

If the Editor gains the momentum token but has no free space on their momentum card (all spaces filled), that momentum token is removed from the game (not placed on the card, not returned to supply). This accelerates Nixon’s potential to win via supply exhaustion.

Card Discard vs. Remove from Game

• Events used for their action part: removed from the game (except “Gambit” under its special condition).
• Conspirators (Nixon): go to discard pile after use.
• Journalists (Editor): go to discard pile after use.
• Any card used for its value part: goes to discard pile.
• Discarded cards are reshuffled into the draw deck when the draw deck runs out.

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Player Reference

Turn Summary

Your turn: Play 1 card — choose VALUE or ACTION (not both).

Choice	Effect
Value part	Move 1 token up to X spaces toward your side; discard card to discard pile
Action part	Follow printed instructions; Event → remove from game; Conspirator/Journalist → discard pile

Token Movement Rules

Token	Special rules
Initiative token	Reaching space 5: gain it, turn initiative card toward you
Momentum token	Reaching space 5: gain it, place on lowest empty space of your momentum card; Editor gaining when card full → remove from game
Evidence token	Must match card color (or joker = any); face-down rules differ by role

Evaluation Phase Order

1. Return evidence on space 0 to bag
2. Award initiative token (space 0 → player who didn’t have initiative)
3. Award momentum token (space 0 → no one, returned to supply)
4. Place initiative token + new momentum token on space 0 (if supply empty → Nixon wins)
5. Pin evidence tokens to evidence board (initiative player first)

Victory at a Glance

Role	Victory condition
Nixon	5 momentum tokens on momentum card, OR momentum supply exhausted
Editor	2+ informants connected to Nixon’s picture via face-up evidence token chains

Card Type Summary

Type	Owner	After action use
Event	Both	Removed from game (except Gambit special case)
Conspirator	Nixon	Discard pile
Journalist	Editor	Discard pile

Drawing Cards

• Draw 4 or 5 cards each round (based on initiative card, shown by arrow pointing toward you).
• If draw deck is empty: shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck.