Watergate

The base game is competitive for two players. The Editor starts with initiative. Each round the initiative holder draws five cards and the opponent four; Nixon secretly draws three evidence tokens from the bag onto space 0 and alone may inspect their hidden faces.

Starting with the initiative holder, alternate playing one card for its value or its action, never both. A value moves one legal research-track token toward your side by its full amount; do not split movement or voluntarily shorten it. Movement beyond your space 5 is lost.

Evidence movement must match the card color; either color matches a two-color token. To seek hidden evidence the Editor first reveals the card and names the required color. If matching hidden evidence exists, Nixon chooses one such token, reveals it and moves it.

The publisher erratum locks a Joker to the named color for that resolution. If no hidden token matches, the alternatives are face-up evidence of that named color, initiative or momentum; you cannot name a different color or switch to the card action.

A token reaching your space 5 is claimed immediately and leaves the track. Pin evidence according to the board rules: the Editor connects face-up evidence, while Nixon normally blocks with face-down evidence. Either player may inspect face-down evidence already on the board.

Cards used for values are discarded. Event actions normally remove the card from the game, with Gambit cards handled as instructed; journalist and conspirator actions normally discard it. Reactions require their stated timing, and action instructions resolve in order as far as possible.

When both hands are empty, evaluate: return evidence at 0 to the bag, then award unclaimed initiative and momentum. Initiative at 0 goes to the player who did not hold it; momentum at 0 returns to the supply.

Next reset initiative and a new momentum marker to 0, then let the current initiative holder pin all remaining evidence on their side before the opponent does so. If no new momentum marker is available for this reset, Nixon wins immediately.

Claimed momentum fills the earliest empty space of your momentum card and resolves its effect. Pinning an evidence token bearing a red 1 symbol moves momentum one step toward you. If momentum has already been claimed and is absent from the track, that movement has no effect.

Nixon wins upon claiming a fifth momentum marker. The Editor wins with continuous face-up evidence paths from Nixon to two revealed informants, without gaps or face-down evidence. The two paths may share evidence tokens.