Over the ocean
Of course, knowledge of history is not required to have fun – the manual briefly explains it. Although people interested in the history of the seventies will undoubtedly have the best fun. The background of this famous scandal is the actions of the state administration aimed at discrediting political opponents. Watergate is a two-person competitive game in which one side runs President Nixon’s administration and the other runs the newspaper (in fact revealing the politician’s wrongdoing).
The power of simplicity
The box with the game is quite small. Inside there is a board, two decks of cards, a well-written instruction, and evidence tokens (with a bag for them) and markers. The workmanship is simple but careful. The severity of the tokens combined with the fantastically designed board (the spider’s web leading through the evidence from Nixon to people involved in the whole scandal) gives the game the right atmosphere. The cards are big and pretty and contain real photos. The performance is really good. The game overflows with a story known perfectly from history, for which it is a huge plus. I’ve always been a fan of (mostly) Ancient Era, but the gameplay prompted me to read more about the Watergate Affair. Ba! I even found a person with the same name as mine, a bit involved in the whole thing. A certain Leon Jaworski, co-founder of one of the largest law firms in the United States. Such a little flavor.
Twist, twist the spider
And how is it “eaten”? By playing cards and moving markers. The duel consists of rounds on which players take turns alternately. The main role here is played by influence tracks and a board with informants. Both sides can use cards in two ways: by moving markers (influence, initiative, and evidence) or by using a special ability, which, however, often removes them from the rest of the game. It consists, in a way, of pulling the rope and moving the elements towards you in such a way as to enable or prevent the connection of the president with one of the informants. When everyone has played their cards, the round ends and follows:
– placing evidence markers discovered (Publisher) or hidden (Nixon) on the board,
– checking the condition – if the publisher manages to combine the president with two portraits, he wins,
– assigning an influence token for a round of one of the sides (if N. collects five of them, wins, W. receives bonuses for the third, fourth and fifth),
– definition of initiative (the player with initiative has five cards, the other four).
The rules are very simple and most of the possibilities are mentioned on well-written cards, which are further described in the manual.
Is it worth it?
I like the gameplay itself – a large number of possibilities, planning a few moves ahead and at the same time a very simple core of the game itself. Since it is a two-man, scalability is out of the question, but replayability is high, and setup is quick and simple. The only thing I can complain about at this point is the issue of balance, because I think that the publisher is still more difficult to play, which, however, would have an impact on historical realities. It is possible, however, that after a long association with the title, I will change my mind.
