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About Watergate
Watergate is a two-player card-driven game where one side plays the Nixon administration and the other plays the journalists trying to connect informants to the President. The two sides want completely different things and have completely different decks, and the whole game is a tug-of-war over a small set of tokens. It plays in about forty-five minutes and is unusually tense throughout.
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Is Watergate Right for You?
Best for
Watergate is for two players who want a short, sharp asymmetric fight with real historical texture. It is far lighter than Twilight Struggle while scratching a similar itch, and at forty-five minutes it fits an evening easily. Players who like the card-as-event-or-value tension will find it beautifully tuned.
Maybe skip it if…
It is strictly two players and unashamedly asymmetric, so the two sides need to be learned separately and the first game as Nixon feels very different from the first as the press. Anyone uninterested in the historical setting will find the theme opaque.
How to Play Watergate
Setup
Set the momentum track to the centre. Lay out the evidence tokens and the informant grid. Each side takes its own asymmetric deck.
On Your Turn
- Both players play a card, either for its printed event or for its value on the tug-of-war track.
- Resolve the track: whoever wins pulls tokens toward their side of the board.
- The Editor token and momentum markers shift, changing what is available next round.
How to Win
The journalists win by connecting two informants to Nixon. Nixon wins by reaching five momentum or exhausting the research deck.
💡 Strategy Tips
Playing a card for its value discards the event permanently. Deciding which of your own events to throw away is the real game.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Playing cards for value indiscriminately. Every card spent for its number removes its event from your deck for the rest of the game.
- As the journalists, chasing every informant. You only need two connected to Nixon, and spreading effort thin is the classic loss.
- As Nixon, ignoring momentum. It is a clock running in your favour and players who focus only on blocking evidence forget to actually win.
- Forgetting the Editor token. It shifts the tug-of-war before it resolves and decides more rounds than the card values do.
Advanced Strategy
- Learn your opponent's deck, not just your own. Both decks are fixed, so knowing what is still in theirs is concrete information.
- Hold your highest-value cards for the rounds where the token positions matter most, not the rounds that feel most dramatic.
- As the press, work out which single informant chain is most achievable and defend the tokens for it rather than grabbing broadly.
- As Nixon, spend events early while your deck is thick. Late-game Nixon runs out of options quickly if the deck has thinned.
Variants & House Rules
The alternate deck cards
The base box includes optional cards that can be swapped in to vary each side's deck. A cheap way to break memorised lines.
Watergate: The Cover-Up expansion
Adds new events and mechanisms for players who have both decks well learned.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Watergate is one of the best short asymmetric two-player games in print. It gets a genuine card-driven wargame feel into forty-five minutes without either side feeling like the underdog once you know the decks. If Twilight Struggle appeals but four hours does not, start here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Watergate balanced between the two sides?
Broadly yes, though the two sides play very differently and most players find one easier at first. Swapping sides between games is the norm.
Do I need to know the history?
No. The cards carry short historical notes and the game explains itself, though knowing the story adds a lot.
How does it compare to Twilight Struggle?
Much shorter and lighter, with the same card-as-event-or-value tension. It is the better weeknight option by a distance.