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Politics and democracy
Watergate
The scandal that brought down a president: a duel between the Nixon administration and the Washington Post
2Players
30–60 minDuration
~5 minSetup
Low-mediumComplexity
CompetitiveDynamic
A game for exactly two players about the scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation (1972–1974). An asymmetric duel: one player is the Nixon administration, trying to hold on until the end of the term by burying the evidence; the other is the Washington Post journalists, connecting evidence and informants to Nixon to expose the scandal.
A tug-of-war mechanic with separate, completely different decks, real historical characters and events. More than half of the rulebook is devoted to historical context.
Classroom value
- Excellent for illustrating the tension between the press and executive power and the role of investigative journalism (the Woodward & Bernstein case).
- The asymmetry of roles works on perspective: playing as Nixon forces you to understand the logic of the cover-up; as the press, that of democratic oversight.
- Short game + light rules → very feasible for a single seminar session with a follow-up debate.
- Highly scalable: with several copies, many pairs or teams play in parallel; a natural gateway to discussing accountability and constitutional crisis.
In the classroom
No. of players2
TeamsYes · 2 per team
People per gamemax. 4
Game MasterNo
Sessions1 session (short)
SpaceOne small table per pair
MaterialPhysical game
★Dice Tower Award · BGG Top 200Highly rated (2 players)
Technical details
DesignMatthias Cramer
PublisherFrosted Games / Capstone (2019)
LanguagesSpanish · English
Find out more
Official websitecapstone-games.com
How to playVideo (Watch It Played)
RulebookFiles (BGG)
BGG entryboardgamegeek.com