Gameplay

Resolve the card-driven tug of war, then award track tokens in the required order.

The board

The research track runs from zero to five spaces on each player’s side. Initiative, one momentum token and the evidence Nixon placed this round begin at zero. Only the Editor sees the evidence board upright; Nixon sits across it. The board’s red threads define possible routes between seven informants and the Nixon tile.

Card types

Each role has a 20-card personal deck and a momentum card. The Editor’s deck contains journalists and events; Nixon’s contains conspirators and events. A card has a value from 1 to 4 (with an evidence color) and an action. Choose one part when playing it.

Events are usually removed after their action is used. The Gambit event has an exception described on its card. Journalists and conspirators go to their owner’s discard pile after their action. Cards played for value are discarded. Reaction cards can only be used in the stated response window.

Round sequence

Initial phase

Both players draw the number on their side of the initiative card. If the draw deck is empty, shuffle that player’s discard pile to make a new deck. Nixon secretly draws three evidence tokens and places them face down at zero. Nixon may inspect hidden tokens on the track; the Editor may not.

Card phase

The player with initiative takes the first turn. On a turn, play one card and choose either its value or action. Continue alternating until neither player has cards.

For a value, move one eligible token by the printed number of spaces toward your side. You may choose initiative or momentum, or evidence matching the card’s color. A two-color token matches either color; for a Joker, name one color. If the Editor names a color for a Joker but Nixon has no face-down evidence of that color, the publisher’s erratum limits the fallback to a face-up evidence token of the named color, initiative, or momentum; the printed English/German wording instead says any face-up color. Movement cannot be split between multiple tokens.

To move hidden evidence as Nixon, reveal a matching token and move it. As Editor, ask Nixon whether a hidden token matches the named color. If one does, Nixon must reveal and move one matching token (Nixon chooses among several). If none does, the Editor may instead move initiative, momentum or an eligible revealed evidence token.

When a token reaches space five on your side, claim it immediately and resolve its reward. Remaining movement is lost. If the token is evidence, it leaves the track and is pinned to the evidence board. A red momentum symbol moves the momentum marker one step toward the player claiming or pinning that evidence; the bonus does not trigger just for flipping a face-down token and is lost if the momentum marker is no longer on the track.

When using an action, do as much of its instruction as possible. Ignore only impossible parts. A reaction card must be played directly after the named trigger and may open a re-reaction if the card says so.

Evaluation phase

Resolve these steps in order:

1. Return every evidence token still on zero to the bag.
2. Award initiative to the side where its token rests. If it is on zero, the player who did not hold initiative this round takes it. Turn the initiative card so its arrows point to the new holder.
3. Award the current momentum token to the side it occupies. If it is on zero, return it to supply. If the Editor receives it with no open space, remove it from the game; if Nixon receives it, place it on the lowest open numbered space and resolve its reward.
4. Put initiative back on zero and move one momentum token from supply to zero. If supply is empty, Nixon wins now.
5. The initiative holder pins all evidence on their side, then the other player pins theirs. Put each token on an empty matching-color evidence space. The Editor places tokens face up; Nixon places them face down. A token with the red marker also moves the track momentum token one space toward its owner.

If no one has won, begin another round.

Initiative and momentum

At zero in the initiative award, momentum-tile award and evidence award, follow the exact exceptions described in the relevant step above. Taking initiative changes the next hand size and first player. Claiming a momentum token at space five happens immediately, before evaluation. The token at zero at the start of the next round is always newly supplied.

Evidence and informants

The Editor places evidence face up to create links. Nixon places it face down to interrupt links. Either player may inspect face-down tokens already on the evidence board at any time. To recruit or block an informant, take that person’s tile from the shared supply and put it on their matching evidence-board space: Editor face up, Nixon face down. A face-up informant counts toward the Editor’s win only while a continuous route of face-up evidence connects it to Nixon.

Card and reaction timing

Resolve the card text fully when possible. If a card requires a condition, it cannot be used when the condition is false. When a reaction cancels an action, discard or remove the triggering card as the reaction specifies. A reaction to a reaction is legal only when the named card permits it.

Winning

Nixon wins immediately when their momentum card receives its fifth token. Nixon also wins if the supply is empty at evaluation step 4. The Editor wins immediately when two face-up informants have uninterrupted face-up evidence paths to Nixon. Check after every card effect and every token placement that can complete a condition.