Watergate Solitaire System

by VPJ Arponen
v. January 30, 2020

Introduction. This solitaire system enables the human player to play as Nixon against the Editor
run by the system. Any Editor's decisions not determined by the priorities listed in the sections
below are made by the Nixon player (affording the solitaire player more options and “solo fun” in
the game).

Setup. Set up the solitaire game exactly as the base game except:

 Move the initiative token in the "1" space of the research track on the Editor's side. Do so at
the start of each new round of play.
 Designate an empty area somewhere near the Editor's draw deck as the Editor's Card Area.

Initial Phase. Deal the Editor a face-down mini deck of four or five cards from the Editor‘s deck
according to who has the initiative per the base game rules. Nixon draws three evidence tokens
from the bag as in the base game. If preferred, keep the evidence face-up and indicate the
revealed/hidden status by the vertical/portrait orientation of the tokens.

Card Phase. The sides take turns according to initiative as in the base game. During the respective
turns, obey the following additional solitaire play rules as detailed in the Editor's Turn and Nixon's
Turn sections below.

Editor's Turn. At the start of each of the Editor’s turn, reveal a card from the Editors mini deck.
Treat the card according to its type as detailed below, then place the card face-up in the portrait
orientation in the Editor's Card Area. The portrait orientation marks the card's action as unplayed.

 First, if the card's action could be used to recruit an informant, do so immediately. Do not
execute the rest of the action‘s text. Do not mark the card as played.
 Next, regardless of whether an informant was recruited above, execute the value part of the
drawn card as follows. If there is an evidence token of the color indicated on the drawn card
in play (hidden or revealed), move one matching evidence the indicated number of steps
towards the Editor's end of the research track. If there is no evidence matching the color on
the drawn card, move the momentum or initiative token instead. Within that, select the token
that is not yet on the Editor's side of the evidence track. The solitaire player makes any other
remaining decisions.
 See Special Card Play Rules below for instructions on particular cards.

Nixon's Turn. Nixon plays their turn normally with the following modifications.

 If Nixon plays a card for an action, the Nixon player must (either before or after their action;
Nixon player's choice) trigger the effects of one of the Editor's cards from among all cards in
portrait orientation in the Editor's Cards Area (of Nixon's choice). Reaction cards may not be
selected. The selected card’s action must then be executed in the Editor's favor (e.g. moving
evidence towards the Editor's end etc.). Then, turn the executed card to its landscape
orientation; it is now considered played.
 If the Editor's Card Area contains no unplayed cards or no cards at all, draw one random
card from among the cards not in the Editor's mini deck and execute its action.

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Special Card Play Rules. Certain Nixon and Editor cards are subject to special rules as follows.

 35 Ben Bradlee. If this card is drawn during play, Nixon must immediately discard a
conspirator card without effect (if Nixon has such a card in hand). If a collaborator was
discarded, mark Lee Bradlee as played. Then the Editor plays again (not Nixon).
 40 Mass Demonstration. Once this Reaction card enters the Editor's Card Area, it prevents
Nixon from playing any conspirator cards for their action.
 42 “Follow the Money!”. If this card is drawn during play, execute its value part normally,
then place it in the Editor’s Card Area. The Editor will execute the card’s action at the next
opportunity (i.e. when Nixon plays a card for its value part to move evidence, the Editor gets
the benefit). After this has happened, mark the card as played.
 Discarding Cards. Nixon cards that force the Editor to discard a card (e.g. 11 Chuck
Colson) instead allow Nixon to mark one card in the Editor's card Area as played without
triggering the effects of its action.
 Token Removal. When playing Editor‘s cards with actions that remove evidence from the
evidence board, prioritize the removal of tokens closest to recruited informants (face-up
informants). Within that, prioritize the removal of tokens adjacent to face-up evidence. Any
other decisions may be made by the Nixon player.

Evaluation Phase. Conduct the evaluation as in the base game with the following changes.

 Solitaire Action Segment. Begin the evaluation phase with executing a special, solitaire-
play-only action segment as follows. If the Editor's Card Area contains less than two played
cards, move either the initiative or momentum token one step towards the Editor's end, one
step for each unplayed card up to two. If and as applicable, during each step, prioritize
moving that token which is not yet on the Editor's side of the research track. Any other
decisions may be made by the Nixon player.
 Editor's Evidence Placement. If and as able, place evidence awarded to the Editor such
that it, first, connects Nixon with a recruited informant. Otherwise, place such as to connect
to an existing face-up token, or if not possible, to Nixon. Within that, place such as to form a
continuous connection outwards from Nixon towards an informant, prioritizing recruited
informants. Within all of the above, prioritize the shortest connections and spaces adjacent
to most different colored empty spaces. Any other decisions may be made by the Nixon
player.
 Cleanup. Clear the Editor's Card Area of all cards. Remove played cards from the game.

Game End and Victory. End the game and adjudicate victory as in the base game.

Variants. Use any of the following variants to increase the difficulty of the solitaire system.

 30 Deep Throat. If this card is drawn during play, immediately execute its value and then
also the action part. Then place the card in the Editor's Card Area. Do not mark it as played.
 More Momentum. In Setup and at the start of each round, place the momentum token at
“1” in the Editor‘s side of the board.

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