Pulitzer
Pulitzer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Game Setup
- How to Play
- The Rounds
- The Kiosk
- The Report (Archive and Buses)
- Overtime
- The Newspaper
- Maintenance Between Rounds
- Event Cards
- End of the Game and Scoring
- Mode for 2 Players and Solo — Pulitzer: The Pentagon Papers
- Summary of the Game (3 to 5 Players)
- Summary — Mode for 2 Players and Solo
Components
- Investigation boards x5
- Stands for Investigation boards x5 (3 pieces each)
- Game board x1 (2 sides: 1 and 2 players / 3 to 5 players)
- Pins x75
- Statement / Destroyed Evidence tokens x30
- Strings x5
- Money tokens: 500$ Checks x25, 100$ Bills x40
- Contact tokens x25
- Journalists x30 (in 5 colors)
- Newspaper, Blockage, Kiosk and Events tokens x33
- Pulitzer Coins (+100 on the reverse side) x5 (in 5 colors)
- Requests x15 (in 5 colors)
- Reach Houses x32 (in 4 colors)
- Press Pass x1
- Report cards x10
- News cards x9
- Evidence cards x25
- Investigation Line cards x18
- Overtime cards x12
- Event cards x14
Components for 2-Player and Solo Mode
- Turn and Public Opinion tokens x2
- Times' cards x15
- Dice x2
- Agents x10 (in 2 colors)
Game Setup
Place the game board in the center of the table with the side for 3 to 5 players facing up.
Next, shuffle the News cards and place them, with the orange side facing up, to form a deck in the designated area of the Kiosk (1). Flip one card over and place it in the adjacent space. The orange side will indicate the money you will earn by publishing News. The gray side will indicate where to place the two Block tokens in the Newspaper. Place the two Block tokens in the sections of the Newspaper (2) indicated by the card. These sections are completely blocked for this round and cannot be used by anyone. Stay alert to stay ahead of your rivals.
Place the two "+2" tokens in the Kiosk (3) and the tokens from the different sections of the Newspaper (4) in their designated spots.
Separate and place the 8 houses of each color in their respective area of the Kiosk (5). These represent the Reach of your newspapers. Leave the yellow houses in the box if you are playing with only 3 players, as they will not be needed in the game.
Decide if you will play with the Events deck. If so, shuffle it and place it in the designated area (6). Do not reveal any cards till the second round of play.
Shuffle the Overtime deck and place it face down in its designated spot (7). Next, reveal 3 cards and place each one in one of the available spaces on the billboard (8). Leave the space with the phone empty.
Shuffle the Evidence and Investigation Lines decks and place each one face down in its designated spot (9).
Arrange the remaining components around the board (Money, Contacts, Statements, Pins) so that they are accessible to all players.
Each player takes an Investigation Board, a stand, a pin, a string, five 100$ bills, the 6 Journalists and the 4 round tokens of their chosen color. Then, place the round token representing the Pulitzer Coin on the 0 Points space (10), with the +100 facing down, and your Journalist with value X on the first space of Human Resources on the Newspaper (11). Finally, each player must place their pin on the central photograph "?" (12) of their Investigation Board and tie the string to it.
Shuffle the Report cards and deal one to each player. These cards represent the Report you are investigating during the game, with the most relevant Evidences highlighted and the less relevant ones darkened.
On the back of each Report card, you'll find a glimpse of a real Pulitzer-winning case and the year it was awarded.
Finally, draw the Press Pass or give it to the last person who read a physical newspaper. You are now ready to begin.
How to Play
Pulitzer is played over 8 rounds, each divided into 2 phases: Placement and Resolution.
In the Placement phase, play proceeds clockwise, beginning with the player holding the Press Pass. Players take turns placing a Journalist face-down on the Board (on the Kiosk, Archive, Buses, or Overtime) OR placing a Request on the Newspaper. Requests can only be placed if you still have unplaced Journalists and haven't passed.
Once all players have placed their Journalists or passed, the Resolution phase begins, where everyone plays simultaneously. Flip over all Journalists on the board to show their values, determining who dominates each area.
At the end of the eighth round, the player with the best Report, Prestige (points gained during the game), and Reach wins the Pulitzer.
Game Modes
Before starting, choose a game mode:
Investigation Mode (Recommended) — Final Score Exclusion
The Pulitzer Committee requires a Report with at least 5 highlighted Evidences from your Report card. If you have fewer than 5 highlighted Evidences, you won't be part of the final scoring.
The player with the highest score, adding up their Prestige (total score during the game), their Reach (houses), and the total score from their Report, will be the one to win the award.
Chronicle Mode (Alternative) — No Final Score Exclusion
The Pulitzer Committee will evaluate all Reports, but will reward those that are better documented.
If you've got at least 5 of the highlighted Evidences from your Report card, you'll earn 20 extra points. If you have 8 or more, you'll get 35 extra points.
The Rounds
Each game round is divided into two phases: Placement and Resolution.
During the Placement phase, on your turn and while you still have Journalists available, you can perform one of three actions:
- A — Place a Request in the Newspaper (on the indicated windows) in an available space.
- B — Place a Journalist facedown in the Kiosk (on the newspapers), the Archive, the Buses, or the Overtime (on the windows) on an empty space. You can't look at a placed Journalist's value or swap it.
- C — Pass (mandatory if you have no Journalists left).
Your Journalists are numbered from 1 to 5, representing their Journalistic value. Five is your star Journalist, while 1 represents the freshly graduated one. Choose carefully where to place each one.
Once all your Journalists are placed, or if you have decided to pass, you won't take any further actions until the Resolution phase.
Some spaces are only available if there are 4 or 5 players. Use only the spaces that correspond to the number of players.
After the Placement phase ends, flip over all Journalists on the board to reveal their values. Keep them on the same spaces they occupy, regardless of their area, and proceed with the Resolution phase, resolving each area from the bottom of the board (the Kiosk) to the top (the Newspaper).
After the Resolution phase, you will conduct a brief Maintenance, and then a new round will begin.
Once the eighth round is completed, proceed with the final scoring.
The Kiosk
Placing Journalists here will allow you to earn money by publishing News.
In the Resolution phase, you'll check who has the highest value in columns and rows. The one who leads will earn valuable rewards.
Placement Phase
When you place a Journalist in this area, you immediately earn the amount of money indicated on the News card, based on the column where you placed the Journalist.
Once you place the token, you won't be able to move it.
If you want to use tokens you have obtained in previous rounds (see Resolution: Newspaper), you may place them under your Journalist at the time you place them.
Resolution Phase
Check the total value of the Journalists for each player (and their tokens) first in each column, from left to right, and then in each row, from top to bottom. The one with the highest total value will receive the corresponding benefit in each column or row.
In case of a tie, no one gets the benefit.
Columns
- National: 1 Contact token, the Press Pass (you will begin the next Placement phase), and 3 points (move your Pulitzer coin along the outer track of the board).
- International: 2 Contact tokens and 6 points.
- Sports: One +2 token for Row Resolution. Place this token under one of your Journalists on any Kiosk space. This Journalist will have +2 value in the Row Resolution phase in this round. Alternatively, you may choose to take 300$ instead of using the token.
- Entertainment: One +2 token for Resolution in Overtime. Place this token under one of your Journalists located on an Overtime space. This Journalist will have +2 value during the Resolution of Overtime. If you don't have a Journalist in that area, or prefer not to use it, you can instead take a Contact token.
- Economy: Available only in 5-player games. Gain 7 points immediately.
Rows
Achieving majority in a row increases the Reach of your newspaper nationally, reaching more households, represented by colored houses.
For each row, the player with the highest value gains a house of the corresponding color. In the event of a tie, no one gains a house.
Each house grants 3 points during the final scoring. Additionally, the player with the most houses of each color receives 5 points (if there is a tie, no one scores), and for each set of 4 houses of different colors (or 3 in a 3-player game), you earn 10 points.
Example: Blue scores 3 points, as does Pink. Green takes the house with 4.
The Report (Archive and Buses)
Placing a Journalist in this area will allow you to keep pulling on the thread and make progress on your Report to aim for the Pulitzer.
Placement Phase
When placing a Journalist in the Report area, you must choose between the Archive and the Buses.
The Archive is a support area, whose purpose is to increase the number of cards gathered by the Journalists placed on the Buses. When placing a Journalist, you must place them on the lowest empty numbered space on the left.
On the other hand, when placing a Journalist on the Buses, you must immediately pay the cost of that space, shown in the top section. The spaces on the left Bus cost 300$ and 400$, the bus stop costs 500$ and 700$, and the spaces on the right Bus cost 800$ and 1000$, respectively. If you cannot pay the cost, you cannot place a Journalist.
Resolution Phase
The Archive
The Journalists are repositioned on the lower spaces, from left to right, in order of highest to lowest value. In case of a tie, the one on the space with the lowest number is repositioned first.
There are only 3 lower spaces, so some Journalists may not be repositioned and, as a result, will not provide support to the Buses.
Each Journalist repositioned on the Evidence supports only one Journalist on the Buses. If you have more Journalists repositioned on the Evidence than on the Buses, you must choose which one does nothing.
Each repositioned Journalist will add, depending on the space they occupy, one Evidence card, one Investigation Line card, or one of each type, to the cards gathered by their partner on the Buses.
The Buses
Journalists on the Buses allow you to gather new Evidences to keep pulling on the thread, placing pins, and completing your Report.
There are 3 pairs of spaces: the Bus on the left (to Washington), the bus stop and the Bus on the right (to the airport). The farther right you place your Journalist, the more cards you will get (as shown at the bottom of the space), and the more chances you'll have to improve your Report.
You will receive 2 types of cards: Evidence cards, which relate to the Evidence on your Investigation Board, and Investigation Line cards, which refer to each pair of columns (except the central one) on your Board, distinguished by letter and color.
You will take as many cards of each type as indicated by the space your Journalist occupies, and if you have a Journalist supporting from the Evidence, you will add the corresponding cards.
The value of your Journalist determines the maximum number of spaces on your Investigation Board (each Evidence takes one space) you can move vertically and horizontally from the last Evidence you have uncovered (or from the "?" photo at the start).
To discover a new Evidence on your Investigation Board, you must choose one Evidence card and one Investigation Line card from those you've gathered.
By combining these cards with the value of your Journalist, you should be able to move to the space containing the Evidence of the Investigation Line of the chosen cards.
Each time you discover new Evidence, place a pin and tie it with the string.
Always keep in mind the Evidence highlighted on your Report card and the value of the Evidence gathered in each Investigation Line (10 points in A and D, 5 points in B and C and 3 points in X) if you want to have a chance in the final scoring.
IMPORTANT: For practical purposes, the left side of the Investigation Board is connected to the right side, so the spaces on both sides are considered adjacent (this does not happen with the top and bottom of the Investigation Board). However, the farther the pins are apart, the more string you will need. The string never goes behind the Investigation Board.
If you have placed more than one Journalist on the Buses, you must resolve them separately. The cards you get with each one cannot be exchanged or combined with those from another. You must decide which Journalist to resolve first.
Keep an eye on how much string you have left, as it is a limited resource. If the Evidence you gather is too far apart from each other, you may not be able to complete your Report.
The central column (X) is an Investigation Line that contains easy-to-obtain Evidence, which doesn't require a specific Investigation Line card, just the Evidence and enough value in your Journalist to reach it.
IMPORTANT: At any point during the round, you may discard the last piece of Evidence you obtained in the previous round, but only the last one. Simply release the string and remove the pin.
It's possible that no combination of your Evidence and Investigation Line cards will allow you to place a new pin on your Investigation Board. This could be due to your Journalist's value, the Evidence you have already uncovered or destroyed, or if you prefer, you can choose not to place a new pin.
Next, discard all the Evidence and Investigation Line cards. During the game, when the cards in one of the decks run out, shuffle its discard pile and form a new deck.
You can get Witness Statements that complement your Investigation. The Witness Statements (see Extra Hours Resolution) you obtain will grant you points (3 or 5) depending on the Investigation Line they belong to, as indicated in the top-right corner of each one.
Evidence Destruction
There are double Evidence and Investigation Line cards that give you more options when choosing, though you can only discover a single Evidence with them.
However, if you use (not if you only obtain) a double Investigation Line card to place a new pin, you must destroy one of the highlighted Evidence on your Report card in that same Investigation Line. It can no longer be uncovered.
Place a Destroyed Evidence token (the red side of the Statement tokens) on your Investigation Board using a pin. You must place it on a free Evidence (without a pin) of your choice from those highlighted on your Report card.
If there are no uncovered Evidence left, you do not place the token.
Destruction of Evidence tokens placed cannot be removed in any way.
Bus Space Rewards
The leftmost Bus (A) allows you to take 1 Evidence card and 1 Investigation Line card. The middle stop (B) lets you take 2 Evidence cards and 1 Investigation Line card. The rightmost Bus (C) allows you to take 2 cards of each type.
Worked Example — Resolution Phase of the Report
Here is a complete example of the Resolution phase of the Report.
In this first round, Blue has placed 3 of their Journalists in this area, 2 on the Evidence and 1 on the bus stop.
Their Journalist with a value of 5 is the first to be repositioned in the Evidence area. Thanks to this, their Journalist with a value of 4 on the bus stop will take 3 Evidence cards and 2 Investigation Line cards, instead of only 2 and 1.
From the starting space on their Investigation Board (the "?" photo), Blue can obtain new Evidence up to a maximum of 4 spaces away (the value of their Journalist). They take the corresponding cards and check which Evidence they can reach in each Investigation Line. Among all the available options, they choose to advance to Investigation Line A, as it will grant them 10 points in the final scoring.
They place a pin and tie it with the string.
Blue is the first to reposition on the Archive, as their Journalist holds the highest value, allowing him to support the Journalist on the Bus Stop. This way, the Journalist will draw 3 Evidence cards and 2 Investigation Line cards instead of 2 and 1, as indicated by their space.
From the first pin, Blue can move up to 4 Evidence spaces (the value of his Journalist in the Bus Stop) orthogonally. Among the options available with the Evidence and Investigation Line cards obtained (A) and (B), he chooses the one that grants the highest score (A).
Overtime
Place a Journalist in this area to grab the best opportunities outside the Newspaper. Money, Prestige, Witness Statements... Make good use of your Contacts.
Placement Phase
When placing a Journalist, you must do so on the first empty numbered space from the left.
Resolution Phase
Journalists are repositioned on the lower spaces based on the highest value or, in case of a tie, the lowest number of the space they occupy.
Players whose Journalists are on the three spaces on the left will take turns choosing one of the 3 available cards, from left to right. Effect takes place immediately.
When choosing, you can spend 1 Contact token to reveal 1 extra card. You can only choose 1 card, so you'll leave more options for the next player. Only one person can do this action per round.
The two spaces on the far right don't give you any benefit; they force you to destroy one of the highlighted Evidences from your Report card in any Investigation Line of your choice.
Example: After repositioning, Pink will first choose one of the available cards with his value 4 Journalist, followed by Blue with his 4, and Green with his 3. Blue will not obtain any Overtime cards with his value 3 Journalist, since Green has placed first, and must destroy an Evidence.
Types of Overtime Cards
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Talk Show: Grants you Money, between 500$ and 900$.
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Radio Nights: Grants you Prestige, between 4 and 8 points.
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New Evidence: Take 1 Evidence or Investigation Line card. You can use it instead of one of the cards you get to improve your Report.
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The Statement: It shows one Investigation Line (A or D) or two (B and C). If you've already uncovered an Evidence in that Investigation Line, take a Statement token (blue side) and place it under that pin. If it has two, choose one. If you haven't uncovered any Evidences in that Investigation Line yet, don't place it.
The Statement will grant you 3 or 5 points, depending on the Investigation Line, in the final scoring. You can't have more than one Statement on each Evidence.
Finally, discard all the Overtime cards selected during the round. During the game, when the deck runs out, take the corresponding cards from the discard pile, shuffle them, and form a new deck.
The Newspaper
In this area, you will not place Journalists but Request tokens (the round ones). You can place a Request in the Newspaper on an open slot within a Section that is not blocked, as long as you haven't placed all your Journalists or decided to pass. Once you place your last Journalist or choose to pass, the round ends for you.
Placement Phase
There are 6 sections of the Newspaper where you can place a Request. Each of these will provide you with benefits that you can use in the following rounds:
- Editing Room
- Newsroom
- Human Resources
- Management
- Registry
- Photography Department
Resolution Phase
You will resolve each section one by one.
- In the Editing Room, you'll get 1 token that allows you to place 2 of your Journalists consecutively on your turn. They can be placed in the same area.
- In the Newsroom, you will receive one +2 token that you can place under one of your Journalists when you place them in the News, increasing their value. You can only place 1 token per Journalist.
- In Human Resources, you can hire new talents for your team and continue training them to improve their value, paying the cost with Money or spending Contact tokens.
The first time you make a Request in H.R., you will take a Journalist with a value of X, leaving your Request token in its place. From that moment on, you have a total of 6 Journalists available, with only 2 Request tokens for the remaining rounds.
Each time you make a Request in Human Resources, you can advance the training of your Journalist as much as you can or want to pay for. The cost is indicated at the top of each space. The position of your Request token will determine all the time the value of your Journalist X. You will receive as many points in the final scoring as indicated by the space your token occupies.
- In Management, you'll get 1 token that allows you to place a Journalist in an occupied space on the Buses, still paying its cost.
- In the Registry, you will receive 1 "+2" token that you can place under one of your Journalists when you place them in the Archive, increasing their value. You can only place 1 token per Journalist.
- Finally, in the Photography Department, if you pay the cost in Money and/or Contact tokens, you will receive one +1 or +2 token that you can place under one of your Journalists when you place them on the Buses, increasing their value. You can only place one token per Journalist.
If there are no tokens available in the section where you make the Request, take the token from another player's reserve that they haven't obtained in that same round. All the tokens are single-use only.
Maintenance Between Rounds
Flip over the first card of the News deck, changing the amounts paid for each type of News for the next round. Place the Blockage tokens in the areas of the Newspaper indicated by the new card.
Do the same with the top card of the Events deck. Remember that in the first round, no Events are revealed.
Discard any remaining Overtime cards on the board and replenish the entire row. If at any point during the game there are not enough cards left in the deck, shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck.
Return all used tokens to common reserve. You only keep the ones you have obtained in the Newspaper this round. You don't keep those of the Kiosk and those you have not used from previous rounds.
Event Cards
Events cards change the dynamics of the Placement and Resolution phase.
Pay attention to the icon (upper-right side), because it indicates the moment in which it is resolved. Using the Event cards is optional and you must decide before starting the game. Remember, you don't reveal any card in the first round of the game.
The cards where you must place a Journalist only allow one Journalist per space.
Resolution of Each Event
I) During the Placement phase.
II) Before the Resolution phase of the Buses.
III) Before the Resolution phase of the Archive.
Event Card List
I. Awards Gala — For each Journalist you place on the Kiosk, in Entertainment, you gain 3 extra points.
I. Grand Finale — If you place a Journalist on the Kiosk, in Sports, you can do it face-up. In that case, you'll gain an amount of Money in Bills equal to the Journalist's value plus 300$. If you place your Journalist face-down, you'll gain the amount indicated on the News card.
I. Private Investigator — You must place a Journalist on one of two slots in this card. The Evidence space lets you pay 300$ to obtain 1 Evidence card. The Investigation Lines space lets you pay 800$ to obtain 1 Investigation Line card. Cards obtained during investigation can later replace the ones you obtain on the Buses.
I. Thanksgiving — The first player to place a Journalist on the Kiosk, in National, gains an extra 500$, the second 300$, and the third 100$. A player may place multiple Journalists, even in the same turn, if they use a Newspaper Editing token.
I. War Report — The first player to place a Journalist on the Kiosk, in International, gains an extra 6 points, the second earns 3 points, and the third earns 1 point. A player may place multiple Journalists, even in the same turn, if they use a Newspaper Editing token.
I. White House Scandal — Placing a Journalist on the Kiosk, in National, earns an additional 500$ but grants a Target token (see Target Token below).
II. Document Leak — Place a Journalist on this space. Reveal a number of Evidence cards equal to their value, choose 1 and keep it. You can use it to replace an Evidence card you get in the future. Place the others face-up in front of you. This round, the other players can use one of them instead of the ones they've obtained for their Report. They must pay you 200$ if they do. Multiple players can choose the same Evidence.
II. Rat Race — For each Journalist with a value of 4 or higher that you've placed on the Buses, you must destroy one of the highlighted Evidences from your Report card in any Investigation Line of your choice.
II. Snitches — Place a Journalist on this space. Reveal a number of Investigation Line cards equal to their value, choose 1, for a future investigation, and discard the rest. If among the revealed cards there is a double Investigation Line card, your Journalist is under arrest and you will not be able to use him until you pay his bail, at the beginning of a round. The bail is equal to his value in Bills +300$.
II. State Plumbers — Place a Journalist on one of two spaces of this card. Compare the value of the 2 Journalists on the card. The highest value, or in case of a tie, the leftmost one, gains an Investigation Line Wildcard token. This also grants a Target token.
II. The Insider — Place a Journalist on one of the two spaces of this card. Compare the value of the 2 Journalists on the card. The highest value, or in case of a tie, the leftmost one, gains an Evidence Wildcard token.
III. Massive Leak — All Journalists placed on the Archive add 1 Evidence extra card for their partners on the Buses, even those that cannot be repositioned on the 3 lower spaces.
IV. Fundraising (use a solo mode die) — Place a Journalist on this space. Roll 1 die. If the Journalist's value is higher than the roll, gain 900$ or 1 Evidence Wildcard token. If the Journalist's value is equal, nothing happens. If the Journalist's value is lower, you gain a Target token.
IV. Press Trial (use a solo mode die) — Place a Journalist on this space. Roll 1 die: If the Journalist's value is higher than the roll, gain 10 points. If the Journalist's value is equal, nothing happens. If it's lower, you lose 5 points and 500$. If you cannot pay both items in full, pay as much as possible.
Target Token
If, at any time, you use a double Investigation Line card, instead of destroying one of the Evidence cards from your Report, destroy 2, if you still have enough. Then, discard it. You can only have one Target Token at a time.
Investigation Line Wildcard
It allows you to choose any Investigation Line instead of using one of the Investigation Line cards you get in the future. Then, discard it.
Evidence Wildcard
It allows you to choose any Evidence instead of using one of the Evidence cards you get in the future. Then, discard it.
End of the Game and Scoring
When you finish the eighth Resolution phase (when there are no News cards left in the deck), the game ends, and you proceed to the final scoring.
If you are playing in Investigation Mode, the first step is to check if any players have not achieved the minimum of 5 Evidence among the highlighted ones on their Report card to qualify for the award. Those players are automatically eliminated. The rest proceed with the final scoring.
If you are playing in Chronicle Mode, those of you who have obtained 5 of the highlighted Evidence of your Report card will earn 20 extra points. If you have 8 or more, you'll earn 35 extra points.
To the score achieved during the game, meaning your position on the score track of the game board, you will add the points indicated by your token position in H.R., the Reach of your newspaper and the score of your Report.
Each house obtained is worth 3 points. Additionally, the player with the majority of houses in each color will receive an extra 5 points (in case of a tie, no one gains those points). Finally, for each set of 4 houses in each color (3 in 3-player games), you gain an extra 10 points.
Finally, you will score your Reports. Each piece of Evidence collected grants the points indicated on each Investigation Line (3, 5, or 10). Additionally, Witness Statements provide the points indicated in each Investigation Line (3 or 5).
If you pass through the starting space on the score track of the game board again with your Coin, flip it to the side that shows 100 and continue scoring points as normal.
Final Scoring = Pulitzer Coin points + H.R. + Reach (houses) + Report
The player who has achieved the highest score will be awarded the Pulitzer this year. In case of a tie, the player with the highest-scoring Report will be the winner; if there is still a tie, the player with the most Contact tokens will obtain the award.
Congratulations! You are now a part of journalism history!
"The press has the responsibility to investigate, question, and challenge power." — Joseph Pulitzer
Mode for 2 Players and Solo — Pulitzer: The Pentagon Papers
Year 1971. Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst at the U.S. Department of State, delivers hundreds of photocopied pages to the New York Times first and, later, to The Washington Post. These pages reveal the government's long-term deception about the Vietnam War. Five administrations, three Republicans and two Democrats, had participated in lies and cover-ups.
The report, commissioned by Robert McNamara, made it clear that this was a war without meaning, without a clear objective, and one that could not be won.
The editors of the Times and the Post were tasked with investigating the scheme. Meanwhile, the U.S. government, with Richard Nixon at its helm, launched a battle to suppress press freedom and erode public trust. The battle will be fierce. Not only against the administration, but also against your journalistic rival.
How will the public perceive your decisions? Will you resist the pressure and bribery to silence the information? Perhaps, along the way, you might even earn a Pulitzer for your work...
"The press must serve the governed, not the governors." — Hugo Black, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1971)
Game Setup — Changes Compared to the 3-5 Player Version
Place the game board at the center of the table, using the side designed for 1-2 players. As you can see, the layout of the spaces has changed, and there are several new elements to consider.
In this mode, you will not use Event cards. Shuffle and place the following decks as usual: News, Overtime, Evidence and Investigation Lines. Set up the Kiosks and Newspaper tokens, and block the areas indicated by the gray News card.
Separate and place one house of each of the three colors near the News in their corresponding area. In this game mode, Reach is not scored. Instead, the struggle reflects the battle against the Administration and the people's confidence in the Press.
Take the Red and Blue Agents. Place them face down and shuffle them without revealing their values. These Agents represent Government efforts to prevent your Report from leaking and being published.
Place the Agents on the Kiosk. Roll both dice twice, once for each pair of columns. The resulting numbers indicate which spaces remain empty. Starting with the Red Agents, place them on the first two columns of the News area. If both dice roll the same result, only one space will remain empty. Otherwise, there should be two empty spaces. Continue this placement process for columns 3 and 4 with the corresponding color.
If applicable, place the remaining Blue Agent on the corresponding Bus space, and the Red Agent on its own space. Flip and reveal all the blue Agent values; the Red Agents remain hidden until the Resolution Phase.
Place Public Opinion and Turn tokens on their corresponding areas.
Arrange the remaining components around the board (Money, Contacts, Statements, Pins) so that they are accessible to both players.
Each player now takes 1 Investigation Board, 1 pin and string, 500$ in 100$ bills, 6 Journalists and 4 round markers of their chosen color. Place the Pulitzer Coin on the 0 Points space and the Journalist with the "X" value on the first slot of the Human Resources space of the Newspaper. Finally, pin the string to the central photograph "?" on your Investigation Board.
At the end of the game, you must have at least 5 Evidences from the ones highlighted in your Report card to qualify for the Pulitzer.
You can either give the Press Pass at random or give it to the last person who read a printed newspaper, and you're ready to begin.
Solo Mode
In this mode, you represent the Post and face both the Government and the Times, with the exception that the actions of the Times will be indicated by a card each turn. You will place the Times' Journalists on the indicated spots face down, without revealing their values until you play. This simulates the reality of that time, as the Times was always one step ahead of the Post up to that point.
Take 6 purple Journalists and 1 purple Request token; these will be the components for the Times. Place the Journalist with the X value on Human Resources section number 2 of the Newspaper. Shuffle the remaining Journalists without revealing their values and place them face down on the board. Keep the Request token nearby, as it will be used later.
Take the 15 Times cards and separate them into 5 red, 5 orange, and 5 yellow cards. Shuffle each small deck separately. Then take 3 red cards, place 3 orange cards on top of the red ones, and finally add 2 yellow cards to complete the new deck. Discard the remaining cards. This small deck will indicate the actions that the Times will take.
You can adjust the difficulty of the deck by changing the number of cards of each color you add.
Each round, during the Maintenance, just before you play, reveal a Times' card and place its Journalists on the indicated spaces, without revealing their values until the Resolution phase. You cannot place your Journalists on spaces occupied by Times' Journalists, as if they were another player.
When you reveal the first orange card, place the Request token on the 2 of H.R. and take the Journalist X, who will have that value. When you reveal the first red card, Journalist X will then have a value of 4.
How to Play (2-Player / Solo Mode)
This game mode is played over a maximum of 8 rounds, which are divided into 2 phases: Placement and Resolution. The game can end before completing the 8 rounds.
In the Placement phase, players will take turns in succession, starting with the player who has the Press Pass, placing a Journalist face down on the Board (in the Kiosk, Buses, or Overtime) or making a Request in the Newspaper. You can only place Requests in the Newspaper while you still have unplaced Journalists and have not passed.
In this game mode, you can place your Journalists on spaces occupied by Agents, but never on spaces occupied by Journalists.
Each turn in which the player with the Press Pass takes an action, up to a maximum of 7 per round, move the turn marker up 1 space. If you are playing in turns 6 and 7, you will give an advantage to the Government. The player who has the Press Pass can pass after turn 5 or continue playing, keeping in mind that, if you play turns 6 and 7, you will give advantage to the Government. The other player will not be able to play turns 6 and 7 if the one who has the Press Pass has passed.
In solo mode, the player will decide how many turns to play, and when they pass, the phase ends.
Once both players have placed their Journalists or have passed, the Resolution phase begins, in which you will participate simultaneously. You will flip all the Journalists on the board, in the same spaces they occupy. Do the same with the Red Agents.
After revealing the values of the Agents and Journalists, their values will be compared space by space. Whoever has the highest value wins the space, removing the loser from the board. In case of a tie, the Journalist is considered the winner and the Agent is removed.
When the eighth round concludes (or if Public Opinion completely sways towards one side before that, see Resolution: Kiosk), you will check who has met the minimum requirements of the Pulitzer committee (a Report with at least 5 highlighted Evidences on your Report card) and participate in the final scoring. The player who has obtained the most points will be the one to receive the coveted award.
Changes in This Game Mode
The following explains the different areas of the board, with special emphasis on the differences compared to the 3-5 player mode.
The Kiosk
Placement Phase
Placing Journalists gives you Money immediately, according to the News card.
Your Journalists can share a space with the Agents, but never with other Journalists.
Resolution Phase
Compare the values of the Agents and the Journalists, space by space. The one with the lowest value will be removed from the board and will not participate in the Resolution. In the event of a tie, Journalists are always considered the winners, so the Agent will be removed.
Once there is only one Agent on each space, you can proceed with the Resolution of Columns and Rows.
Columns
They are resolved as in the 3-5 player mode. The player with the highest total value from all their Journalists will receive the column's bonus. In the event of a tie, no one receives it, and if any Agent team wins, nothing happens.
IMPORTANT: If you are playing in solo mode, you can ignore the Press Pass, as it is not relevant. If the Times or the Agents win the majority, nothing happens.
Rows
You will compete for the majorities in the rows together. The Journalists of both newspapers against the Agents of both colors. Winning or losing these majorities will influence Public Opinion, which can trigger a swift end to the game.
You must add the values of all the Journalists (Times and Post) and all the Agents and compare them against each other. If the Journalists win, move the house from that row towards the hat; if the Agents win, move the house towards the Capitol. In the event of a tie, the house does not move.
Count the number of rows won by each faction and compare them. Move the Public Opinion marker a number of spaces in the direction of the hat or the Capitol as many spaces as necessary.
You must keep an eye on the movement of the Public Opinion token, since if at any time the token reaches the Hat or the Capitol the game is over. Public Opinion starts closer to Nixon's Government.
If it reaches the Capitol, the game ends immediately. Public Opinion has completely lost trust in the Press, and as a result, you have lost the game.
If, on the other hand, it reaches the Hat, it is considered that Public Opinion has lost all trust in the Government, and therefore, the Press wins the game. However, is your Report good enough to win the Pulitzer? You must continue with the Resolution of the round, which will still be the last, to check if you have met the committee's minimum requirement (5 connected Evidences among those highlighted on your Report card) to qualify for the award (see Final Scoring).
If throughout the game Public Opinion does not lean towards either side, it will end normally after round 8. Handle the influence over Public Opinion carefully if you do not want to face a sudden end.
Example: the Green Journalists total 3, but the Government Agents total 7.
The Investigation (Buses)
In this game mode, there is no Archive, so the only way to support your Journalists on the Buses will be through Requests in the Newspaper (see Resolution: Newspaper).
Placement Phase
When you place a Journalist on the Buses, you must pay immediately the cost of that space, as indicated at the top. The left Bus cost 300$ and 400$, the Bus stop costs 500$, and the space on the right Bus costs 800$. If you can't afford the cost, you can't place a Journalist.
Your Journalists can also share spaces with the Agents. This will be resolved in the same way as in the News; the one with the highest value (and in the event of a tie, the Journalist) will remain on the space.
Resolution Phase
You must resolve the actions of the Agents, whose goal will be to hinder the progress of your investigation by destroying Evidence.
If there is an Agent on the leftmost space, it will be the first to resolve. For this, draw 1 Evidence card and 1 Investigation Line card. Take the additional cards corresponding to the turn in which you completed the round: 1 Investigation Line card if it was in turn 6, and additionally, 1 Evidence card if it was in turn 7.
Next, compare the cards with your Report card as if you had obtained them with one of your Journalists. If any combination of the Evidence and Investigation Line cards matches an uncovered highlighted Evidence on your Report card, that Evidence will be destroyed. Only one can be destroyed per Agent. To do this, place a Destroyed Evidence token (the reverse side of the Statement tokens) on your Investigation Board, on that Evidence. If the combination of the cards could destroy multiple pieces of Evidence, always choose the one with the highest value. In the case of a tie, you choose which one to destroy. If no combination matches any of your highlighted Evidence, nothing happens.
Once the blue Agent has been resolved, you must do the same with the red Agent, if there is one, located in the rightmost space, proceeding in the same way but without taking additional cards as it happens with the Blue Agent.
Remember that you can remove Agents by placing one of your Journalists on the same space that matches or exceeds their value.
If, during the course of the game, you have had enough evidence destroyed to make it impossible for you to gather the required 5 highlighted Evidences to qualify for the Pulitzer, you will be eliminated from the game at that moment. If 2 players are playing, the other player wins in that moment.
After resolving the Agents, proceed with your Journalists as in the 3-5 player mode.
If you're playing in solo mode, you don't need to draw the Evidence and Investigation Line cards from the Times during the Resolution phase.
For practical purposes, the Times' Journalists only represent the obstacles other players would face in your way to freely take any actions.
Overtime
There are no changes in how to place or resolve in this area.
In solo mode, each time a Journalist from the Times must take a card here, discard the card with the highest number.
The Newspaper
It's resolved like in the 3-5 player mode, but the Registry +2 token is used differently.
This token is placed next to one of your Journalists when you place it on the Buses. This token does not increase its value, but instead, lets you take 2 additional Evidence or Investigation Line cards of your choice. However, they must be 2 cards of the same type.
Maintenance Between Rounds (2-Player / Solo Mode)
Follow the same steps as with 3 or more players, but skip the Events. Place the Agents as usual, and if you're playing solo, also place the Times Journalists.
Final Scoring (2-Player / Solo Mode)
If the game ends because Public Opinion aligns with the Government or because you have had so many pieces of Evidence destroyed that you can no longer meet the requirement of 5 highlighted Evidences, the game ends for you at that moment, and you do not qualify for the Prize.
If the game ends because Public Opinion aligns with the Press or because you have completed 8 rounds of play and have achieved at least 5 highlighted Evidences on your Report card, you will qualify for the Pulitzer.
If two players are playing and both are competing for the award, the one with the most points, adding those earned during the game, the Report and those from the H.R., will win the prize. If only one player is competing for the award, they will be the winner.
If you're playing in solo mode, calculate your final score by adding the points from your Report, those from the H.R. and the points you've accumulated during the game and check the following table. If you beat the Times' score, you win the Prize.
| Round in which the game ended | 1 to 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score recorded by the Times | 45 | 60 | 75 | 85 |
"What the president never accepted, or even understood clearly—as most people do not understand—is the autonomy that editors have and must have to produce a good newspaper. I used to describe it as freedom, not as license." — Katharine Graham, CEO of The Washington Post Company
Summary of the Game (3 to 5 Players)
Placement Phase
- Place a Journalist face-down (cannot share space with another Journalist). Remember to take the corresponding money when placing a Journalist at the Kiosk.
- Place a Request on the Newspaper (as long as there are still spaces where Journalists can be placed).
- Pass (you will no longer participate in the Placement Phase).
Resolution Phase
Remember that zones are resolved starting from the bottom of the board.
Flip all Journalists on the board face-up.
- Kiosk: Resolve who has the highest value in each column (and obtain the corresponding bonus) and then each row (houses that provide points for the final score).
- Archive and Buses: Recall the Journalists at the Archive and take the Evidence cards and Investigation Line cards related to the spaces your Journalists occupy on the Buses. Try to obtain new Evidence to continue your investigation on your personal board.
- Overtime: Reorganize the Journalists and take the cards from the spaces in the new order. Remember that the government may destroy Evidence.
- Newspaper: Take the tokens and Journalist pieces corresponding to your zones for use in future positions. The H.R. marker indicates the value of your Journalists X.
After 8 rounds, add the points obtained during the game, those from the Reach (houses), H.R. and those from the Report. Remember:
- Investigation Mode: A player may be eliminated from the final score.
- Chronicle Mode: Additional points for collected Evidence.
Whoever has the most points wins the Pulitzer.
Summary — Mode for 2 Players and Solo
Placement Phase: Your Journalists can compete with Government Agents for spaces. If you play more than 5 turns, you'll give the Government more options. You decide.
Resolution Phase: Rows determine the inclination of Public Opinion. Keep an eye on it to avoid an abrupt end. There's no Archive, but you can support your Journalists from the Newspaper.