Designing a board game is rarely just about rules and cardboard. At its best, it’s about creating an experience — a conversation that unfolds night after night between players and the person who designed it. That’s exactly what sits at the heart of Pulitzer, a game that invites you to slip into the ink-stained shoes of turn-of-the-century journalists, back when every headline could spark outrage, sway elections, or simply sell papers.
This isn’t a game about tallying points for the sake of it. It’s a game about the messy, fascinating, sometimes uncomfortable truths that come with chasing stories and deciding what makes it to print.
Born From a Love of Journalism
Unlike many modern board games that begin with a clever mechanic, Pulitzer started with a moral question: what does it mean to be a journalist torn between facts, sensationalism, and survival in a cutthroat industry?
The game transports players to the so-called Golden Age of the press — the early 1900s, when newspapers weren’t just media companies but the lifeblood of public opinion. This was the era of publishing titans like Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, and Wilbur F. Storey. The question the designer wrestled with, and eventually turned into a set of rules and cards, was deceptively simple:
How do you turn the struggle between truth, sales, and ethics into a game that feels both strategic and social?
How the Game Works
At its core, Pulitzer fuses card play with resource management. But the real star here is timing – knowing when to hold back and when to make your move.
- News Cards: Each round, players draw fresh stories — scandals, crimes, politics, and more.
- Publishing: Do you rush a breaking scoop to the presses, or wait to craft something weightier and more credible?
- Ethics on the Line: The game constantly asks: chase sensational headlines for quick gains, or build your paper’s reputation slowly with serious journalism?
- Interaction: No one plays in isolation. You’ll run up against rivals, block one another’s plans, and maybe sabotage along the way.
It’s not just about what you print, but how you outmaneuver the pressrooms around you.
Finding the Balance
One of the hardest parts of developing the game was getting the balance right between authenticity and fun.
Early versions leaned heavy on facts and history — which, while accurate, left players feeling like they’d sat through a lecture. Later prototypes swung in the opposite direction, giving players more freedom but losing that crucial journalistic flavor.
The solution? A modular system. Players now get to choose how “realistic” the game feels — whether they want a brisk, competitive experience or one packed with historical detail and grit.
What Makes Pulitzer Stand Out
In a hobby filled with historical settings — from Watergate’s politics to Votes for Women’s activism — Pulitzer takes a different angle. It’s not about control of nations or sweeping legislative victories, but about something quieter and slipperier: the stories that shape what we know, and how we see the world.
Oddly enough, a game about newspapers in the 1900s ends up feeling painfully relevant today. As players decide whether to report responsibly or chase clicks (well, headlines), the parallels to our social media–driven news cycles become abundantly clear. In that way, Pulitzer isn’t just nostalgic; it’s a sharp little mirror.
A Reflection of Modern Trends
In recent years, tabletop design has grown bolder, with games tackling serious, morally charged topics instead of just simulating medieval farming or space battles. Titles like The Cost and This War of Mine have shown how games can reflect the ethical dilemmas of real life, and Pulitzer stands firmly in that tradition.
It proves that board games can still entertain while making us wrestle with difficult questions: how far would we go to get ahead? And what does it cost when truth takes a backseat?
The Verdict
Pulitzer is many things, but “light and breezy” isn’t one of them. This is a game designed for groups who enjoy strategy, depth, and big conversations around the table. If you like your board games to spark thought as well as competition, it’s worth a serious look.
Highlights
- Deeply thematic, rooted in real history
- Meaningful ethical choices that shape the whole game
- Replayability thanks to modular design
Challenges
- Can feel heavy compared to more casual titles
- Steep learning curve for newcomers
- The theme may not click for players uninterested in journalism
Food for Thought
Games about war, trade, and conquest are everywhere. Pulitzer asks a refreshing question: what if board games explored the professions and social roles that usually stay in the background? Should games aim to teach as much as they entertain — or should fun always come first?
That’s something to consider the next time you sit down at the table.
👉 Would you like me to follow this piece up with a full play review of Pulitzer — how it actually feels at the table — or a deeper dive into the theme, exploring how board games can tackle journalism in particular?
Would you also like me to add some quotable pull quotes, the kind of short, snappy highlights that magazines use in sidebars to draw readers in?