Winston: Nineteen Eighty-Four Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Game Set Up
• Goal of the Game
• A Game Round
• Placing the Dice
  • Miniluv (Red die)
  • Miniplenty (Green die)
  • Minipax (Blue die)
  • Important
  • Minitrue (White die)
  • Thought Police (Yellow die)
  • The Brotherhood (Purple die)
• Difficulty
  • A Walk Through the Suburbs
  • Big Brother's Eye
  • Julia at Charrington's
  • Difficulty table
• End of the Game
• Final Scoring
• Dice Overview
• Summary of a Round

Overview

Winston - Nineteen eighty-four is a solitaire game where you will have to go from Minitrue to the Golden Country before the game rounds end.

Components

• 1 pad of Winston's route sheets
• 6 dice in six colours
• 1 Winston & Julia pencil
• 3 rulebooks

Game Set Up

Take one of Winston's route sheet and place it in front of you along with the 6 dice and the pencil. Choose a difficulty level and mark it, then you can start playing!

Route sheet elements:

• A: Spaces for the dice
• B: Room 101
• C: Winston's route
• D: Golden Country's track
• E: Big Brother's track
• F: Rounds' track
• G: Difficulty level
• H: Mr. Charrington's house
• I: Final score boxes

Goal of the Game

In each round, you will mark the result obtained on your Winston's route sheet. You will have to reach the Golden Country before the end of the eight rounds of the game.

You will lose, and you won't even score, if you don't achieve it!

A Game Round

Each round consists of five steps that you will have to solve in order.

1. Mark the round. Mark the current round's box on Winston's route sheet. In the first round, mark the first box of the rounds' track (R1).
   • Note: When playing at the difficulty level x1, mark R0 instead of R1 in the first round (see Difficulty).
2. Roll the dice. Roll the six dice and keep them available. You will use their results in the next step.
   • Note: When playing with the "Big Brother's eye" modifier, remove one die if applicable (see Difficulty).
3. Place the dice. Place each die, one at a time and in your chosen order, into its corresponding colour space on your Winston's route sheet, and apply its effect (see Placing the Dice).
   • The punishment for thinking badly is being kidnapped and tortured into confessing to thought crimes and eventually, if you resist, being taken to room 101.
4. Calculate the result. Calculate the result of the round by adding the values of the placed dice and subtracting the value of the Room 101 die.
5. Move on the route. Mark on Winston's route sheet a number of boxes equal to the result of the round. We recommend marking the last box of the round with an X. Start counting from the initial box in the first round, or from the next box after the last one already marked with an X.
   • If the last marked box is a Control Zone or Maximum Security, mark the next box on the Big Brother's track. Through telescreens, zeppelins and omnipresent microphones, the party members are closely watched by the thought police.
   • Control Zone: Boxes with a coloured frame located at the corners of the route.
   • Maximum Security: Gray dots you will find on your path.

Placing the Dice

A die can be in one of these three states:

• Removed die: a die removed by the effect of the Blue die or for ending in a Control Zone or Maximum Security with the "Big Brother's eye" modifier (see Difficulty).
• Available die: a die that has not been removed and has not yet been placed on its space.
• Placed die: a die that has not been removed and has already been placed on its space, with its effect applied.

Every time you place an available die on its corresponding space, you must apply its effect:

Miniluv (Red die)

Match the value of the Red die to the lowest value placed die.

You cannot place the Red die until you have placed at least one die.

Example: The Red die (5) matches the Blue die (2) because it is the lowest value die already placed.

Miniluv is the ministry in charge of applying the laws and maintaining order: it re-educates citizens through fear, torture or brainwashing.

Miniplenty (Green die)

Re-roll as many available dice as the value of the Green die.

You cannot place the Green die if there are not enough dice available to re-roll.

Example: You must re-roll two available dice from Purple (4), Red (5) or Yellow (1).

In Miniplenty, the economy is planned, based on a state of permanent shortages, and rationing is administered.

Minipax (Blue die)

Remove a placed or available die of a higher value than the Blue die.

You may never remove the thought police Yellow die. You cannot place the Blue die if there is no other die with a higher value.

Example: You can remove the White die (5), but not the Yellow die (6) even if its value is higher than the value of the Blue die (3).

Minipax perpetuates a limited and irresolvable war with the purpose of keeping alive the hatred towards an external enemy and thus distracting its citizens.

Important

If in a round you cannot place and apply all available dice, proceed to the next round without marking any boxes on Winston's route.

Minitrue (White die)

Change the value of another placed or available die of repeating value, to match the value of the White die.

You cannot place the White die if there are no other dice with repeating values.

Example: You must change the value of the Yellow (6) or Purple (6) die to a value of 5, the value of the White die (5).

In Minitrue, the news is continuously modified, history is rewritten and propaganda is used as a means of spreading instructions.

Thought Police (Yellow die)

Send to room 101 the die placed in the space indicated by the Yellow die.

You cannot place the Yellow die if there is no die in the space indicated by its value.

Note: If the value of the Yellow die is 5, send the Yellow die to Room 101.

Example: Move the Red die (4) currently in position 1 to Room 101.

The Thought Police not only watch and control, but also ensure that any disruptive ideas are not entertained.

The Brotherhood (Purple die)

Flip the Purple die and another placed or available die to show the value of the opposite face.

You can always place the Purple die.

Example: Flip the Purple die (5), changing its value from 5 to 2, and the Green die (3), changing its value from 3 to 4.

No one knows if Goldstein, one of the most hated criminals, is dead or alive, but he is suspected of leading a rebel group known as The Brotherhood.

Difficulty

In Winston, the first thing you need to do at the beginning of a game is to choose the difficulty level you want to play at. Each level slightly modifies how the game works with some special rules and also changes the final score multiplier.

Choose level x1 for the first game and increase it as you win games.

These are the three elements that modify the difficulty of the game and determine the different levels:

A Walk Through the Suburbs

Your first forays beyond London's permitted boundaries... You have more time to try to reach the Golden Country.

This modifier adds an additional round (R0). In the first round mark box R0 instead of R1 on the round track.

Apply this modifier at difficulty level x1.

Big Brother's Eye

Dreaming into a future can come at a high cost!

If the last marked box in a round is a Control Zone or Maximum Security, in addition to marking the Big Brother box, you must remove a die for the next round:

• Control Zone: Remove the die that matches the colour of the box where you finished the current round.
• Maximum Security: After rolling the dice, remove the die with the highest value. If there are multiple eligible dice, choose the one you prefer.

Apply this modifier at difficulty level x3 and x5.

Julia at Charrington's

Do you trust Mr. Charrington? And Julia? Will you be able to stay safe, away from prying eyes?

Take a detour and go by Mr. Charrington's house. This modifier makes the journey longer and more dangerous.

Apply this modifier in difficulty level x4 and x5.

Mr. Charrington is the owner of an antique shop and a small apartment in the attic, where Winston and Julia meet. This charming-looking old man, in reality, an agent of the Thought Police who will betray them. (The source prints this sentence mirrored/reversed.)

Difficulty table

Depending on the chosen difficulty, you will have to apply one or more modifiers, as indicated in the following table:

Modifier	x1	x2	x3	x4	x5
A walk through the suburbs (R0)	yes
Big Brother's eye			yes		yes
Julia at Charrington's				yes	yes

End of the Game

A game of Winston ends when one of the following events occurs:

• A. At the end of round 8 (R8). If you haven't reached the Golden Country by the end of round eight, you have been tamed by the system and you lose. There's no score for those who remain in the system.
• B. You have marked one or more boxes of the Golden Country. If you have marked one or more boxes of the Golden Country at the end of round eight, or earlier, Winston has realized his dream and overcome his fears. Calculate your final score and try to challenge yourself in a new game, at a higher difficulty level.

Final Scoring

Calculate your score that way:

1. Write down your scores in the boxes below the respective Golden Country, Big Brother and Round tracks.
2. Sum up these three scores and write the result in the SUBTOTAL box.
3. Write the multiplier corresponding to the difficulty level of the game in the reserved box below the track.
4. Multiply the SUBTOTAL by the multiplier and write the result in the TOTAL box.

That is your final score of the game!

Example (from the illustrated route sheet): 17 + 200 + 10 = 227 subtotal; multiplier 3; total 681.

Dice Overview

• Miniluv: Match the value of a placed die.
• Miniplenty: Re-roll X available dice.
• Minipax: Remove an available or placed die.
• Minitrue: Change the value of a repeated die.
• Thought Police: Send one placed die to Room 101.
• The Brotherhood: Flip the Purple die and another one.

Summary of a Round

Resolve these steps in order:

1. Mark the round: Mark the round in the rounds' track.
2. Roll the dice: Roll the 6 dice and keep them available.
3. Place the dice: Place the dice one by one and apply their effect.
4. Calculate the result: Sum up the placed dice and subtract Room 101.
5. Move on the route: Mark as many boxes as your result on the route sheet.