Winter Den

Winter Den is a free semi-cooperative asymmetric survival game for exactly five players. Five animals (Bear, Fox, Raccoon, Rabbit, and Mole) share an underground burrow and must prepare for winter hibernation over seven days (rounds).

Each animal has unique survival requirements (food, warmth, water, shelter, and energy), different action costs, a fixed turn order, and a Strength Rank that determines resource-claiming priority.

Each round, every player takes one action: forage food, forage warmth, build or break a barricade, relocate resources, or rest. All information is open. There are no dice, no cards, and no hidden elements. Stronger animals claim contested resources first and can physically relocate weaker animals to different rooms. Barricades seal off tunnels, controlling access to water sources and creating sheltered areas required for survival.

After seven rounds, winter arrives and each animal is checked against all five survival requirements. Animals that fail any single check perish. An optional scoring system rewards survival (+5 points) and penalises hoarding: excess resources in a shelter earn bonus points if all five animals survive, but become penalties if any animal perishes. The highest score wins, with energy as a tiebreaker.

The game includes a hand-drawn game board, five animal player cards with individual action references and energy trackers, and a token sheet. It is a free print-and-play release.

—description from the designer