Game Objective

Hey there, survivor! Ready to face the zombie apocalypse? In Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game, you and your friends (or not-so-friends...) are part of a colony of survivors trying to endure a harsh winter. But don't think it's just about surviving the zombies! The colony has a main objective to fulfill, but each of you also has a secret objective, which may or may not align with the greater good. Victory is individual: only those who complete their secret objective at the end of the game win.

The game can end in three ways:

• If the colony's morale reaches 0.
• If the round marker reaches 0.
• If the players complete the main objective.

So, prepare for moments of tense cooperation, distrust, and, who knows, a good dose of betrayal. The colony's survival may depend on you, but your victory, ah, that's all yours!

Setup

Let's set up the table for disaster (and fun)! Follow these steps to assemble your apocalyptic scenario:

1. Place the colony board in the center of the table and the 6 location cards around it, forming the play area.
2. Each player takes a reference card.
3. Choose a main objective (for the first game, "We Need More Samples" is a great choice!). Place the card in the indicated space on the colony board and follow its specific setup instructions.
4. Prepare the secret objectives:
   • Shuffle the secret objective cards without betrayal and separate 2 per player.
   • Shuffle the secret objective cards with betrayal and add 1, face down, to the separated non-betrayal cards.
   • Shuffle all these cards and deal 1 to each player, face down. No one can reveal their secret objective!
5. Shuffle the crisis cards and place the deck in the corresponding space on the colony board.
6. Separately shuffle the decks of survivor cards, exile objective cards, and crossroad cards, and place them next to the colony board. (Note: some crossroad cards have adult themes. You can remove them if you prefer; they have a specific symbol.)
7. Shuffle the starting item cards and deal 5 to each player. The remaining cards go back into the box.
8. Separate the other item cards by location, shuffle each deck, and place them on the corresponding location cards.
9. Each player draws 4 survivor cards, chooses 2 for their group, and returns the other 2 to the deck, which should be reshuffled.
10. From their 2 survivors, each player chooses 1 to be the group leader and places them in the indicated space on their reference card. The other survivor goes to the followers area.
11. Place each player's survivor pawns on the colony board, in the dashed circles of the "Inhabitants" area.
12. Keep the other pawns (zombies, helpless survivors) and tokens (barricade, noise, food, hunger, wound) within everyone's reach.
13. The player whose group leader has the highest influence value receives the first player token. They will be the first to play and will decide ties.

Done! The colony is set up, the zombies are lurking, and distrust already hangs in the air. Let the game begin!

The Game Turn

A game of Dead of Winter is divided into rounds, and each round has two main phases: the Player Turns Phase and the Colony Phase.

Player Turns Phase

This is the time to act! The player turns phase happens in 3 steps:

1. Reveal Crisis: Each round, a new crisis card is revealed. If the colony cannot prevent this crisis, its negative effect will occur in the Colony Phase. Keep an eye on the types of items needed for prevention!
2. Roll Action Dice: All players collect their used and unused action dice. Each player receives 1 base action die, plus 1 extra action die for each survivor they control. Roll all your dice and keep the results in the unused action dice pool. Remember: the dice belong to the group, not a specific survivor!
3. Player Turns: Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player will take their turn.
   • At the beginning of your turn, the person to your right draws a crossroad card. They keep the card secret and only reveal it if you activate its trigger during your turn. If activated, you choose one of the options and the effect occurs. If not activated, the card returns to the bottom of the deck.
   • During your turn, you can perform various actions, spending action dice or not.
   • When you finish your actions (or have nothing left to do), the turn passes to the player to your left.

Player Turn Actions

Here's what you can do on your turn. Some actions require an action die with a specific value, others just spend any die, and some don't spend any die at all!

Actions that spend an Action Die

To spend a die, take one from your unused action dice pool and place it in the used action dice pool.

• Attack:
  • Choose one of your survivors and spend an action die with a value equal to or greater than their attack value.
  • You can attack a zombie or a survivor in the same location.
  • If it's a zombie: it dies and is removed. You make an exposure roll for the survivor who attacked.
  • If it's another survivor: roll the action die you used. If the result is less than or equal to your survivor's attack, the target receives a wound token and you take a random card from the hand of the player controlling them. There is no exposure roll here!
  • You can attack multiple times with the same survivor, spending one die for each attack.
  • You cannot attack your own survivors or helpless survivors.
• Search:
  • Choose one of your survivors in any location (except the colony) and spend an action die with a value equal to or greater than their search value.
  • Draw 1 item card from the location's deck. You can:
    • Place the card in your hand and end the search.
    • Make noise: place a noise token in an empty space at the location to draw and look at one more card. You can repeat this until there are no more noise spaces or you decide to stop. When you stop, place 1 of the drawn cards in your hand and the rest at the bottom of the item deck.
  • You can search multiple times with the same survivor, spending one die for each search.
• Barricade: Choose one of your survivors and spend an action die (any result) to place a barricade token in any empty entrance space at the location where the survivor is.
• Clear Waste: If you have at least 1 survivor in the colony, spend 1 action die (any result) to remove the top 3 cards from the game's waste pile. (Remember: too many cards in the waste pile decrease morale!)
• Attract Zombies: Choose one of your survivors and spend an action die (any result) to take 2 zombies from any location and place them in empty entrance spaces at the location where the survivor is.
• Survivor Ability: Some survivor abilities require spending an action die with a value equal to or greater than the number indicated on the ability. You can use the ability multiple times in the same turn, unless the card states otherwise.

Actions that do not spend any Action Die

• Play a Card: You can play cards from your hand as many times as you want. Place the card on top of the waste pile (except event item cards, which are removed from the game). Equipment cards can be equipped on any of your survivors, not going to the waste pile.
• Contribute a Card to the Crisis: Contribute 1 or more cards from your hand (face down) and/or equipped on your survivors to help prevent the current crisis. Cards with the correct symbol help; with a different symbol, they hinder.
• Move a Survivor: Each survivor can move once per turn to any location with an empty space. After each movement, you make an exposure roll.
• Spend Food Tokens: Remove 1 or more food tokens from the colony's supply. For each token spent, increase the value of an unused action die by 1.
• Request Cards: Request 1 or more item cards from other players. If they have them, they can give them to you, but the card must be revealed and used immediately (cannot be contributed to the crisis).
• Transfer: Transfer an equipped item from one of your survivors to another of your survivors in the same location.
• Vote to Exile a Player: Once per turn, you can initiate a vote to exile another player. Everyone votes "yes" or "no" simultaneously. The first player decides ties.

Exposure Roll

Whenever a survivor moves to a new location or kills a zombie, you must roll the Exposure Die. The results can be:

• Nothing: Phew! Nothing happens.
• Wound: The survivor receives 1 wound token.
• Frostbite: The survivor receives 1 frostbite wound token. It counts as a wound and, at the beginning of each of your turns, survivors with frostbite receive an additional wound.
• Bite: The survivor dies, and the bite effect spreads to the survivor with the lowest influence in the same location. The affected player can kill the survivor (stopping the spread) or roll the exposure die again.

Remember: whenever a survivor dies, the colony's morale decreases by 1.

Colony Phase

After all players have had their turns, it's the colony's turn to face the consequences. This phase has 7 steps:

1. Pay Food: Remove 1 food token from the supply for every 2 survivors in the colony (rounding up). If there isn't enough food, place a hunger token in the supply and decrease morale by 1 for each hunger token present.
2. Waste Check: Count the cards in the waste pile. For every 10 cards (rounding down), decrease morale by 1.
3. Resolve Crisis: Shuffle and reveal the cards contributed to the crisis. Count the positive points (cards with the correct symbol) and negative points (cards with a different symbol). If the total is less than the number of non-exiled players, the crisis occurs. If it's equal to or greater, the crisis is avoided. If it exceeds by 2 or more, the colony gains 1 morale. Remove the crisis cards from the game.
4. Zombie Appearance:
   • Colony: 1 zombie for every 2 survivors (including helpless) in the colony. Zombies appear in numbered entrances. If an entrance is full and barricaded, the barricade is destroyed and the zombie removed. If it's full and unbarricaded, the entrance is overrun, the zombie is removed, and the survivor with the lowest influence in the colony dies (or a helpless one, if only helpless are present).
   • Other locations: 1 zombie for each survivor in the location.
   • Noise: Remove all noise tokens from locations. For each token removed, roll an action die. If the result is 3 or less, place a zombie at that location.
5. Check Main Objective: Check if the goals of the main objective have been met. If so, the game ends immediately.
6. Update Round Marker: Decrease the round marker value by 1. If it reaches 0, the game ends immediately.
7. Pass First Player Token: The first player passes the token to the player on their right. A new round begins!

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends immediately if:

• The colony's morale reaches 0.
• The round marker reaches 0.
• The main objective is completed during the check in the Colony Phase.

When the game ends, it's time to see who truly survived (and won!). You only win if you have completed your secret objective. It's entirely possible for some players to win and others to lose, or even for everyone to lose if no one can fulfill their objective. Betrayal can be a powerful tool, but victory is always personal!

Tips for Winning

To avoid becoming just another zombie wandering around, pay attention to these tips:

1. Focus on your Secret Objective, but Keep an Eye on the Colony: Remember, you only win if you complete your secret objective. However, many secret objectives require the colony to also prosper or, at least, not fall into total ruin. Balance your actions between your personal interests and the group's survival. A ruined colony can prevent your victory, even if your secret objective is not directly cooperative.
2. Manage your Action Dice and Exposure Wisely: Your action dice are limited and valuable. Think carefully before spending them! Attacking zombies and moving between locations always involves an exposure roll, which can result in wounds or even death. Evaluate the risks and benefits of each action. Sometimes, it's better to leave a zombie alone or stay put to avoid a fatal bite that could ruin your plans and the