Survivalist
Survivalist Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Player Area
- 1 Compass Token (first-player marker)
- 6 Survivalist Meeples, one in each color
- 7 Secret Skills Cards, one for each resource type
- 6 Playerboards, one in each color
Main Board
- 1 Game Board
- 4 Big Haul Tiles (see backside for player count)
- 7 Fate Tiles (2 sets; 1 spare set included in case any backs are noticeably damaged)
- 1 Moon Token (game round marker)
Draw Bag
- 1 Draw Bag
- 25 Red Discs ("chest wounds")
- 25 Pink Discs ("leftside wounds")
- 25 Cream Discs ("head wounds")
- 64 Blue Discs ("freeze")
- 25 Maroon Discs ("rightside wounds")
- 50 Yellow Discs ("sunshine")
Supply
- 56 Resource Tokens (8 of each type: Stone, Bamboo, Vine, Wood, Brush, Pelt, Bone)
- 15 Fire Tokens*
- 4 Lucky Break Tiles*
- 60 Med Cubes*
- 26 Drop Tiles in 9 varieties
- 23 Reaper Tokens
- 7 Basic Item Cards (easier to craft / less helpful)
- 21 Expert Item Cards (harder to craft / more helpful)
* These components are not meant to be limited. If they run out, use a suitable substitute.
Player Prep
Get Ready!
- Give each player a PLAYERBOARD and matching Survivalist MEEPLE.
- On each Playerboard, place one FIRE, MED, and REAPER. Add a 2nd Reaper when playing with 2P.
- Deal each player one SECRET SKILLS card (kept hidden from opponents).
- Each player places one of each color WOUND disc on the four matching parts of their body.
- Each player puts 2 FREEZE discs on both the "D" and "E" spots in their EXPOSURE area. (See Page 15 for an alternate setup option.)
- Choose a player at random and give them the COMPASS token.
- Take all remaining DISCS and place them in the BAG – mix well.
About Your Backpack
Each Playerboard has a BACKPACK section. This is where players hold any Resource Tokens they collect. Each Backpack has a capacity of FIVE tokens. During their turn, players may collect more than five, exchange newly drawn tokens with those they're already holding, and discard tokens as needed. The only requirement is that players finish their turn with no more than five Resource Tokens.
About Your Exposure
Each Playerboard has an EXPOSURE section. This area indicates how COLD the survivalist has become. When there are ZERO blue discs in this area, the player is keeping warm. When there are TEN blue discs, they are on the verge of collapse!
Game Setup
Step by Step
- Place the GAME BOARD in the center of the play area.
- To track the rounds, place the MOON TOKEN on a spot in the HORIZON area (based on the number of players):
- 3-6 Players: [snowflake icon]
- 2 Players: [cloud icon]
- Place on the board the BIG HAUL TILE whose back matches the number of players (ignore in 2P). Return the rest to the box.
- Take ONE of the sets of seven FATE TILES (each with a unique threat icon), shuffle them and fill the Fate tracker placing them face-down, without looking at them. You won't be using the 2nd set of identical tiles!
- Stack REAPERS above the Fate Tiles, based on the numbers indicated. Place none on the "0" spot.
- Each THREAT also receives ONE Reaper. Threats marked with an asterisk receive a SECOND Reaper, but only in the following player counts:
- 3P: the asterisked threat icons shown are the tally-mark icon, the battery icon, and the snake icon
- 2P and 4P: the tally-mark icon and the battery icon
- 5P: the tally-mark icon
- Stack the RESOURCE TOKENS face-down by the board in any number of draw piles. Do the same for the DROP TILES.
- Place 3 Resource Tokens FACE-DOWN on the three VALLEY spaces without looking at them.
- Draw TWO Resource Tokens and flip them FACE-UP beside the board. This is the start of the resource DISCARD PILE.
- Draw and place five DROP TILES face-down in the DROP ZONE area. Flip them all face-up at the same time.
- Place the MEDS, FIRE and LUCKY BREAK TILES beside the game board.
- There are spots on the board that are used in some games but not others, based on the number of players. These spots are marked with: 2P / 3P / 4P / 5P to indicate when NOT to use that part of the board (for card, tile, or resource placement). Put a FIRE token on each of these non-functional spots as a reminder during the game.
Adjusting the Difficulty ("Better Luck Next Time")
After playing a couple standard games, if you'd like to adjust the difficulty, place the Moon Token on a different spot on the HORIZON during Setup:
- [cloud icon] TOUGH (extra prep time)
- [snowflake icon] TOUGHER
- [lightning icon] TOUGHEST (less prep time)
4P Example
The page shows a sample 4-player board with numbered callouts (1–15). The printed page does not include a key for the callouts.
About Fate and Reapers
Reapers are what make threats deadly! During Setup, ten Reapers are placed above the Fate Tiles. As these tiles are revealed, the Reapers above them are relocated to the THREATS column, increasing their deadliness for the game's final round (see Page 14).
Overview
Object of the Game
Be the longest surviving player.
Mission Brief
During the game players compete to collect RESOURCES and craft them into ITEMS, to protect themselves from seven deadly THREATS.
A standard game of Survivalist has 10 rounds. The core game (collecting resources and crafting items) takes place over the first 8 rounds. After each of these rounds the board is replenished (during "Beddown").
The last two rounds are special. The 9th round (marked with [crosshair icon]) is the only chance for players to use their "secret skills," and the 10th round (marked with [warning triangle icon]) is when the players finally face certain death!
Tread Carefully
As players collect resources and craft items, they'll need to draw colored discs from a DRAW BAG. Some discs represent wounds! Some represent freezing! These debilitating discs are stacked on players' playerboards. During standard gameplay (the first 8 rounds), if you get too many of these discs, you'll pass out. In the game's final round, too many will kill you!
The Basics
For your best chance of survival, remember:
- Avoid being WOUNDED...
- By COLLECTING RESOURCES...
- And CRAFTING ITEMS...
- To BYPASS THREATS!
Taking Turns
Standard Gameplay
The first EIGHT rounds make up the core game experience. Each of these rounds is played the same way – with all players first selecting and then resolving an action in the following way:
1st: Selecting Actions
Starting with the player holding the COMPASS and going clockwise, players select one action space for that round by placing their Survivalist Meeple on a spot marked with either a Backcountry icon (a single meeple) or a Campfire/Clearing icon (a group of meeples).
The nine "Backcountry" actions can be taken by only ONE meeple each round, while the "Campfire" and "Clearing" spaces can be occupied by ANY number of meeples in the same round.
Once all players have placed all of their meeples – and only then – is it time to start resolving these actions...
2nd: Resolving Actions
Players resolve the "Backcountry" actions from TOP TO BOTTOM (see example). NOTE: This order is typically different from the clockwise turn order used to select them!
Once that's done, players resolve the "Campfire," and then, finally, the "Clearing." Each time an action is resolved, return that meeple to its respective Playerboard to signify the player's turn is over.
3rd: Refresh
After all meeples have been returned to their Playerboards, it's time to refresh the game for the next round (details on Page 12).
Example: Turn Order and Backcountry
The page shows an illustrated example. Five meeples are shown with speech bubbles reading "I'll go FIRST!", "I'll go second.", "I'll go third.", "I'll go fourth.", and "I'll go LAST!" The example Backcountry column reads, from top to bottom:
- Forage (forest icon): bag showing 4, reward hex showing 1
- Craft (craft icon): bag showing 3
- Gather (ONE): bag showing 4, reward hex showing 1
- Gather (TWO): bag showing 3
- Gather (ALL): bag showing 3
- Craft (craft icon): bag showing 3, reward hex showing 1
- Forage (forest icon): bag showing 1, reward hex showing 1
Resolving Actions
Backcountry
Resolving an action in the Backcountry has three steps that MUST always be done in the following order:
1st: Risk of Injury
Players draw Discs from the Draw Bag based on the number shown on this icon (the bag icon).
Players must draw these discs even if they are unable to perform the action (or choose not to).
Once drawn, players place these discs on their Playerboards (keeping capacity limits in mind). See Page 9 for details.
2nd: Main Action
This is how players collect Resource Tokens, craft Items, and incidentally, gain more Meds.
There are three main actions in the game:
- GATHER to take resources from the RIDGE
- FORAGE to take resources from the VALLEY
- CRAFT to exchange resources for cards
These actions are explained on Page 10.
3rd: Airdrop!
Players will get a little bit of help from above! Action spaces with this hexagon signify the number of Drop Tiles a player may consume (in any order) from the DROP ZONE.
Consuming a Drop Tile consists of taking the action written on it (in part or in full) and placing the tile in a discard pile by the board.
Learn more about Drop Tiles on Page 11.
Resting
Resolving an action in the CLEARING or CAMPFIRE is more straightforward. These spots do not expose players to any risk (bag draw), grant them a main action, or get them access to airdrops. Instead:
- A player visiting the CLEARING may REMOVE TWO Wounds and ONE Freeze from their Playerboard.
- While players visiting the CAMPFIRE may REMOVE THREE Freeze and ONE Wound. This constitutes their entire turn.
NOTE: Discarded Wounds and Freeze discs are ALWAYS returned to the BAG.
1st: Risk of Injury
Drawing Discs
Each time a player selects an action in the Backcountry they must draw discs from the bag (without looking!) BEFORE proceeding with their turn. These discs come in three types – most are bad news:
- HARMLESS ONES: The yellow "Sunshine" discs represent a carefree hour in the wilderness and have no further impact on gameplay. When players draw these, they're immediately returned to the box – NOT THE BAG!
- FRUSTRATING ONES: Each time a player draws a blue "Freeze" disc they must place it in the EXPOSURE section of their Playerboard (which holds a maximum of ten blue discs). Once placed, freeze tokens cannot be relocated within the Exposure area.
- DEADLY ONES: The other disc colors (Maroon, Red, Pink, Cream) symbolize WOUNDS. When drawn, players put these discs on their Playerboard on the designated area. Each player can safely stack up to THREE wounds of any given color on their Playerboard.
Whoops!
Sometimes a player will accidentally draw more discs from the bag than their action or threat requires. In these cases, players return ALL of these discs to the bag, shake it, show an empty hand, and redraw the correct amount.
Note (printed in small italics on the page): It's highly unlikely the draw bag will run out of discs during the game. However, if the bag ever contains LESS THAN SIX discs, gather an EQUAL PROPORTION of each color of disc from the discarded Sunshine and the Playerboards of the dead (not in a critical tie). Use these discs to sufficiently replenish the bag and continue play…
Too Many Discs
Players can only hold so many Wounds or Freeze discs on their Playerboards before they get in trouble (see the MAX capacity written beside each spot).
Passing Out
During the game, players "pass out" if they draw a disc they can't fit on their Playerboard. This could be the FOURTH Wound of a particular color or their ELEVENTH Freeze.
In these instances, players immediately return their meeple to their Playerboard WITHOUT taking the rest of their turn that round. They keep all drawn discs they were able to fit on their Playerboard and return any that they couldn't fit back to the bag (including the Wound that knocked 'em out).
Using Meds
Last Resort
In cases where a drawn Wound or Freeze disc would cause a player to pass out (or die in the final round), the player has one last line of defense: MEDS.
Instead of losing out on their turn (or ending their game in the final round), they may discard one Med, place the deadly disc back in the BAG, and draw a REPLACEMENT for that disc. If they survive the redraw they're allowed to continue with the rest of their turn as usual. Players may repeat this process as long as they have Meds to do so.
2nd: Main Action
Two of the game's main actions allow players to take Resource Tokens from the Game Board and place them in their Backpack. One of the game's main actions allows players to spend Resource Tokens from their Backpack to gain Item Cards.
Getting Resources
- GATHER: Take the number of face-up Resource Tokens from the RIDGE indicated on the action space (one/two/all). Place them face-up in empty spots in your Backpack. NOTE: The Ridge only refills between rounds so the number of resources a player is able to gather may be limited by other players' actions earlier in that same round!
- FORAGE: Draw one face-down Resource Token from the VALLEY and place it face-up in an empty spot in your Backpack.
NOTE: When Gathering/Foraging, take ALL Resource Tokens the action allows into your hand. Place any you choose not to keep in the DISCARD PILE.
Getting Items
- CRAFT: Take ONE Basic or Expert Item Card from the Game Board by discarding (from your Backpack) the three Resource Tokens shown on the card. If the card has Meds on it, take those as well. Place this card FACE-UP near your Playerboard for everyone to see.
Example: Expert Bushcraft, Fire Plow. To craft this card, a player must discard one Bone, one Wood, and one Bamboo from their Backpack. This item grants protection from TWO threats (Illness and Fatigue) and is worth 28pts in a tie-breaker.
Example: Basic Bushcraft, Drag Noose. To craft this card, a player can discard ANY three Resource Tokens from their Backpack. This item grants protection from only ONE threat (Hunger) and is worth 12pts in a tie-breaker.
Using Fire
IMPORTANT: Fire gives players flexibility! Two fire tokens can be discarded in place of ANY ONE Resource Token when crafting (or performing secret skills in the 9th round).
3rd: Airdrops!
Drop Tile Powers
These tiles (which offer unique bonus powers) must be consumed and discarded the moment they're selected. These powers are:
- COLLECT FIRE: Take the number of Fire Tokens indicated from the SUPPLY and place them on your Playerboard. Players may not hold more than FOUR fire tokens at one time.
- STEAL FIRE: Take one Fire Token from an OPPONENT and place it on your Playerboard. (You may not steal a Fire Token if you do not have capacity to hold it.)
- Unlabeled tile (Med icon marked 2, plus binoculars icon): Take 2 Meds from the supply and place them on your playerboard. Then "Peek" once. Each Peek action lets you look at EITHER:
- (A) ONE face-down Fate Tile, or...
- (B) ALL face-down Resource Tokens in the Valley
- SALVAGE: Collect one Resource Token from the DISCARD PILE. Note: Discarded resources are public information. Feel free to lay them out face-up and organized for everyone's convenience.
- TRAP: Draw a card from the top of either the Basic or Expert card decks, look at it, and keep it face-down in your personal play area. In future rounds, when you select CRAFT, you may craft this card as you would a card from the Game Board.
- SUMMON: Move a single Reaper FROM your Playerboard to the Threats OR from the Threats TO your Playerboard. You may not take from or add to the Reapers stacked above the Fate Tiles.
- HEAL ONE: Remove ONE Wound and return it to the BAG. You may choose to remove one Wound of any one of the four Wound colors.
- HEAL ALL: Remove ALL Wounds of a SINGLE color (to a max of three) from your Playerboard and return them all to the BAG.
- CLEAR FREEZE: Remove the number of indicated Freeze Discs from your Playerboard and return them all to the BAG.
Beware of Exposure
In Survivalist you can be too cold to collect certain airdrops! When a player has a Freeze disc on one of their Exposure spots (A/B/C/D/E) they may NOT consume a Drop Tile placed on the corresponding spot in the Drop Zone.
"Beddown"
Between Rounds
Once all players have resolved their actions and returned their meeples to their Playerboards, the round is over and it's time to refresh the game for the next round. This step – called Beddown – occurs 7 times during a standard game.
Beddown is not necessary leading into the 9th round ("Secret Skills," marked with the crosshair icon) or 10th round ("Facing Threats," marked with the warning triangle icon). In these rounds simply advance the MOON and COMPASS.
Recommended
It can be easy to miss a Beddown step, especially when multiple people are trying to help or passing tokens prematurely. Pick one player to manage Beddown and follow the steps in order as outlined on the bottom of the Playerboards – calling out each step as they go.
Follow These Steps!
- MOON: Advance the round marker one space to the right along the HORIZON.
- COMPASS: Pass the 1st player marker one player, clockwise. (In a 2 player game just pass it back and forth.)
- FATE: Flip the leftmost face-down Fate Tile (revealing which threat is about to get more deadly)...
- REAPERS: Move the Reaper Token(s) above that newly-revealed Fate Tile to the corresponding Threat.
- MEDS: Place one Med on every Basic & Expert card on the game board. (Do this even if they already have Meds on them.)
- ITEMS: Replace any Item cards taken that round, drawing replacements from their respective decks. (Don't add Meds yet!)
- RIDGE: DISCARD any ungathered Resource Tokens then draw new ones to refill the Ridge spaces (with face-up tokens).
- VALLEY: LEAVE any remaining Resource Tokens in the Valley. Replace only those that have been taken (with face-down tokens).
- DROP ZONE: Discard all unclaimed Drop Tiles. Draw another 5, placing them all on the board before flipping them face-up at once.
Note (printed beside the steps, marked with a green-check icon on the Ridge, Valley and Drop Zone draw piles): At some point, you may deplete the draw piles of the tokens or tiles marked here with this icon. When this happens, shuffle the discarded ones to make new draw piles. This is NOT the case with Basic Item Cards, though. Once this deck is depleted, simply leave the board slots empty.
Secret Skills
Big Reveal
Round nine (marked with the crosshair icon) is different than the previous rounds. Players will NOT select and resolve actions. Instead, they will ONLY use their secret skills as follows:
In turn order, players flip their Secret Skills Card face-up and discard Resource Tokens from their Backpack to take advantage of the various exchanges listed on their card. These exchanges might allow them to Heal a Wound, Remove a Freeze, Summon a Reaper, or take a Lucky Break Tile from the supply. Players may carry out multiple exchanges but may only carry out EACH of the four exchanges ONE time.
- REMINDER: Two Fire Tokens can be used in the place of any one Resource Token during the game – including when players are making these secret skill exchanges.
- RECOMMENDED: At the end of this round, clear any remaining tokens from the Ridge, Valley, and Drop Zone areas of the board to make room for threat resolution.
Making Exchanges
The Secret Skills card lists four exchanges (each shown as a number of Resource Token icons, with the outcome to the right, and the number badge indicating how many):
- 1 Bone → Heal One Wound (plus icon), badge 1
- 2 Bone → Summon a Reaper (reaper icon), badge 3
- 4 Bone → Lucky Break Tile (clover icon)
- 1 Fire → Remove a Freeze Disc (freeze icon), badge 1
The card's footer reads: "YOU CAN MAKE EACH EXCHANGE ONLY ONCE!"
Example: This player could discard 2 Bone tokens from their Backpack to perform the Summon action 3 times. Then discard 3 Bone and 2 Fire to take a Lucky Break from the supply. Then discard their last Fire to remove one Freeze Disc from their board. They could NOT alternatively remove 5 Wounds and 3 Freeze Discs because each player can make each exchange only ONCE!
Little Bit of Luck
During the final round, when a player is faced with a threat they're not protected against, they may discard a Lucky Break Tile to skip to the next threat (no bag draw). Players MUST decide to use their Lucky Break BEFORE they begin drawing discs for the threat they intend to skip.
Note: The Reaper Tokens that players have on their Playerboards at the end of this round have no further effect in the game and will neither help nor hurt their owners in the final round.
10th Round: Final Round
Facing the Threats
When the Moon Token reaches the warning triangle icon it is time for the game's 10th and final round.
Players will NOT select or resolve actions (like in the first 8 rounds), nor will they use their secret skills (like in the 9th round). Instead, players place their meeples to the left of the large THIRST icon. In turn order, players will attempt to survive Thirst. All players face this threat as a group before anyone faces the next one.
- PROTECTED: If a player has crafted an Item Card (Basic or Expert) displaying the symbol of the threat being faced, they may move their meeple to the next threat without consequence – no drawing from the bag is required.
- UNPROTECTED: If a player has NOT crafted an Item Card displaying the symbol of the threat being faced, they must draw TWO discs for EACH Reaper Token stacked beside that threat (ignore the reaper icon printed on the board). After doing so they may advance their meeple to the next threat.
Once all players have faced Thirst, repeat the process for STORMS. Do this for every threat, moving UP the Threat column, from Thirst to Isolation. Be sure to pass the Compass to the next (living) player at the start of each new threat and always draw discs in turn order.
The threat column, from bottom to top, is: Thirst, Storms, Hunger, Illness, Wildlife, Fatigue, Isolation.
Example: The two green players crafted Item Cards this game with the Thirst icon on them, so both skip ahead safely to Storms (without drawing) and wait for the others. The rest of the players (in turn order) each need to draw six discs from the bag (two per Reaper). If they survive, they can join the green players at Storms. Since there are no Reapers on Storms, all players (protected or not) will skip ahead to face Hunger – drawing four from the bag if they lack protection.
How Reapers Kill You
DEATH: When facing the threats in the game's final round, players DIE when Reapers force them to draw a disc they can't fit on their Playerboard (or dodge using Meds). This can be either a 4th Wound of the same color or their 11th Freeze disc. When this happens, players LAY their meeples down beside the threat that killed them.
NOTE: Players must draw the full number of discs required by a threat even if they die in the midst of drawing. Players KEEP all the discs from the draw that killed them on their Playerboard (even when they exceed the maximums). The player is dead either way, but the discs may factor in the tie-breaker!
Game End
Winning
The player that survives the most threats wins. (Even if they don't survive all seven.)
Tie Breaker
Ties occur if the longest surviving players all (1) die on the same threat or (2) survive all threats. In the case of a tie, players add up the numbers in the STAR ICONS on their crafted Item Cards and then subtract one for each Wound and Freeze on their Playerboards (including any excess from their final draw).
The player with the highest total score wins.
If players are STILL tied, think back to the game's starting round... The winner is the tied player who selected their action LATEST in that round.
Go for Broke
The object of the game is to outlast the other players, NOT necessarily to survive all of the threats. However, if all players but one have perished, it's highly recommended to "play it out" and see if the last player (who's already won) can survive all seven threats.
Variants and Errata
Exposure Variant
While it adds a bit of complication during Setup, the game plays better when each player places their starting Freeze Discs in a certain arrangement based on turn order. To do this, assign a first player, given them the Compass, and then place each player's Freeze Discs on their Playerboards as follows:
The printed page shows, for each seat (1st through 6th player), a diagram of two blue Freeze discs placed on the Exposure spots (A–E). The diagrams are graphical only and are not reproduced here; each seat places its two starting Freeze discs as its diagram shows.
Trading Variant
Whenever a player goes to the Campfire they may exchange ONE Resource Token with any other player(s) also at the Campfire that round. The same is true for the Clearing. This can lead to some intense plotting and more Reaper manipulation during the Secret Skills phase. You've been warned.
Errata
Odds are we've messed something up with the rulebooks or we've had to make some minor patch to the rules after everything was printed and shipped. Be sure to check in with us at HomesteadGames.NZ/Errata to make sure you're up to speed on any corrections.