Description

A game of survival and exploration, for 1 - 4 players (ages 10 and up), by Steadman Watson

As a student of the Vildhall School of Wilderness Survival, you and your friends learn valuable survival skills. Now it is time to put those skills to the test on a wilderness adventure. Grab your pack, fill your canteen, check your compass and let’s head out on an adventure!

The objective of Wilderness Survival School is to make it back to town with the highest Karma score, which represents how well each player’s adventure went overall.

Each player holds cards representing the courses they have completed, which enable specific feats of outdoor survival. There are four foundation course feats available to all players: Fire Making, River Fording, Route Finding, and Shelter Building. In addition, each player selects two elective feats. Feats are not always successful, and players roll dice to determine how they did.

Before setting out on an adventure, each player fills their Day Pack with various supplies, keeping in mind the equipment requirements for chosen feats.

Each player has their own scorepad to track their vital statistics. Every player starts with the same amount of Health Points, Energy, and Karma. Health Points is the capacity to absorb damage, Energy is the capacity to take actions, and Karma is the sum of a player’s actions, both good and bad.

Each day is broken down into 6 turns, which are tracked using a turn tracker. Turns 1 - 4 are in the daylight, while turns 5 and 6 are at night. Movement and feats are undertaken during the day, while the night is used to recover Energy.

As players move, they will explore nearby terrain (moving meeples) and gradually expand the map. The map is composed of hexagon tiles; new tiles are placed by the players using simple rules and the map is different each time the game is played. Moving through the wilderness is how players will have wildlife encounters, locate additional food and water, and eventually find the way back to town.

The game ends as soon as all players make it back to town. Once everyone is back, the players tally up their Karma (including any of the secret objectives found on the foundation feat cards).

Whoever has the highest Karma score wins!

—description from the desinger