All the players save one (or a couple) start the game touching one of the bases (dens). They are considered the prey of the forest (deer, antelope, small game). In the playing area are placed a large number of objects (ideally bread, potatoes, carrots, sprouts [we suggest biodegradable/edible objects just in case some are not found]) which represent food. The prey must go into the forest and gather three items of food (and return them to the safety zone) or risk starvation during the winter. They have a time limit, representing a year, in order to find their food and return to their den.

The players who are not prey are predators (wolf, grizzly, eagle, etc). The predator’s job is to capture the prey. The predator does this by touching/removing ‘life’ markers from the prey.

The prey has three methods of defence: Run, Hide or Freeze - Prey that is totally immobile is considered to by camouflaged, and cannot be touched by the predator.

Each prey carries one object to symbolize themselves. If they are ‘eaten’ by the predator, they must give their life token to the predator that got them. They then become a predator for the next year. The predator must get three prey within the time period (year) or it starves for the winter. Any predator that starves becomes prey for the next year.

The game should start with only a small amount of food in the forest the first year (maybe only twice the number of prey- they need three to survive). The game ends when either everyone is a predator, or prey. The game can be restarted with different amounts of food or different numbers of predators.