The Wintering

A game of control as winter draws in…

The Wintering is an elegant two-player abstract strategy game set in an ancient woodland. The idea for this game has been with me for quite a while, not so much the theme, but the board and the mechanics. I revisited it while working on Meadowvale, looking for a companion title. The original rules, just four of them, had been in place for some time and worked fine. But it still lacked that one ‘game moment’ where layered strategy suddenly reveals itself. Eventually, I adjusted a couple of the mechanics, still keeping the rules minimal, and that missing moment clicked into place. It’s a game that genuinely can be learnt in two minutes, but will take a lot of playing to master. Once I reached that point, it felt clear that The Wintering had to come first, as the lead-in to Meadowvale.

The theme followed quite naturally. The board has a kind of forest clearing already built into its design, and Roe Deer — shy, folkloric, and part of the British countryside — appear in both games. It gave me a perfect thematic link.

Where Meadowvale is grounded in ecology — in real landscapes and animal behaviours — The Wintering feels older, more symbolic. It’s a quiet echo of folklore.

At its heart, The Wintering is a two-player an abstract strategy game with just four core rules, but those rules unlock a surprisingly deep interaction space. Pieces move forward on their original square colour, shift through a central 'Turning' mechanic, and evolve from attackers into blockers. There is no capture-based victory. Instead, you win by positioning: lock your opponent’s options, and the game, like the forest, falls silent. With a 9x10 board, blocked central terrain, and shifting threat dynamics, The Wintering plays like a distant cousin to Chess or Hnefatafl — elegant, tactile, quiet, and strategic.

Though abstract in structure, The Wintering plays out across three distinct phases that echo seasonal change mirroring the game’s central aim. In The Advance, the board is open and possibilities are wide. In The Turning, tokens change colour and function, and the space begins to tighten. And in The Wintering, players face a final test of structure, timing, and foresight. The goal is not to eliminate — but to endure. When your opponent can no longer act, winter has arrived, and you have won.

Chris Long