Scarce gate cards
The good stuff is never free. Buck Tags in FULL FREEZER!, Reservations in PARKED OUT!, Gear in SITE TAKEN!, draw tags in ONCE IN A LIFETIME — there are never enough to go around, so every spend is a decision.
The lineup
Eight base games at $24.99 (54 cards in a hook box) and eight expansions at $19.99 (24 cards in a tuck box — each one shuffles straight into its base game). The line is in final proofing now and launches on The Game Crafter; FULL FREEZER! and its expansion are first through the press.
Showing all 16 games
No games match that filter.
One recipe, sixteen tables
Every Northwoods game is built on the same three-part recipe, so learning your second game takes about a minute. The setting changes — deer camp, duck blind, ice, turkey woods, the campground loop — the engine doesn't.
A gamble worth taking
Each deck hides a push-your-luck score: toast the s'more for a Golden +5 instead of a safe +2, pay for a desert park with water for +1, or hold out for the Musky and the Banded Mallard instead of banking the sure thing.
Penalty cards that stick
Bad luck you can't just throw away. Tag Soup can never be discarded and costs 2 a card, Wet Firewood sours a campsite, Dropped It! cards punish a careless road trip. Half the game is getting rid of them honestly.
Start with FULL FREEZER!
It's the flagship for a reason — and the first game through the press, proof ordered now. Fill your Trophy Wall with bucks before the season ends, but spend carefully: there are only 6 Buck Tags for 16 bucks in the deck. Play Buck Fever the moment a rival walls a buck and that buck escapes, tag and all. And whatever you do, don't end the season holding Tag Soup.
$24.99 · 54 poker cards in a hook box · Add Second Helping ($19.99) for drop-tine bucks, The Rut, and four more helpings of soup.
Free preview: “Opening Morning”
Try the flagship before you buy it. Opening Morning is a complete, standalone print-and-play taste of FULL FREEZER! — the same core loop as the full game, cut down to a 24-card deck and a three-deer Trophy Wall, good for a real two-player game in about 10–15 minutes. The printable deck is in production now and goes out free when the shop launches; the quick-start sheet on this page is ready today, so you can read exactly how it plays.
- 24 preview cards — Spike through Ten-Pointer, Buck Tags, Buck Fever, Hot Coffee, and the dreaded Tag Soup
- 3 printed sheets — cards, card back, and rules card, all on the pages, when the deck drops at launch
- The full game adds the Wide Twelve and The Big One, all 54 cards, up to 6 players — and the Second Helping expansion
Playtesting, kitchen-table style
Every Northwoods game is being sharpened the old-fashioned way: prototype decks, a kitchen table, and friends who aren't afraid to say “this part confused me.” Sessions run at home, guided (we teach it) and blind (you learn it from the rules alone — the tougher test, and the one that counts double). Honest reactions are the whole point; a confusing moment is worth more than a polite “it was fine.”
Launch and production roll on regardless — playtest feedback is the improvement loop that makes each game, and each reprint, better.
Play a full game
15–20 minutes with a prototype deck. Guided sessions get a five-minute teach; blind sessions get the printed rules and nothing else.
Score it cold
Fun, 1 to 10 — first number that comes to mind. Would you play again if nobody asked? Would you buy it at $24.99?
Name the moments
The most confusing moment and the best moment. Where you got stuck is exactly what gets fixed.
Before you ask
When can I buy them, and where?
The line is in final proofing now and launches on The Game Crafter. FULL FREEZER! and Second Helping are first through the press — both are proof ordered — with the other fourteen in the launch lineup behind them. The free Opening Morning preview above is the fastest way to play one today.
Do the expansions work on their own?
No — each expansion requires its base game and shuffles straight into it. Every expansion card and game page on this site names the base game it needs.
How much do they cost?
Base games are $24.99 — 54 poker cards in a hook box. Expansions are $19.99 — 24 poker cards in a tuck box. Games are printed on demand by The Game Crafter at launch.
Who are they for, and how long is a game?
Every game is 2–6 players, ages 14+, and runs 15–20 minutes. They're family-clean, teach in about five minutes, and are built for deer camp, the shanty, the campsite — and the kitchen table.
Which game should I start with?
FULL FREEZER! — the deer camp flagship, first through the press. Hunters who live for birds start with LIMIT OUT!, anglers with THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY or TIP-UP!, and road-trippers with PARKED OUT!
The shop opens at launch. The preview is free today.
Read the Opening Morning quick-start, see exactly how FULL FREEZER! plays, and be ready when the first boxes go on sale at The Game Crafter.
Get the free preview Browse the 16 games