Post Apocalypse Survival Game

This is a game our youth group played last week. During our Bible time we were looking at the Book of Revelation and what will happen at the end of the world. We created this game to tie into that theme, as well as some post apocalypse scenarios.

Game: Post Apocalypse Survival

Number of players: 9+

Time: 15 minutes

Resources: Paper with printed items

Space: Hall or oval

This game is similar to Rob The Nest with some important differences. Players are split into three or more teams. Each team is given a base on the periphery of the playing space. The base must be guarded by one team member at all times. In the middle of the space are “resources” – pictures of different items that might be useful in a post apocalypse scenario (such as water, petrol, knives, sleeping bags, etc). The number of resources in the centre will depend on the size of your group. I’d recommend roughly 5 items per team. You may want to make some items rarer than others.

The aim of the game is to have the right resource at the right time. At the start of the game, teams will need to gather resources. At first this means sending team members into the middle to collect a resource and bring it back to base. Each player is only allowed to carry one resource at a time. Once all the resources in the middle are exhausted, teams may then try and steal resources from other teams. Players may line up outside an opposition base and challenge the guard to a game of Rock Paper Scissors. If the challenger wins, they get to steal a resource from the base. If they lose, they must go to the end of the line.

At a randomly determined time, the person running the game shouts out stop. Everyone must immediately return to their home base (you may decide to penalise those who take too long). The person running the game will read out a situation from a predetermined list of scenarios. The teams will then need to use their gathered resources to overcome the scenario. The team will need to give the required resources to the person running the game to gain points. If they do not have the required item(s), then they will not score any points that round. Examples of scenarios could be as simple as “you need water to survive this round” or as detailed as “There’s been an accident! A drop bear has attacked a member of your team and the bite looks infected!” Once points have been tallied, begin another round. This time there will be less resources in play as some will have been spent.

When you have decided enough rounds have been played, call the game to an end. The team with the most points wins!

Variations: We played this game with paper resources. At the end of the game, we thought that playing with real resources (big containers of water, rope etc) would add another challenge to the game. Smaller items would be easier to transport, but larger items would be more valuable. Also, we played indoors. Playing outdoors with obstacles etc would add to the challenge.

Thanks to Jess Crawford and Adam Johnson for helping put this game together.