This War of Mine: The Board Game FAQ
196 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
The Basics and States
- Does a Hole icon still block movement when a Board-Up token covers it?
- Does a Heap or Furniture card block movement through the Shelter?
- Can a character with three black dots (or Fatigue 4) still Nap on a Bed during the day?
- If a character naps in the Bed and lowers Fatigue, do they get more actions that day?
- Can a character sleep on the floor during the Day Actions phase?
- Are Cold tokens limited, do they reset each day, and what happens when they run out?
- What happens when a token or resource is used up in the box?
- What is the Storage x5 space for, and what can go on it?
- What happens when a Hunger, Misery, Wounds or Illness state reaches level 4?
- How many Day actions does a character get when several status tokens have black dots?
- If a card raises a state such as Misery and the character has no token, do they gain one?
- Does every action add Fatigue, or only certain ones?
- How can you lower a character's Misery?
- Can you build more than one Chair, and is its Misery bonus repeatable?
- Can you build more than one Bed?
- Can you replace a character who died, and can the group ever exceed four?
- How do you win or lose This War of Mine?
- If only one character is left, is the game over?
- Are Herbal Meds the same as Meds for Fate cards and objectives?
- Is it useful to put more than one Bandage or Meds on a character?
- Do assigned Meds and Bandages stay on a character, and what happens if the character dies?
- Can Meds and Bandages be used interchangeably?
- Can Sugar be eaten, and what are Herbs for?
- What happens if every character has three Wounds?
- When can you save the game, and what goes in the Save bag?
- What is the difference between discarding and removing, and when is the Waste bag emptied?
- How do several players share the four characters?
- Does a sleeping character still need food and water, and do they resolve Spirit?
- Can Fatigue go above 4?
Components and Setup
- What does the group start with, and why do characters seem to starve on day one?
- Do I keep the blank tokens and cards, and do I have to write on them?
- What are the resin furniture pieces for?
- Do I need the miniatures to play?
- How is the Events deck built, and do all three Ending Events go in?
- What are the red-corner Residents and Night Raid cards, and when do they join?
- Are the three Location cards face up or face down at setup?
- Which Fittings can a scenario start with, and can the Reinforced Door be chosen?
- Which Shelter cards are removed in the Endless Night and The Last Day scenarios?
Morning Phase and Objectives
- Do you draw an Event card on the first day after resolving the Chapter I card?
- What happens after a Chapter II or Chapter III card is resolved?
- Do you resolve the colored script number on an Event card every time it is drawn?
- Do Airdrop or Shelling Events do anything on the first day?
- Are all face-up Objective cards active, or only the top one?
- When is an Objective resolved, and can I discard counter tokens from the Findings pile?
- Can Herbal Meds satisfy an Objective that asks for Meds or Bandages?
- Do new characters from the Visitors deck need food and water right away?
- How many characters can the Snipers event hit?
Day Actions
- Do I need to reach the Place a New Fitting space to build, and where can a Fitting go?
- Where must an improved Fitting such as the Efficient Heater be placed?
- Is the Lockpick discarded when I open a Closed Door?
- Are the Shovel and Sawblade used up when I clear Rubble or saw through Bars?
- How does Marko's Hatchet open a Closed Door?
- How many actions does it take to clear Rubble?
- How many characters can use the same action space or Fitting?
- Can I use items or a Fitting created by another character in the same Action stage?
- Can a character who just joined act in the stage in which they arrived?
- Can a Fitting action be repeated several times in one action?
- Can I put more than one Wait token on a Fitting?
- Can a character take a fourth Day action?
- How does Poke About work for several characters?
- How do I build Board-Ups, and how many per action?
- How do I build Fittings from the Ideas deck?
- What does the Outside action do, and does scavenging trigger the sniper?
- If a character dies from sniper wounds on an Outside action, is the Visitor card still drawn?
- Does the Rainwater Collector need a Filter for its Day action, and when can I collect again?
- Does using a Narrative Action card like Kick the Door Down or Duty still cost a Day action?
- When are the Spirit A/B/C effects on character cards used?
Dusk and Evening
- What does each character need at Dusk, and what happens without it?
- Can characters eat before Dusk, for instance to get a third Day action?
- Can two characters share one Canned Food?
- Does a character who is away still eat and drink at Dusk?
- Can I send every character out and leave nobody on Guard?
- How does sleeping in the Evening work, and how many can sleep where?
Scavenging
- Can I end Scavenging early?
- Can I resolve the same Exploration card repeatedly by returning more cards?
- Can I choose an option that raises Noise when it is already at the maximum?
- How does the Noise roll work, and when does Noise reset?
- What does the Hiding Place card do against an encounter?
- If a Noise roll triggers a Resident while I resolve a Findings card, what comes first?
- What does the PRIVATE label mean, and can I look before taking the items?
- What if a Map or obstacle card does not match the Location?
- Is there a limit to cards in the Exploration slot?
- Can I retry a Closed Door by returning more cards after a failed Lockpick roll?
- Do I need to bring a Shovel or Sawblade on the trip to clear Rubble or Bars?
- How does carrying capacity work, and do Wood, Components and Water count?
- Does the weight limit apply when I take equipment out of the Shelter?
- Can I keep findings I cannot carry for the next night?
- What happens when a character dies while scavenging?
- Can scavengers split up and go to different Locations?
- Do I have to send someone scavenging every night?
- How do I exchange a Location during Scavenging?
- When can I use a Location option such as Look Around, Heal or Trade?
- How does the City Hospital HEAL option work?
- How does the Basement Entrance card work?
- If a Reality Impact card appears when I resolve a Findings draw, do I draw another Findings card?
- How do Special Findings work on a Findings card?
- Can I eat food I find while scavenging?
- What happens when the Unknown deck runs out, or I cannot return enough cards?
- Where do returned Exploration cards come from and go to?
- Can several Residents be in play, and when do they go back?
- Do I have to fight everybody I meet while scavenging?
- Can other characters use items the scavengers just found before the Night Raid?
- What do the Door and Enter options on a Door card mean?
Night Raid
- How do guards defend against a Night Raid card?
- Can I convert Damage into Wounds or the reverse?
- In what order do I lose tokens when the raid says to start with the most expensive?
- Do Night Raids that take tokens also take Wood, Components or Water?
- Can raiders steal a guard's weapon, and can guards hold other items?
- Do Fate, §, out-of-ammo or hatchet and shotgun icons matter on Night Raid dice?
- What happens when a guard's Hatchet or Shotgun icon ignores the Night Raid card?
- Do I still need a guard if the Night Raid is skipped that night?
- What happens when I must draw two Night Raid cards?
- How do I choose cards for the Crime Wave?
- If a Night Raid card is a Reality Impact card, do I also face a raid?
- Does Roman's weapon ability work in a Night Raid?
- How does the Through the Sewers card work with findings I could not carry?
- What happens to a killed guard's weapon in a Night Raid?
Dawn Phase
- When are Wait tokens resolved, and are they discarded?
- In what order does a Fate card resolve, and what happens to it afterwards?
- When a Fate card discards Meds or Bandages, do they heal anything automatically?
- Does a Fate card that raises Illness affect a healthy character?
- In what order is Spirit resolved, and does it include the character resolving it?
- How do I exchange a Location when a Fate card says to?
- When can I assign Meds, Herbal Meds and Bandages?
- Can a character with high Fatigue drink Moonshine?
- How does Death Among Us work: how often is it rolled and who is affected?
- How do Narrative Action cards work each Dawn?
- What does Chosen 3 on a Fate card mean with fewer characters?
Combat
- In what order is a Combat round resolved?
- How many wounds does it take to kill an enemy?
- How do the Hatchet and Shotgun instant-kill icons work in Combat?
- How are Ammo, Prowess rerolls and the Assault Rifle handled?
- Do enemies reroll, and what happens with Out of Ammo?
- What do the § and Fate icons do in Combat?
- Can I flee from Combat, and what is a Backstab?
- Can I stop a Combat before it begins?
- Can I change weapons in Combat?
- Do I keep the weapons of enemies I defeat?
- Do I roll for Misery after killing enemies?
- How are Wounds from enemies assigned to characters?
- Are Shells shotgun ammo?
- How do I determine the enemies in a Combat?
- How does the Rats Residents card work?
Trade
Scripts and the Book of Scripts
- When do I use the coloured script numbers and the Book of Scripts?
- Where does a card go after I use it to read its script number?
- What does the Book of Scripts mean by reading a script pointed to by another script?
- Are the advanced rules hidden in the Book of Scripts optional?
- Is the story text in a script a command?
- When a script removes the characters present, who is affected?
- Can I put all Wounds from a script on one character?
- Is a script written on a token kept for future games?
- Does script 1791's supply pickup only happen if you choose to scavenge?
- Does it matter whether the character Marko is alive when I meet Marko in passage 84?
- Is script 671 (Shelled School) a typo, since no other script leads to it?
- How does the Camouflage item change Noise in script 923?
- Must I play a Narrative Action card at the next opportunity?
- What happens if the Radio shows a Chapter card among the next Event cards?
- Does a free Fitting reward let me skip placement requirements?
- Who does the Shelling event hit, and can destroyed Fittings be rebuilt?
- Is the bait on a Deadfall Trap returned after a catch?
- Do I need a Metal Workshop before building the Gunsmith Workshop?
- Is there a points score at the end?
- How many players can play?
- Can I combine the expansions and modules with the base game?
- What happens to a visitor when the group already has four characters?
- How do Pavle's Fleet of Foot and Vladimir's wound absorption work?
Core Box Modules: Sewers, Companions, Farmers and Orphans
- When is the Sewers Exploration resolved, and can the whole party go?
- How do Thugs work in the Sewers?
- How do Resident cards work while exploring the Sewers?
- How does Scavenging after the Sewers exit differ from normal?
- Does travelling the Sewers cause Fatigue, and what happens to the tiles?
- Can I rotate a Sewers tile so the path lines up?
- How does the Cat work: where can it go and when can I use or eat it?
- How do the Farmers module's Market and Wares cards work?
- Do Orphans take actions, and what do they do?
This War of Mine: Days of the SiegeExpansion
- Is there a limit on Locations in one district in Days of the Siege?
- Which Days of the Siege components can be used in the base game campaign?
- Can I use the Days of the Siege Sewers and Market modules with the Forlorn Hope scenario?
- What carries over between acts in Days of the Siege?
- When are Act Objectives resolved in Days of the Siege?
- Which rules win when an act's rules conflict with the general ones?
- How do new map locations and exploration tokens work?
- Do Orphans need water in Days of the Siege?
- What are the setup details for the Forlorn Hope campaign and the extra cards?
- How do I know Act 1 has ended, and do scripts h471 and 574/502 behave oddly?
This War of Mine: Tales from the Ruined CityExpansion
- How does the Blizzard scale work in Blood in the Snow?
- In Blood in the Snow, do I still draw a Fate card with the extra Dawn card?
- Does the Bed's illness recovery apply when I only nap?
- How does Side by Side handle Night Raids and defence?
- What is set up differently in You and Me and Side by Side?
- How are Desperate Measures cards used?
- Can I use a Rooftop Fitting that sits behind a red obstruction?
- When is the Refugees scenario's Dawn Phase card resolved?