As the Fire Dies is a game of communal survival and politics in a dark, unforgiving world.
Players represent community leaders in a small colony, facing the dark oppression of a fictional nuclear winter which engulfed the world following a catastrophic end to World War 2.
As the days and weeks tick by, players work together as a combined community as they try to weather the ‘end of the world’ together.
Players in the game will come face to face with strategic and operational decisions, resource management, worker placement, negotiation, diplomacy, and the mechanisms of a democratic system of governance.
The ultimate goal of the game – to survive.
Your home in this barren, frozen world is The Colony. It is a small ramshackle town of structures you can find safety and shelter within.
Of all things, the Colony is a constant in this world. It exists to support you, is a home you can always return to, and is the only sure-place to find life-bringing warmth in this frozen hellscape that was once Earth.
The Colony, your home, is filled with people from all walks of life. Originally refugees who fled the warscape of decades gone by, the Tribe is now looking to its second generation of post-war children.
The Tribe is made up of Creeds, each with their own distinct background and origin linking them to the Old World. While now everyone is merely a neighbour, a survivor, it would be foolish to think that the Old World skills and trades were no longer worth anything.
Contrary, in fact - all Creeds within the Tribe have their speciality and their role to play.
At the start of the game the Colony numbers roughly 240 souls. Many of these people fall into line behind one of the 24 Creeds - small communities within the Colony aligned with particular backgrounds and beliefs. Each of these Creeds has 3 community leaders (you, the players) who guide their people and represent their ideals.
The literal heart of the Colony, the Engine is a war-period relic of engineering superiority and complexity. It stands tall within our home - indeed, the Colony itself has grown like a shanty town around the old chunk of industrial might - and provides us with the power and warmth needed to survive these dark days.
With limited knowledge to pull from, the Colony is without full understanding of how this piece of machinery operates.
The Engine is sacred to us, the sole lifeblood of our survival, and it must always be cared for and maintained as best we can.
Due to the nature of the disasters of the past, we know little of the outside world. Expeditions travel there from time to time, visiting destroyed homes from long ago and searching for valuable tools and resources.
Many dangers lurk outside the Colony - the weather, for one, but also more sinister forces like the residue left by the atomic weapons of the War.
During the game, players are able to visit outside locations (at great risk, of course!) and undertake searches for resources and special items.