How to earn that sweet, sweet bonuspunkte

There are many different ways to earn that glorious bonuspunkte. Some are listed below. Others are released with little notice and have a limited window for completion. Keep your eyes open and be ready to complete a bonus at any time during the game!

COUPLE THINGS TO remember about bonus gameplay:

  • You may complete one and only one bonus challenge each day, unless otherwise specifically directed by GG.

  • The DRT has an option to report a second “special” bonus but this will only be used when you are completing a same day bonus opportunity or similar (GG will be very specific about when and how you can report this second bonus).

  • If you are required to send proof of completion (e.g. a video or pic) to GG, you can do that immediately after finishing the bonus activity but you wont officially report the bonus until the next morning on the DRT.

  • Not all bonuses will cover your daily exercise requirement. Make sure you understand which do and which do not!

PERIOD I - WEEK 1

valid from Startenfüste (JAN. 2nd) to END OF Period I (JAN. 22nd)

  • POLARFÜSTEN ALLOWANCE (*POLAR PLUNGE)

    What better way to start out your Wintefüste journey then to practice the ancient tradition of jumping into a semi-frozen body of water! Rules here are simple . . . locate an outdoor body of unheated water (swimming pool, pond, lake, ocean, etc.), wear whatever outfit you’d like (excepting a wet or dry suit) and jump or wade in (no diving or you will not be awarded your bonuspunkte). Key here is you must put your head under water before scrambling out and cursing GG’s name loudly. Required video proof sent to GG to earn this much coveted +3p bonus. This bonus is only available the first three days of game play (Jan. 2 - Jan. 4).

  • DEKORATIONFÜSTE ALLOWANCE (*DECORATIONS)

Decorate your home, workplace, vehicle, etc. in the traditional Winterfüste colors of blue and white. To be clear, “decorating” means the addition of something that is not normally there (i.e. GG will not give you credit for a pic of your bathroom with its white and blue towels etc.). Do it right and you‘ll earn a +3p bonus. Required pic or video proof sent to GG.

  • GESCHIRRSPUÜLERFÜSTE ALLOWANCE (*lucky friend)

An ancient good luck tradition, break a plate on the doorstep of your friend’s home and earn a +1p bonus (and good luck for them in the process). You may complete this bonus on the doorstep of 9 different friends BUT you can only deliver one good luck gift per week of gameplay. And if a week passes and you didn’t get your friend gift out there, well, that bonus opportunity is gone for good. This bonus allowance has caused some controversy in the past so if you’d prefer to not break a plate, you may leave a small gift for your friend, say like a tiny cactus or a grapefuit or whatever (eyeroll emoji). If you are going to break a plate, here’s a pro tip: put the plate on the doorstep, cover it with a hand towel, use a hammer to strike the middle of the plate. This will result in a nice clean break and save your friend from having to clean up a bunch of glass shards (so basically, do not just throw a plate onto their porch and watch it disintegrate into a million sharp pieces of glass).

  • PARKENFÜSTE ALLOWANCE (*PARK 1)

Complete a one hour hike in a city, county, state or national park. You must hike for at least three miles total distance, regardless of time spent. GPS tracking is required as proof (uploaded to STRAVA or texted to GG), as is a selfie taken in front of the park entrance sign. This bonus will count towards your daily exercise requirement (as a Singelt workout only). Send GG the required proof and earn a +1p bonus.

  • SCHNITZELJAGD ALLOWANCE (*HUNT 1)

    GG’s bringing back a Füste favorite and putting it on steroids! Over the nine weeks of Winterfüste, you’ll get the opportunity to go out and scavenge for some very specific items. Each item will earn you a +1p bonus and the information needed to find the next item. You have to find the items in order, one a week, to reach the end and earn the +3p bonus for a completed and successful Schnitzeljagd! Here’s how it works. Starting on Week 1, GG will release the information on the specific item that must be found. When you find it, take a selfie with it and send to GG. This will score you the hunter’s +1p weekly bonus and GG will then provide you with the necessary information to find the next week’s item. Week after week, find each item until you reach the end and score that big pot of golden bonuspunkte!

OTHER BONUS PLAY

These bonus allowances all have special parameters or details that allow them to run concurrent with the Period based bonuses listed above and therefore either run the entire length of the game (not limited by the Periode dates) or are available only on a single day. Kind of opposing concepts there, GG knows . . .

  • DRY JANUARY (*DRY JANUARY)

A bonus that’s always been there in the background, taunting you, this year we bring it to the forefront. Receive the Dry January bonus by earning your Drunkenfüste point each day from Jan. 2nd to Jan. 31st. Complete this incredible feat of self control and on Feb. 1st you will earn a +3p bonus!

  • SCHNEEENGELFÜSTE ALLOWANCE (*SNOW ANGEL)

This one’s pretty simple. Go somewhere where there’s a decent amount of fresh snow on the ground (trust GG when he tells you that you’re looking for fresh snow and not an old, crusty ice sheet that will result in multiple back lacerations and uncontrolled bleeding). Throw on a bathing suit (and maybe a snow cap), make a snow angel and earn +3p! Required video proof sent to GG.

  • SIEGERFÜSTE ALLOWANCE (*PAID EVENT)

Complete an organized, distance based athletic event (one that has a registration process and a participation fee and meets the basic criteria for daily Schmerzenfüste, e.g. 5K run; no “virtual events” allowed). STRAVA or similar GPS tracking proof of completion required to earn this +3p bonus. This bonus allowance will count towards your daily exercise requirement.

  • LOKALE LEGEND ALLOWANCE

    New this year to Winterfüste, each Füster will be assigned to a Skwad of players (mostly organized geographically). But unlike past Füstes, the goal here won’t be to work together with your Skwad so much as seeking to destroy each one of them individually! Grind them mercilessly under your boot heal and at the end of Period II (Feb. 12th), if you have the most punkte of your Skwad mates, you will win the Lokale Legend +3p bonus! And if you’re really paying attention here, you’ll realize that the path to Bestenfüste now goes directly through your Skwad; if you don’t earn Lokale Legend status, it’s going to be very difficult to win the game overall!

  • HALTEN UND FALLEN ALLOWANCE (*STOP & DROP)

    New this year to Winterfüste, you may receive a surprise text communication from GG asking you to complete an immediate bonus opportunity! It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, you’ll need to stop and complete GG’s request as you’ll have only 15 minutes to earn the +1p bonus! This bonus will be reported as a Special Bonus on the DRT as it can happen at any moment and not prescheduled!

  • DRÜCKEBERGER ALLOWANCE

    January 19th is statistically the day that most non-Füsters fail on their New Year’s resolution. Therefore GG wants to celebrate the fact that any Füster who scores all 3 daily punkte from the Startenfüste to “Quitter’s Day” deserves a special +1p bonus! Play the game, hit the mark and then keep on trucking through to the Finalefüste!

  • Hungriger geist ALLOWANCE

    Complete all six of the single 24 hour Fastentag days (Jan. 11, 17, 19, 23, 25, 27) and you’ll earn this +3p bonus! Each Fastentag is an exercise in brutality so this bonus is not for the light of heart!

  • Mid Term and Final Exam ALLOWANCES

    Each three week game Period will end with a video based homework assessment (this replaces the weekend audits from past Füstes):

    • Period I Mid Term = January 22

    • Period II Mid Term = February 12

    • Period III Final Exam = March 4

    Each Mid Term and the Final Exam is worth a +3p bonus upon completion (so a total of +9p can be scored by taking this series of exams and if you’ve Füsted before, you know this is more than enough to secure the Bestenfüste when all points are tallied on the Finalefüste).

  • LAZY LONG DOG ALLOWANCE

    A lazy long dog likes nothing more than to lay around the house, maybe in front of a warm fire, with a belly full a grub and a blanket to burrow under. GG understands completely that we all want to be a lazy long dog at times. But during Winterfüste there’s no time to waste and it’s almost impossible to get a day off. So taking a page out of the Dachshund Daily Ops Manual, GG offers you this: while out in the world, stumble across five separate long dogs (5 Dachshunds is called a “quiver”) and earn a day off from exercise. How does this work? Take a selfie with each of the five Dachshunds and send it to GG, then on your next report make sure to check the box on your DRT that says “Saw a lazy long dog”. A couple of rules here: you must provide a photo of yourself and a real live Dachshund (not a drawing of a Dachshund or a stuffed Dachshund or a sticker shaped like a Dachshund etc.). You cannot own this Dachshund. You cannot attend an American Kennel Club event or any similar event/location where Dachshunds are or could be plentiful. This is an opportunistic bonus allowance only. You can only report one Dachshund per day (even if you see a pack of two or three). Collect your full quiver in the wild, send your selfies to GG, check your boxes and earn your day off. This bonus is not controlled by the “one bonus per day” rule, meaning you can see a long dog and still score a different bonus on the same day.