WF25 HOT WASH

Afternoon Füsters!

Winterfüste ‘25 is complete and the numbers are in!

First, let’s take a moment to recognize and congratulate the TWELVE Füsters who played a perfect game and earned the title of Bestenfüste (yes, GG said 12)! This is a record number of players standing on top of the podium this year and all will be summarily inducted into the Pantheon of Gottähnfüste for 2025!

Let’s break this group down real quick:

• As GG has struggled with the tie break concept over the years (just ask Shoebill or Harp Seal or other Bestenfi about their 8 minute planks on the Finalefüste to win in past years), this year he had decided to use the number of days in first place as the main decider for the top player in the case of a tie scenario. Of course, he had no idea this year would be the first year ever that almost every night there would be multiple Füsters vying for the top of the rankings and this would result in only one player standing alone in first place for only two nights over the course of the entire game! This is extraordinary and unheard of and GG could hardly believe it as this scenario played out over the last 9.5 weeks. Usually there are at least ten players who will sit alone on top of the game for at least one night OR a single player who just dominates for like three weeks in a row. But this year was different and the level of day to day competition was so high that only Pampas Fox was able to solo the podium and only for two nights at that (hence the 🏆🏆 next to her name). And so by the rules for WF25, she has earned the top spot among the 12 Bestenfi for WF25! So effectively, Pampas Fox is the Bestenbestenfüste for Winterfüste ‘25! Congratulations!

• Now for the other 11 amazing players who did the nearly impossible by earning every single possible punkte this year and the title of Bestensfüste:

  • Ringtail has earned her second title in two consecutive years. She also tied for the most Side Quest Points with non-other than . . .

  • Kit Fox, who after taking a break from the game came back on a mission to win his first Bestenfüste title!

  • Colugo has won her first title after only playing Sömmer Kamp once, which is an incredible feat in and of itself!

  • Frost Cricket has also won her second contiguous Bestenfüste title after spending years on the bubble. She’s clearly cracked her personal code for victory!

  • Giant Pacific Octopus, part of a Füsting power couple (FPC) out of Vacaville, CA, won his first title in only his second Füsting event ever.

  • Greenland Shark, also a member of an FPC, won her first title in her very first Füste event, making her one of two Neo-Füsters who pulled off this insane accomplishment this year!

  • Pocket Gopher has won her first title after being on the verge of victory for the last two years!

  • Porcupine, yet another Neo-Füster, won her first Bestenfüste title in her first ever Füsting event (GG cannot say enough about how incredible and unprecedented this achievement is!).

  • After suffering a heart breaking last day loss to the Squat Lobster during Sömmer Kamp ‘23, the Russian Sable has finally earned redemption and her first Bestenfüste title after many years of Füsting!

  • Snow Cat has earned her second Bestenfüste title after waiting three years to again stamp her dominance on the game!

  • Yapok has earned her first title after only playing Sömmer Kamp ‘24 (and that after she joined late!). Yet another incredible accomplishment by a a fairly new Füster!

Congratulations to all 12 of these incredible players!

Now onto the statistics for WF25!

• We started the game with 118 players and finished with 56 or roughly a 47% completion rate. This is slightly up from the past years and would lead you to think that maybe WF25 was designed to be too difficult but the fact that 12 Füsters finished in first place really puts that concept into conflict with itself. Truth is, GG never knows who’s going to stick it out and who’s going to fold early. This year we absolutely saw a huge impact from an unusually virulent cold and flu season that knocked nearly two dozen players out of the game early.

• For those of us who exercised for distance (instead of minutes), we collectively traveled 18,776 total miles or approximately 75% around the circumference of the Earth. This is roughly akin to leaving San Francisco and heading east across the United States and out into the Atlantic, across that entire ocean to Africa, crossing that continent and into the Indian Ocean, across the entirety of Australia, into the Pacific and ending up somewhere in French Polynesia. Or more simply put, we crossed back and forth across the United States nearly four times (that SF to NY to SF X4).

• Here’s a break down of our collective numbers by modality:

  • Walked: 7369 miles

  • Ran: 3451 miles

  • Rode: 4874 miles

  • Spun: 218.5 hours or 9 straight days and if we use an average of 12mph we get another 2622 miles (this is probably a little low since the average speed of the spinners was most likely higher than 12mph).

  • Rowed: 562,736 meters or 350 miles

  • Swam: 193,295 yards or 110 miles

  • Completed 30 half-marathon distance wogs.

  • Completed 1220 hours of “other” Schmerzenfüste activities (class based workouts, home based workouts, yoga, HIIT classes etc.) or roughly 51 straight days of exercise.

  • Based just off of the Daily 50 homework reports, we completed 270,600 push-ups and 75 hours striaght of planking!

As always, these number are incredible and awe inspiring to say the least!

Now here’s the Top 10 rankings for each exercise category:

WALKING (IN MILES)

1. GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS (324)

2. PORCUPINE (272)

3. GREENLAND SHARK (270)

4. OPOSSUM (270)

5. POCKET GOPHER (208)

6. SEA TURTLE (181)

7. A. KRILL (179.3)

8. SCHWARZBÄR (179)

9. SEAHORSE (171)

10. SHELDUCK (167)

RUNNING (IN MILES)

1. FREE TAILED BAT (473)

2. PAMPAS FOX (339)

3. COLUGO (228)

4. HARE (215)

5. FROST CRICKET (182)

6. KIT FOX (157)

7. JAGUARUNDI/SNOWCAT (155)

8. YAPOK (145)

9. BRAUNBÄR (128)

10. RUSSIAN SABLE (125)

CYCLING (IN MILES)

1. KING CRAB (924)

2. BADGER (619)

3. HARE (582)

4. LYNX (528)

5. PAMPAS FOX (477)

6. GROLABÄR (418)

7. DOE EAGLE (384)

8. NARWAHL (189)

9. OPOSSUM (182)

10. SCHWARZBÄR (109)

SPINNING (IN HOURS)

1. PANDA (27)

2. GRAY FOX (14)

3. WHITE MOOSE (13)

4. SNOW GOOSE (12)

5. ALPINE GOAT (11)

6. GREAT WHITE SHARK (10)

7. SCHWARZBÄR (9.3)

8. BUFFALO (9)

9. GENTOO PENGUIN (8)

10. BIG HORN SHEEP (7.5)

ROWING (IN METERS)

1. BRAUNBÄR (178800)

2. PORCUPINE (103500)

3. GROLARBÄR (84000)

4. WHITE RAVEN (69329)

5. WALRUS (28003)

6. ALPINE GOAT (28000)

7. BEAN GOOSE (21000)

8. JAVELINA (14053)

9. BLUE WHALE (14000)

10. MINK (9000)

SWIMMING (IN YARDS)

1. BADGER (52950)

2. QUAIL (52050)

3. TRUE FOX (24200)

4. YAPOK (24125)

5. PAMPAS FOX (17400)

6. SEAHORSE (7500)

7. BARNACLE GOOSE (5400)

8. RED WOLF (3000)

9. BUFFALO/WHITE MOOSE (1760)

10. QUOKKA (1650)

The numbers are incredible and sometimes a little overwhelming but never forget that you did this, all of you collectively put in the minutes and hours, day after day, week after week, grinding through the Singelts and Doppelts and Trippelts and countless bonus events that pushed you out into the streets and on the trails and up hillsides and summits and all the rest. GG never ceases to be amazed by the Füsters or what each and everyone of you can do when you simply stop thinking you can’t and believe you can. Many players thought they couldn’t complete a half-marathon. Most who finished the game did. You might have thought you couldn’t not eat sugar for two and a half months or not drink a drop of alcohol for 64 days but you did both!

So now what? Winterfüste is over and it’s time to return to your “normal” habits and the regular programming you’ve lived with your entire life. GG challenges you to not stop here and take at least one new good habit out of WF25. Maybe you keep to the dawn to dusk fasting every Monday (more and more research is showing the benefits of an 8-16 hour fasting window and its effects on combatting cancer cells). Maybe stick to the eating and drinking parameters during the working week and only allow yourself sugar or alcohol if you earn it by completing a Trippelt on the weekends. Use the parameters and guard rails of what you just did for the last 9.5 weeks to inform the rest of your year. Get outside and exercise daily (at least a Singelt!). Make up your own bonuses to drive you off the couch and into the world. You’ve been accountable to GG from the Startenfüste, now simply be accountable to yourself and stick with what you’ve learned you can do here. Every single player put a dent in their flank meat; don’t let it get back in charge and start the slow insidious slide back into its grasp! Winterfüste is meant simply as a kick start to your year. You're now primed for success and all you have to do is keep going in the same basic direction you have been since January 2nd.

And to that end, GG is contemplating an expansion of this great social experiment we call Füste. He’s always been curious about what a more regular and controlled Füste experience might be like stretched out over a year. And given that 2026 will be the 10 year anniversary of this game, he’s thinking this year might the time to experiment more than usual. So his current proposal is to add two 6 week mini-Füstes to the standard annual events of Winterfüste and Sömmer Kamp. Basically the year would look like this: 9 week Winterfüste (paid), take a month off, 6 week mini-Füste (free), take a month off, 9 week Sömmer Kamp (paid), take a month off, 6 week mini-Füste (free). At this point, GG is just kicking this idea around so more to come. If he did do it and you wanted to join the expanded game to see what you could do over a 10 month period, these would be the proposed dates (bringing back some of the early hits from years gone by here):

SPRUNGENFÜSTE: April 7th - May 17th

SÖMMER KAMP ‘25: June 20 - August 22nd

OKTOBERFÜSTE: September 22nd to October 31st

Even if GG does the mini events with only a handful of players, it’s still a worthy experiment (and to be clear, the free 6 week mini-events would be less time intensive and would concentrate on more of the daily accountability of food, drink and exercise and less on the big bonus events that drive WF and Sömmer Kamp). So there’s that. Like GG said above, this is just an idea right now and he’ll let you know if he decides to pull the trigger. He needs to take a couple weeks off to recoverer himself too so we’ll see how things look by the end of March.

Anyways, that’s about it for now. As always, thank you for joining the game and thank you for making this Füste a truly enjoyable experience for GG. Every year he gets a front row seat to the your incredible accomplishments and gets to spend time (even if it’s just via text and over STRAVA) with the most amazing Füsters. Be proud of what you accomplished here and carry it forward into 2025! Do not let the flank meat back into the driver’s seat! All the time and energy you put into getting to where your are today, just carry it forward and turn it into something that will work to keep you on the right path for the rest of the year!

Thank you all again for joining GG and he hopes to see you back on the Spielbrett down the road!

May the Füste be with you always.

Griswalde Grolar

Finalefüste Eve '25

Hallo Füsters!

Very quick communication from GG on how things will go down tomorrow, the Finalefüste for WF25 . . .

First, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and don’t forget to complete you sunset walk and pic tonight. Even if you don’t care about the point or the walk, please send GG a sunset selfie tonight as a way to say goodbye to Winterfüste and your Geschäftsführer!

Now for tomorrow, here’s the basic timeline to finish out the game:

1. Get up and complete your final weigh-in. This should be your fourth time at this and will be your finishing weight for WF25. As always (and GG feels like some of you don’t take him seriously when he says this but he’s DEADLY serious), put some damn socks on if you have gross feet (or maybe we just say everyone wears socks because when it comes to your feet, this group has an elevated sense of self-confidence).

2. Use the DRT to report off for today (Friday, March 7th), like normal.

3. Don’t eat sugar or processed foods and don’t drink alcohol (until GG rings the finishing bell at sunset).

4. Complete your Final Exam. As a reminder, this is one full set of the Daily 50 homework assignment recorded on time lapse and sent to GG.

5. Exercise to whatever level you need to finish your personal game (Singelts, Doppelts, Trippelts, whatever).

6. Bonus as needed (if you have any outstanding bonuses for Week 9).

7. Tomorrow is also the final make-up day for WF25. If you have any of the following bonuses left to do, you can do ONE of them (but it will NOT count as your exercise for the day; like the other two make-up days, anything you make-up must done in addition to your normal daily activity for tomorrow). One important thing here . . . if you do a make-up bonus, you need to let GG know what you did via text (there’s no way to report it on the DRT . . . whoops).

   Here’s the eligible make-up bonuses:

   • LONG WINTER WOG - 11 MILES (+6p)

   • MILE FOR TIME #3 (+1p)

   • PARK #3 (+3p)

   • STAIRS - 80 FLIGHTS (+3p)

   • WORK OF ART (+3p)

   • BASSACKWARDS (+1p)

   • CLIMB #3 (+6p)

   • LONG WINTER WOG -12 MILES (+6p)

   • STAIRS - 90 FLIGHTS (+3p)

   • TRIPLEFÜSTEN (+6p)

8. Once your done with all this, complete the Ice Bucket Bonus Allowance (go read the details HERE if you need a refresher).

9. Finally, report off one last time on the DRT for what you did on the Finalefüste. You don’t have to wait till sunset to do this if you’re all done with your activities and you know you’re not going to eat or drink bad before the bell rings.

And that’s it. Do some or all of these things by sunset and the game will come to an end for a record setting ninth year. GG will collate the numbers and put out the final Bestenliste tomorrow night (be patient). Sunday he will put out the final game update to include our collective achievement totals (GG’s favorite part of this whole thing).

So enjoy your Friday night and GG will see you on the Spielbrett tomorrow, the Finalefüste!

Griswalde

Week 9: And now for the last . . .

Füsters,

We’re coming to the end of yet another Winterfüste gaming season and as always GG can’t quite believe it’s almost over. If you’ve stuck by the tenets of the game and played even moderately well, you should be seeing a reduction in flank meat and an overall improvement in your health! But we’re not quite done yet as we’ve still got one final week to spend together and while GG personally doesn’t think this is the hardest week of Winterfüste, it does have a lot of moving parts so pay attention to this final game update and you’ll make it through Week 9 mentally and emotionally intact!

Here we go:

• First and foremost, the Finalefüste is this Saturday, March 8th. Game play will come to an end when the sun sets over Füste HQ in Petaluma, CA, at approximately 06:11pm PST. You will know the game is officially over when you hear the ringing of the Ende der Wachglocke (you’ll understand when it happens; for those in other time zones, the bell will ring as appropriate for where you are geographically; just trust GG here). Once the bell has rung, game play for Winterfüste ‘25 will cease and all points for that final day must be reported in on the DRT so GG can complete the final Bestenliste and declare this year’s Bestenfi! But to be clear, you can and should continue game play right up to when the bell rings. That means maintaining your food, drink, and exercise discipline through sunset. And yes, any available bonus that you have left may be played on the Finalefüste, as long as it’s completed by the ringing of the End of Watch Bell.

• Your workout parameters for Week 9 are as follows:

  • 3 Trippelts

  • 1 Doppelt

  • 2 Singelts

  Remember, there’s only six days in Week 9 as the Finalefüste is Saturday. And for those of you who slayed their Drachen early this weekend, GG will be auditing your DRT sheet to calculate the impact on this final week’s workout availability (meaning, if you ended up taking a 4th Trippelt during Week 8 because of your Drachen slayage, you will not be able to take the full three Trippelts for Week 9; GG will be in touch).

• Our final Fastentag is a dawn to dusk affair tomorrow, Monday, March 3rd. One last day of being hangry and irritable! If you’ve completed all nine of the Fastentag events then you will be able to report this on Tuesday’s DRT and will be awarded the +15p Fastentag Completion Überbonus! So, just one last day of keeping clear of your mouth hole will pay out big dividends!

• Week 9’s final bonus allowances are significant, both in energy expended and punkte awarded. Ever done a half marathon? You will have if you complete the final Long Winter Wog (and yes, this was completely intentional on GG’s part and your willkommen). There’s an extra 10 flights on the final So Many Stairs Bonus (go ahead and call GG a sadist, he can take it) and of course there’s your Drachen flying overhead just begging you to knock it out of the sky with some well aimed gameplay! The 3 minute plank is finally here (for your sins) and so is your Final Exam (scheduled on the Finalefüste). And just for fun, there’s a final sunset pic bonus and GG’s personal favorite, the Eimereisfüste Allowance (or the one where your family and/or friends get to say “F the Füste” and get a tiny bit of revenge on you for putting them through this). Go HERE for all the important details.

• There’s also a plethora of completion bonuses that are going to hit this week: Stairs, Long Wog, Fastentag and you can still earn the Side Quest Completion Bonus as well. All these point are going to really stir things up on the Bestenliste so make sure to check in nightly!

• March 8th is also the last Make-Up Day of the game. You can make up any one of the following bonuses that you may have let slip through your fingers during Week 7 or Week 8:

  • LONG WINTER WOG - 11 MILES (+6p)

  • MILE FOR TIME #3 (+1p)

  • PARK #3 (+3p)

  • STAIRS - 80 FLIGHTS (+3p)

  • WORK OF ART (+3p)

  • BASSACKWARDS (+1p)

  • CLIMB #3 (+6p)

  • LONG WINTER WOG -12 MILES (+6p)

  • STAIRS - 90 FLIGHTS (+3p)

  • TRIPLEFÜSTEN (+6p)

  Remember that completing any of these bonuses as a function of the Make-Up Day will not count as your exercise for the Finalefüste (meaning you’ll still have to complete a whole other workout to earn that final day’s exercise points). Also, and while it’s not on the DRT menu, you may use this bonus to “make up” one missing food or drink point from the entirety of the game. In order to do this, you will need to suffer the following activity as punishment for your lack of self control: complete a five mile wog and at the end of each mile, complete a round of 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats and a one minute plank. If you’re going to take this option instead of using the Make-Up Day for one of the bonuses listed above, you need to notify GG of your intent before hand.

So that’s it for now. GG will be more communicative than normal this week just to keep you on track and remind you of the day to day opportunities as we close the game out. For those playing in NorCal, weather is forecast to be krap on Wednesday and Thursday so keep that in the back of your mind when pre-planning your last few days of Schmerzenfüste!

Have a great final week and GG looks forward to seeing you cross the finish line on Saturday!

May the Füste be with you!

Geschäftsführer Griswalde Grolar

The Penultimate Week of WF25 is Here!

Hallo Füsters and willkommen to the next to last week of Winterfüste ‘25!

If you’re still here and reading this it means you’re one of those elite Füsters who will just not give up the 👻 (like about 50% of the starting players!). GG commends you for your dedication to the game and your commitment to do everything you can to defeat your flank meat in these last weeks of the game! Gut gemacht!!

And now here’s this week’s update:

• Week 8’s approved workout parameters are as follows:

  • 3 Trippelts

  • 1 Doppelt

  • 3 Singelts

• Let’s talk Long Winter Wogging. Second to last in this event series, this week’s wog is 12 miles. Exhaustively long, mentally debilitating, probably PTSD-inducing (but still not as bad as the final wog next week). Get out there and just grind it out. You already did 11 miles last week (and a total of 45 miles to date if you’ve been doing these weekly) . . . what’s one more mile between Füsting friends? 🤔

• Go here to review the other Weekly and Side Quest Bonuses available to you for Week 8.

• How about some good news? We’re done with the 24 hour Fastentag and for the last two weeks we will only be doing the dawn to dusk fast! So tomorrow, Feb. 24th, get up and leave your mouth hole alone until the sun goes down around 05:45pm. Crazy how easy a 12 hour fast will feel after the last five weeks of 24s!

• Don’t slack off your homework just yet as Week 9 has both your Final Exam and the dreaded 3 minute plank! That means you’ve got two week’s left to get your core ready for extreme pain and discomfort!

• A lot of Completion Bonuses will now start to hit as players finish up any given series of bonuses. This past week we’ve already seen the +10p Parkenfüster Completion Bonus delivered to any Füster who completed all three of the Parkenfüste events. This coming week will see the +10p Wanderunfüster bonus awarded to anyone who finishes all three of the climbing events. And GG is going to release the +15p Side Quest ⚔️ bonus this Saturday (a little earlier than planned) so that the Bestenliste is fully squared up and accurate going into the final week of game play!

• GG’s going to open Drachen slayage season early and allow players to slay their personal drachens starting this Saturday, March 1st. That will give you two extra weekend days to get it done as Week 9 is actually short with only six days total. Remember, this is a three stage process. First, propose your Drachen to GG for approval (please do not be surprised or offended if GG denies a Drachen that does not meet the spirit of what we’re trying to do here, i.e. it’s too easy). Second (and the hard part), complete the Drachen slayage. And finally, report off to GG that the Drachen is down and slayed, including GPS or HR proof of each segment (as needed). GG will then personally score you the +15p überbonus (and it will be his honor to do so!). The Drachen will count as a Trippelt but cannot be used in conjunction with any other Weekly Bonuses. AND one more very important point, the Drachen slayage must be done as one continuous event. So if you’re planning on doing a series of different Singelts or whatever, you need to complete them back to back to back etc. This isn’t an event you can spread out over the whole day. And finally, a little secret bonus . . . successful Drachen slayage awards you not only a Trippelt, not only a mega +15p bonus, but you also get your food and drink point for free that day. Which means you can celebrate slaying your Drachen with an icy beverage and a pizza pie (if you want)!

  See below for last week’s summary of how the Drachen bonus works:

  For new players left in the game, the slayage of your Drachen is the ultimate goal and event during Winterfüste. A Drachen is equal to 5X a Singelt workout but you can combine back to back Singelts and Doppelts and Trippelts to create a Drachen (e.g. add a 4 mile walking Singelt to a 5.5. mile running Doppelt plus a 45 minute spin Singelt and finally a 7000m row Singelt and you’d have yourself a very slayable Drachen). Now, you can also have your Drachen focus on a only one workout parameter like running or swimming or cycling (e.g. run a half marathon or ride 70 miles on a bike). You can go HERE to review the Drachen requirements listed for each single workout type if you want to go in that direction. Remember, you are free to be creative on how you want to design your Drachen event but you must notify GG in advance of what you want to do so he can approve your planned slayage. If you have any questions at all, just reach out to GG and he’ll be happy to explain in more detail.

That’s it for this week’s update. We’re so close to being finished here, don’t give up with only 13 days of game play left! This is when you need to lock in and really push yourself out of your comfort zone! GG knows the final two week’s of WF25 are a bear but they’re a bear that only eats flank meat and wants nothing more than to help you look good naked! So stay the course and get comfortable being uncomfortable (that’s where all the good stuff happens!).

May the Füste be with you,

GG

Week 7: The Home Stretch Begins Now!

Evening Füsters!

Time for us to say goodbye to Periode II of WF25 as we now transition into the final game period of the last three weeks. Unfortunately, we’re also saying goodbye to a large number of fellow Füsters who have had to retire out of the game for one reason or another. We’re now down to about 60% of the players who started Winterfüste (normal for the game) so if you’re reading this then you’re clearly one of the elite hardcore players for this year! Congrats for making it here and let’s all finish the next three weeks together and strong! it’s going to take a lot of effort, GG won’t lie, but it’ll be worth the pain and suffering to watch your flank meat recoil in horror for a couple more weeks!

On with the update:

• Let’s start Week 7 with some good news: after deep reflection, GG has decided to forgo the planned 48 hour fast this coming week and scale it back to one last 24 hour Fastentag (Week 8 and Week 9 will now both be dawn to dusk fasts). Reasoning here is that with the introduction of Trippelts and some of the longer final series bonuses hitting, GG feels it’s a bit of a bridge too far to throw in two full days of fasting. Call it a minor design flow in this year’s pre-planning (but GG figures few of the Füsters are going to complain here). Only issue will be you will not be able to report your 24 hour Monday fast until Wednesday’s DRT. Too late to change that but not a real big deal.

• As mentioned above, with Periode III comes the release of the Trippelt Schmerzenfüste work-out parameters. As a reminder, a Trippelt workout is worth +3p but it demands a heavy toll as you’ll need to complete one of the following scenarios:

  • Three seperate Singelts (they don’t have to be completed back to back but can be spread out over the day)

  • One Singelt and one Doppelt (again, can be done separately)

  • One actual Trippelt work-out (go HERE to review the requirements)

  Remember that some Weekly Bonuses may count as a Tripplet so pay close attention to those details. And for Week 7, you’ll be able to score two Trippelts. The other five days you can take three Singelts and two Doppelts.

• No, you’re not seeing this wrong as this week’s Long Winter Wog skips the 10 mile mark and goes straight to 11 miles. Yes, this is a lot. But the bonus isn’t called a “short” Winter Wog and it’s not meant to be easy. If you’re doing the math in the background, you probably have already figured out why this is the second time in the game that we’ve jumped up an extra mile (three weeks left and we’re at 11 so . . . possible note-worthy distance for the final week of game play!). To incentivize this very long Winter wog, you’ll not only score a Trippelt but you’ll also score a +6p bonus on completion! Yes, GG is a task master but you’ll get your rewards for compliance!

• For this week’s So Many Stairs bonus, you’ll earn a Singelt workout for the first time (in addition to the +3p bonus.). Do with that information what you will.

• Couple of other Week 7 Weekly and Side Quest Bonuses to check the details on by going HERE.

• Probably time to start thinking about Week 9 and Drachenfüsten. For new players left in the game, the slayage of your Drachen is the ultimate goal and event during Winterfüste. A Drachen is equal to 5X a Singelt workout but you can combine back to back Singelts and Doppelts and Trippelts to create a Drachen (e.g. add a 4 mile walking Singelt to a 5.5. mile running Doppelt plus a 45 minute spin Singelt and finally a 7000m row Singelt and you’d have yourself a very slayable Drachen). Now, you can also have your Drachen focus on a only one workout parameter like running or swimming or cycling (e.g. run a half marathon or ride 70 miles on a bike). You can go HERE to review the Drachen requirements listed for each single workout type if you want to go in that direction. Remember, you are free to be creative on how you want to design your Drachen event but you must notify GG in advance of what you want to do so he can approve your planned slayage. Open season on Drachens starts March 1st so you’ll have the final 8 days of game play to do the deed here! If you have any questions at all, just reach out to GG and he’ll be happy to explain in more detail.

That’s it for tonight’s update. With only 20 days of game play left, it’s time to double down on the commitment you made to yourself when you signed up for Winterfüste over 6 weeks ago! These final weeks will absolutely be intense and are designed to put the hurt on your flank meat in such a way that it’s traumatized for the rest of the year! Let’s do this together and show that meat that the only final outcome of Winterfüste ‘25 is it’s unconditional defeat!

May the Füste be with you for Periode III!
GG

Week 6: Wait a minute, shouldn't we be on the downhill side of this thing?

Evening Füsters!

Hope you had a good Week 5 and are ready to close out Periode II this coming week! We've got four total weeks of game play left and still plenty of time for you to make a meaningful impact on that pesky flank meat (if you haven’t already!).

Here’s the scoop for Week 6:

• This is the last week of game play before Trippelts kick in! This week you can complete a total of four Doppelts and the rest of the days must be Singelts. Good luck!

• Another dreaded 24hr Fastentag hits tomorrow. By this point you should know the drill!

• Week 6 Weekly and Side Quest Bonuses are updated. Go check ‘em out HERE.

• Second full moon Side Quest activity of Winterfüste hits this week on Wednesday night, Feb. 12th. It’s a “Snow Moon” so that’s probably appropriate. Details on the bonus page!

• As we’re closing out Periode II, you get your second Aufholentag next Sunday (Feb. 16th) where you will again have the opportunity to “make-up” any single bonus you may have left on the table over the last couple weeks.

  The bonuses available to you are:

  • CLIMB #2 (+3p)

  • DOUBLEFÜSTEN (+3p)

  • LONG WINTER WOG - 7 MILES (+3p)

  • LONG WINTER WOG - 8 MILES (+3p)

  • MILE FOR TIME #2 (+1p)

  • PARK #2 (+3p)

  • STAIRS - 50 FLIGHTS (+1p)

  • STAIRS - 60 FLIGHTS (+3p)

  Remember, same rules as last time. If by Sunday morning you have scored all the possible Weekly Bonus bonuses (bonuses) for Periode II, then you can take the day off of exercise. If you need to use the Aufholentag to get caught up, then it’s a normal day for you which means you still have to do a daily workout IN ADDITION to whichever bonus you’re making up.

That’s it for tonight. GG knows we’re starting to get into the dark days of Winterfüste where you may be considering an early retirement so you can go back to your normal routines of self-abuse. DON’T DO IT! March 8th will be here before you know it and you’ll regret your decision to not stick it out and push through to the Finalefüste! Your flank meat wants you to give up, it wants you to get back on the sugar and alcohol train. At this point, your meat knows that defeat is just around the corner and will pull out all the stops to get you to give up! Don’t give it the satisfaction as you have four more weeks of pain to dole out! Keep it together and let’s all finish out Periode II from a position of strength!

May the Füste be with you,

GG

WILLKOMMEN TO YOUR BETRÜGERTAG!

Hallo Füsters!

Today is the halfway point of Winterfüste ‘25 and as such it’s your official Betrügertag or “Cheat Day”! That means you can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and laze around all day on the couch or wherever and you’ll still get to score yourself all three of your daily points when your report on Wednesday morning! Now, not to overcomplicate things here but if you want to ignore this whole thing you can and just carry on tomorrow like normal. Again, you don’t have to take the Betrügertag (and GG recommends you don’t but understands if you do). Either way, enjoy the day cause unlike most halfway points, the game isn’t “all down hill from here”. No, it’s pretty much straight up a cliff so . . .

In addition to doing whatever you want, there are two extra Cheat Day bonus opportunities available to you only today:

• Earn +3p bonuspunkte by completing the Mid Term Bonus Allowance. Put your phone’s camera on time lapse, set it up so it can clearly see your whole self and complete one full round of the Daily 50 homework exercise (yes, it’s call the “Mid Term” for a reason). That’s 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, 50 air squats, 50 leg-ups, 50 lunges (25 each leg) and a 50 second plank. No time requirement here so take as long as you need (since your camera is recording in time lapse it should be fine). If GG has approved a modification for your Daily 50 due to injury etc. just make sure to show that instead of whatever part of the Daily 50 you can’t do.

• Earn a +3 Side Quest Bonus by completing the Schnitzeljagd Challenge (remember these 3 points go towards your 30/50 Side Quest total). What’s the Schnitzeljagd Challenge? Basically it’s a one day scavenger hunt! Before sunset tonight complete 5 of the 10 mini-events listed below and you’ll earn the +3 bonus! Make sure to send GG the pic or video proof for each!

  • Take a pic of your pet dressed up for Winter.

  • Head to a coffee shop and get a barista to say “For the Füste” on video while handing you a hot cup of joe (or whatever your drink of choice is).

  • Find a flagpole flying your state’s flag. Get a selfie looking up at it.

  • Find a blue and white vehicle (official colors of Winterfüste) and get a selfie with it.

  • Find a statue in your town and film yourself doing a 1 minute plank in front of it.

  • Find a building or site with a historical plaque or marker. Send pics of the site and the plaque itself (GG’s a big fan of this one).

  • Find one of those big digital clocks you mostly see on banks. Take a pic when the clock has a 2 and a 4 displayed.

  • Film yourself riding a plane, train, bus, boat etc. (anything but a car). Be creative.

  • Dress up like your Totemfüste. Be inventive as you only have today to do this. Send a pic.

  • In honor of the Füste’s four legged mascot, take a selfie holding a hot dog (you don’t have to eat it but it is the Cheat Day so do what you will).

That’s it for the Betrügentag! Enjoy the day off (not to include the required Mid Term for those trying for the title of Bestenfüste) or just keep trucking along and push on through to the Finalfüste. Totally up to you. Either way, GG hopes you stop and reflect on the fact that you’ve made it halfway through a Winterfüste event! Not an easy task and definitely worth a small celebration!

Griswalde G.

Week 5: The one where Phil saw his shadow so 6 more weeks of Winter 🥶

Evening Füsters!

Another week of strong Füster performances is in the books as we move on to Week 5! This coming week actually sees us cross over the midway point of the game on Tuesday, Feb. 4th and as such, it’s your Betrügertag or “Cheat Day”. For those of you who are new to Winterfüste, this means that on Tuesday all game rules are turned off and you can eat and/or drink anything you want, as well as not exercise if you so choose. The next morning (Wednesday) you’ll get to still score yourself all three daily points (+1 of eating, +1 for drinking and a Singelt for exercise) but beware that you may feel like Scheiße! The sudden reintroduction of sugar and alcohol into your system can be a real shock and is not recommended! Over the last 9 years GG has learned the hard way to not engage in the Betrügertag because of the resulting metabolic hang-over (and also it can really effect your back half of the game performance). But you’re all big boys and girls and as this is a long standing tradition going back 226 years to the game’s Bavarian roots, GG will let you make your own decision on what you want to do here. Just don’t say he didn’t warn you in advance!

Now for the rest of Week 5’s updates:

• Doppelt’s continue this week with the number available increasing from two to three. So that means you can complete three Doppelts during Week 5 and the other four days must only be Singelts.

• This increase in Doppelts fits nicely with this week’s new bonus allowances: the Long WInter Wog, Climb #2 and Doublefüsten Allowance are all worth Doppelts so if you complete all of these bonuses then you’ll already have scored all three of the available Doppelts for Week 5 (go here for the grim details on this week’s bonus allowances).

• In addition, there are two bonuses that are only available on this Tuesday, Feb. 4th, the halfway point of the game. The Weekly Bonus available this day will be your Midterm Exam and the Side Quest Bonus available will be the Schnitzeljagd Allowance (details released that morning).

• The second 24 hour Fastentag is tomorrow with a clear liquid only fast starting in the morning at dawn and going till sun-rise on Tuesday. Yeah, time to get hangry again! Bet your family and friend’s really enjoy this part of Winterfüste . . .

• Two quick points of clarity, as we near the threshold for completion of the Side Quest bonus event where some players will actually hit their 30 points and thereby earn the +15p Completion Bonus:

  • First, yes, once you’ve hit the 30 Side Quest points in total and earn the associated completion bonus, you will gain nothing further by continuing to complete the weekly Side Quests (other than a specific player designation at the end of Winterfüste reserved for those ÜberFüsters who scored every available point).

  • Second, this completion bonus will not be added to your total on the Bestenliste until the Finalfüste (but you will see the ⚔️ badge next to your Totem name to denote that you have completed the bonus and earned +15p) This is done so that this bonus does not completely upend the day to day rhythm of game play.

• Shockingly, that’s it for this week’s updates. As a PSA, we’ve dropped quite a few players in the last week, several due to this unrelenting cold/flu bug that’s been going around so try to stay healthy and avoid super spreader events as best you can. Probably not a bad idea to start wearing a mask again if you know you’re going to be around a lot of other people (and maybe carry some hand sanitizer for the fomites cause there’s a strain of Noro virus out there that is absolutely no joke). Okay, GG will get off his public health soap box now and let you go back to you doing you. Just know that Füsting is even a bigger challenge when you’re feeling sick so you’re call on how careful you want to be of the next five weeks!

Cheers,

Griswalde G.

W4 POC Update

Hallo Füsters!

Just a very quick point of clarity update as many, many of you have reached out to GG to ask about this Sunday’s multi bonus events. So, yes, you’re right (and GG’s very pleased to see you’ve been reading your Regelbuch), normally you can only take one Weekly Bonus and one Side Quest Bonus per day. So how does this Sunday work if there’s both the Groundhog Day and Candlemas Side Quests available on the same day?? Well (and here’s where the point of clarity comes in), when GG schedules a bonus activity (or two) that’s only available on a specific date, that bonus is IN ADDITION to the normal game play rules. So yes, on this Sunday, you can take one Weekly Bonus and one Side Quest Bonus AND you can complete the Groundhog Day Side Quest AND you can complete the Candelmas Side Quest. The DRT is built to allow you to handle reporting all of these bonuses (and that’s the real limitation here; until GG has an app (sigh, a bear can dream) the DRT’s capabilities are the limiting factor) on these one-off days. Other examples of days where you can score an extra bonus above and beyond the standard game play rules are the full moon bonuses, the halfway through the game bonus, stuff like the 12 Day of Something bonus and Mardi Gras etc. Just remember, if it’s a bonus opportunity associated with a specific calendar date, it’s an additional bonus(es) on top of what you can do on a normal game day. Hope that all makes sense. If not, you know how to get a hold of GG!

Have a great rest of Week 4 and as always, may the Füste be with you!

Griswalde G.

Week 4: The one where we start throttling up . . .

Evening Füsters!
Congratulations to everyone for finishing out Periode I of Winterfüste ‘25! GG is happy to report that we’ve retained over 100 of the initial 125 players (which is outstanding statistically) and GG continues to experience an unprecedented level of engagement from everyone on the Spiellbrett . . . which is exactly why the Füste was created in the first place so thank you all very much! Now, it’s time for a bit of a shift as we move into Periode II (the second 3 week period of the game). Week 4 will quietly but effectively ratchet things up across the board: Doppelt workouts are introduced, the Fastentag get more intense, bonus requirements increase in size and scope . . . there’s a lot of things about to happen to your flank meat and none of them are going to make it happy! So let’s continue our collective assault into Periode II and make that meat regret it ever decided to stick to your ribcage in the first place!

Updates:

• First and foremost: DOPPELTS. So, up to now you’ve been able to only complete a defined Singelt workout parameter. This week we introduce Dopplelts. The concept here is very simple. You either complete two individual Singelt workouts (e.g. complete a 4 mile walk and then a separate 1500 yard swim) to score your Doppelt OR you double a single workout and complete it within the Doppelt parameters as defined on the Schmerzenfüste webpage (GO HERE TO REVIEW). When you review the Doppelt requirements you’ll note that they are just a little less then actually doubling a Singelt, e.g. a Doppelt run parameter is 5.5 miles, not the full 6 miles required if you ran two separate Singelts. This is intentional and allows you a bit of a break if you decide to do a true Doppelt. Confused? Just review the webpage as linked above and if you still don’t get it, hit up GG via text for clarification.

• How many Doppelts are available for Week 4? Well, we’re going to ease into things here and allow for two Doppelt workouts this week. So for the seven days of Week 4, you can do two Doppelts (which days you do them are completely up to you) and the rest of the days you’re back with the Singelts. Don’t worry, Week 5 and Week 6 will allow for more Doppelts each week so just keep your slayer cool here and we’ll get there together!

• Please note that the walking parameter has changed for Periode II and you must now carry 20 pounds in order to reduce the mileage of your Singelt or Doppelt walks.

• Bonuses for Week 4 are really going to see the mileage crank up. First, there’s the Long WInter Wog and no, you’re not seeing things, the mileage jumped from 5 miles last week to 7 miles this week. You’ll understand why as we get closer to the end of the game. On the bright side, this week’s Long Winter Wog is worth a Dopplelt for your daily workout so there’s that to comfort yourself with when you’re complaining loudly to no one who cares about your foot pain. Next, the second Parkenfüste bonus of the game drops this week with an increase in mileage from 3 to 4 miles of hiking. And finally, next Sunday will see the Groundhog Day Side Quest Bonus hit with another 4 miles on foot. So basically, Week 4 is going to see you covering at least 15 miles on those sore dogs! Hey, no one said the Füste was easy and trust GG, your flank meat is going to hate every minute of this week! Take comfort in the fact that Week 4 is the heaviest lift (from on foot mileage perspective) in Periode II! Pro tip, by reading the bonus requirement details closely, you may be able to find a way to combine either the Long Winter Wog or the Parkenfüste bonus with the Groundhog Day bonus. Hmmm, let’s think about that one. 🤔

• There’s another Fastentag tomorrow (Jan. 27th) and it’s worse then the last three weeks. For Periode II, we move to a true 24 hour fast (yeah, GG doesn’t like it anymore than you do but it just works). Rules here are simple: fasting starts tomorrow at sun-up and goes till the sun rises again on Tuesday morning. No solid food and clear liquids only (clear juice with no added sugar is okay here, so are clear broths to include (if you dare) bone broths 🤢). Now, could you technically get up early tomorrow before sunrise, have a decent Füste friendly breakfast before starting your 24 hour sacrifice to the flank meat gods? Absolutely (and recommended). Good luck!

• With a full 6 weeks left in the game, now is a great time to double down on your homework (and not just because you’ve got that 2 minute plank waiting for you in three weeks). 6 weeks is traditionally the amount of time it takes to see a noticable change in physique when starting a new or changed workout routine. So even if you’ve been a bit labile with your homework up to this point, you still have plenty of time to jump on the wagon here and forcibly replace flank meat with toned muscle! So get to it!

That’s it for the Week 4 updates (and GG thinks that was plenty). One point of clarity, many players have commented that at times the graphical presentation of the group rankings on the Bestenliste does not match the individual Bestenliste (e.g. the Grolarbär may show himself in 2nd place with a total +86p on the Bestenliste but below on the group graphs he shows having +90p). This is because the group graphs autopopulate as players report during the day and the individual Bestenliste is manually created each night by GG. So we’ve got a real old world vs new tech issue here that sometimes may present numbers that seem off (but they’re not!). Just know that the individual Bestenliste should always match the group graphs when it’s posted each night.

And finally, it’s time to say goodbye to several players who retired out during Periode I. Those who did it right by proactively communicating with GG: Ermine, Sea Lion and Tawny Owl. Thank you and we wish you the best in this new year! The others effectively ghosted GG (when you just stop reporting or responding at all) which is not great as GG continues to support those players in the system without knowing that they punched out and he’s just talking to an empty room (or cell phone) at that point. But as a socially awkward person himself, GG kind of get’s it. Who hasn’t secretly exited a party by the back door without saying goodby?

Okay, that’s if for this week’s updates. GG knows it’s a lot and apologizes (as a gift, if you read this whole thing then go ahead and text GG the 🌭 again to score yourself another simulated long dog sighting!). Stick to the game and don’t get intimidated as things get harder. You slayed Periode I and there’s nothing stopping you from doing the same over the next three weeks. YOU’VE GOT THIS, FÜSTER!

Cheers!

GG