Hallo, Füsters!
It’s that time again . . . time to take the fight to your flank meat and to attempt to beat it back into submission after another holiday season of grotesque excess and a near complete lack of physical activity on your part. But have no fear as this is precisely why we Füste!
For those retuning to the game, congratulations on committing here even though you know what you’ve signed up for! And for our Neofüstes (new players), get ready for a campaign of shock and awe that in 9 weeks will leave you stripped of flank meat and looking down at your bathroom scale in pleasure (IF you do the work!).
While our Neofüstes should have already done this, return players should now take a minute to review the updated Regelbuch (Rule Book) and make sure they’re up to speed on any game changes (especially around the exercise component; go here).
To help everyone out, here’s a summary of the significant game changes for WF25:
There are some basic changes made to the workout parameters, specifically around Doppelt and Trippelt workouts (GG is trying to make it a little easier for you to score these points). Make sure you understand the parameters around time and distance by reviewing the Schmerzenfüste details.
There is no Skwad, Haus, or group play component this year (those who have been doing this for a while know that GG runs hot and cold on this idea). GG wanted to make this a less complicated game focused solely on your personal performance and achievement so that’s what we’ll be doing.
Keeping in the theme of stream lining game play, GG has changed a big part of the bonusing game. He’s taken most of the non-exercise bonus opportunities and dumped them into one big bucket he’s calling “Side Quests”. This includes things like the Polar Plunge, Lucky Friend Gift, Dekorationfüste, moon-based activities etc. etc. Here’s how this is going to work: there are a total of 50 possible Side Quest bonus points you can earn during Winterfüste. If and when you earn 30 of the 50 points, you’ll be awarded the Side Quest Completion Bonus. This means that you can now pick and choose which of the Side Quest events you want to participate in and you no longer have to do every single little activity just to make it to the podium on the Finalefüste. Hopefully this will help some of the Füsters who have professed anxiety around jumping into a frozen lake or making a snow angel or breaking a plate on someone’s doorstep. Trust GG, if it doesn’t already, this will make sense to you as the game progresses. As for the rest of the exercise based bonuses, they’re considered “Weekly” bonuses and must be completed the same week they’re assigned (no more extended “Periode” based bonus play). Probably good idea to review the bonus game play rules by going here.
Fasting will be a little different this game. We’ll start with the 12 hour dawn to dusk fasts for the first third of the game, then move to 24 hour fasts for the second, then we’ll peak with a brutal 48hr fast before stepping back to the 24 and 12hr fasts again to close out the back third of game play. And as always, Fasts will be scheduled for Mondays (since Mondays already pretty much suck).
Daily Homework has had an overhaul as well; we’ll be doing something called the Daily Fünfzig or “Daily 50”. Each day you’ll attempt to complete the same basic set of strength building activities (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, squats etc.). This daily assignment will not change during the game. The idea here is that while you may not be able to do all 50 of each activity on Day 1, if you stick to it and put in the time and effort, by the Finalefüste you should be able to complete the full Daily Fünfzig with ease. We tested this during Sömmer Kamp ‘24 with good results so GG’s taking this mainstream now (lucky you!).
Daily game updates (most days at least; let’s not get carried away here) will now be posted on The Füste’s Blue Sky account (@ggrolar.bsky.social and yes, this is yet another social media app GG will be using as he continues his search for non-evil platforms to support) as well as IG and Threads (same as last year).
Okay, that’s enough of that. So what do you need to know for this week and the Startenfüste (Thursday, January 2nd)?
First and as always, get up on Thursday morning and complete your game weigh-in. This requires you to get on a scale and face the consequences of this past holiday season. It’s all good though as this number will be greatly reduced by the time you do your game weigh-out on March 8th! Make sure you take a picture of the number on your scale and text it to GG on Thursday morning. He’ll record this value for you and keep it secret and safe. And one thing here please . . . if your feet are in the pic and you basically have coyote paws instead of human appendages, wear socks for the love of Gött! GG’s sanity often hangs by a thread during Füsting season and nasty feet pics are just the thing that can send him over the edge. Danke for your consideration.
The first four days of game play (Jan. 2nd - Jan. 5th) are considered Week 0. As this is the introduction period, we’ll take things nice and slow. No sugar, no alcohol and complete a Singelt workout each day. But bonus play will be very limited. You can do the first two “Weekly” bonuses: the first Long Winter Wog (a mind-numbingly simple 1 mile) and the first set of Stairs (10 flights). For the Side Quest game, you can complete the Polar Plunge to earn the first +5p of the total 30 you need to earn the final Side Quest Completion Bonus. That’s it. That’s all you have to do for Week 0.
No homework for Week 0; we’ll start that next week.
The first Fastentag (fasting day) of the game is this coming Monday, Jan. 6th. It’s only a dawn to dusk fast so nothing spectacular out the gate here. Remember, clear liquids only and no solid food till sunset (basically 5pm PST or whatever time is accurate for your location on the planet).
Two more things (consider them “pro tips”). If you’re going to be doing a lot of walking this Wintefüste, consider finally purchasing a weighted vest (one where you can adjust the total weight up or down) instead of carrying around a backpack full of canned vegetables and hand weights. GG’s just sayin’. Also, don’t forget to set an alarm on your phone to remind you to report off each day by noon.
So that’s it for the pre-game pep talk. For those returning players, it’s the same basic idea and experience you’ve always had. For the Neofüstes, it’s all new to you anyways so . . .
Tomorrow you’ll receive the link to your Daily Reporting Tool via a text from GG. For the former Füsters, please remember to delete any old links you might have from past games.
And as always, if you have any questions or need a point of clarification, please text GG directly and he’ll get you an answer. In the meantime, enjoy your New Year’s holiday and we’ll see you on the Spielbrett (game board) on Thursday morning at 6am local time!
Thank you for joining the game and GG wishes you the best of luck this Winterfüste! With a little luck (and a lot of sweat and tears), we’ll see you on the podium in March!
May the Füste be with you!
Griswalde Grolar