Profession
Your main survival argument: medical, technical, social, practical or wonderfully suspicious.
Paramedic
Half of you will make it. Prove it should be you.
Only half survive
A survival debate game for 6–16. Reveal your cards, argue your worth, vote the rest out.
Survival protocol
- 01
The catastrophe
A disaster card sets the scene. The bunker card tells you how deep, how stocked — and how few seats there are.
- 02
Your character
Profession, health, biology, hobby, additional skill, human quality, phobia and two special cards. You are dealt a life. Play it well.
- 03
The debate
Each round you reveal one card and argue why humanity needs you. Persuade, ally, betray.
- 04
The vote
Every round someone is voted out of the queue. When the hatch closes, only half remain inside.
Detailed rules
Who moves, what opens, who gets left outside
Bunker Online plays in public rounds. Players take turns revealing one dossier card, argue from the new facts on the table, and start exiling after the second public card circle.
Catastrophe example
The Grey Tide
A self-replicating construction swarm misread one line of code and decided the whole world was raw material. The nanites strip steel, concrete and bone with equal patience, glittering like frost as they work. They feed on sunlight, so humanity's only hope is to wait underground the seven years it takes them to grind themselves down.
01Emergency broadcast
The table first sees the catastrophe: radiation, plague, climate collapse or something stranger. This tells everyone what skills and flaws may matter.
02Bunker briefing
The bunker card reveals the shelter, supplies and number of seats. Capacity is half the player count, rounded up.
- 03
Reveal in seat order
Round 1 forces everyone to reveal profession. Round 2 lets each player choose one hidden dossier card to open.
04Debate and pressure
After each full reveal circle, players argue, bargain and accuse. The first circle is only profession; the second circle unlocks the first vote.
05Vote and verdict
After the second card and later circles, living players nominate and vote. Tied leaders get final words, then the room revotes.
The dossier
What cards are in a hand
Seven dossier cards stay hidden until revealed: profession, health, biology, hobby, additional skill, human quality and phobia. Two special orders can be played once and reveal themselves when used.
Health
A strength, condition or liability. It can save your pitch or make the vote smell blood.
Iron Immune System
Hobby
Side skills that become surprisingly useful when the world is broken.
Scrap Metal Welding
Additional skill
A learned ability outside your profession: repairs, negotiation, survival craft, leadership or another edge.
Hand-Crank Radio
Human quality
A personal trait that changes how the table reads your risk, loyalty and usefulness.
Reads lips from across a crowded room
Phobia
A fear that can turn the perfect survivor into a risk in the wrong bunker.
Fear of Deep Water
Special order
Two one-use orders: reveal secrets, cancel votes, gain immunity, swap cards or amplify your ballot.
Background Check
Biology
Gender, age and fertility are a hidden dossier card now; reveal it when the table needs biological facts.
Deepwell
More action at the table
The fun is in timing the betrayal
The official rhythm gives every player two public cards before the first exile. After that, every new reveal circle can turn into a verdict.
Suspicion has a scoreboard
Hidden cards are not neutral: the less you reveal, the easier it is for others to call you dangerous.
Specials break plans
A single order can expose a rival, cancel a vote, protect a target or return a survivor to the table.
Runoffs create final words
Tied leaders get a last chance to flip the room before the narrowed revote.
Background Check
Loudest Voice
Barricade