The Alpha

About this board game

The Alpha is a wolf-pack board game for 3–6 players, with a play time of approximately 45 minutes. Over five weeks, or rounds, players lead their wolves through the forest in a quest to secure food and become the pack with the most at the end.

Players search for prey in two distinct areas. The Near Forest offers easier-to-catch prey with lower value, while the Far Forest contains larger prey that are more difficult to attack but can provide a greater reward when the hunt succeeds.

Every hunt follows four stages:

• Stalk: Send wolves to different regions and try to outnumber rival packs to become dominant there.
• Chase: Roll the dice for the region to determine whether the hunt succeeds.
• Resolve: If another pack is present, decide whether to risk injury by fighting for the food or share and risk giving up all the food found in the region.
• Advance: Move your wolf along the food track to show how much food your pack secured.

The Alpha combines territory claims, dice-based hunting, and difficult decisions over the rewards of a successful hunt. Rival packs can turn a promising food discovery into a conflict, making each region a potential contest over whether to fight or share.

After the fifth week, the wolf pack with the most food is declared The Alpha.