- BGG rank
- BGG #15,013
- BGG rating
- 8.3
The Restless
2025
Rules assistance for The Restless
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 120–300 min
- 16+
- Complexity 3.0/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for The Restless
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Restless is a board game released in 2025 for 1–4 players, 120–300 minutes per game, and ages 16 and up. It was designed by Winslow Dumaine and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Trading, and Dice Rolling.
About the game
The Restless takes place thirty years after a pantheon of gods betrayed humanity and condemned them to extinction. In the chaos that followed, panic and blame caused the great nations of the world to wage brutal crusades against themselves and their rivals. While humanity tore itself apart, the membrane that separated the mortal realm from the countless other dimensions of heaven, hell, and the places beyond, began to split open. All manner of cruel angels, grotesque demons, and unknowable creatures spilled into to mortal realm. What followed was not a war, but a frantic, internecine bloodbath that crushed the great kingdoms and drove their warbands to their graves. The world is a endless cemetery and only the dregs of humanity remain alive. As the sun sets on the human race, a suffocating storm of ink black smoke appears on the far western horizon and begins sweeping across the world. Every living creature must run from the smoke or die. You must gather your party, collect meager equipment, and flee to the east. At the far end of the world, you will confront the gods that condemned your species to extinction. There is no hope for survival, but there is hope for revenge. The Restless is a cooperative, dungeon-crawler style card game set during the final days of an infertility apocalypse. The game creates a uniquely challenging collaborative experience that pits a team of weak, resource-starved characters against an increasingly hostile world of shapeshifting monsters, bizarre traps, and treacherous environments. Players must move through 5 realms - with multiple fight encounters - to get to the Final Battle with the Traitor God. After the final encounter in the Fifth Realm, the surviving party members arrive at the Rapturous East and the final battle. They will have the choice of trying to defeat the Traitor God or not fighting (and lose) If the Traitor God is defeated, the game is over. —description from the designer
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- (Self-Published)
Questions and answers
The Restless supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for The Restless is 120–300 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists The Restless for ages 16 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
The Restless has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
The Restless belongs to these categories: Fantasy, Fighting, and Dice. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Trading, and Dice Rolling. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of The Restless are: Winslow Dumaine. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists The Restless as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.