In Dead of Winter, players are a colony of survivors trying to survive a hazardous winter in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. The colony has an objective they are trying to complete, but each player also controls a group of survivors that has a secret objective. Often this secret objective requires that a player help complete the colony objective. Only players who have completed their secret objective when the game ends will win. The game can end in a variety of ways: If the morale track reaches 0, if the round track reaches 0, or if the main objective is completed.