The village elders have predicted a severe winter, and so the villagers have agreed to work together to ensure that the village has all of the necessities. In a spirit of healthy competition, the villagers have decided to compete to see who can be the most helpful. However, Rabbit, the constant trickster, has decided that he does not want to work. Instead, he has decided to confuse everyone else so that he can take all of the resources for himself.

Winter Rabbit is set in the world of traditional Cherokee animal stories, where each player takes on the role of one of the animal characters. In this semi-cooperative game, players cooperate to provide everything the village needs for winter while also competing to see who can contribute the most.