Gamehelptranquilitytheascent
Overview
This is a co-operative game to build the mountain and reach the summit by placing a summit card (5 Copies) at the peak (level 9). No communications allowed!
Cards in the Game
- 72 Ascent Cards: These are numbered 1-12 in three different colors with two of each number/color
- 3 Campfire Cards
- 5 Bridge Cards
- 5 Summit Cards
Turn
On a turn, you can either play 1 card or discard 2 cards, then draw back to 5 (if you can't draw that many, draw as much as you can and continue with fewer and fewer cards for the final rounds)
Placement
Cards can either go directly to the right of the last card on the ground row, or placed in such a way that they are supported by 2 beneath them again working left to right on the higher row
Row Adjacent cards must be of different colours, but the same colour can repeat e.g. red green red is acceptable whilst red red green is not
The number on a card tells you how high it may be placed, but it can be placed lower e.g. a 6 can be placed on rows 1-6
The difference in value between two adjacent cards is what you must discard, e.g. place a 2 next to a 3 and discard 1, place a 6 next to a 2 and discard 4 (If you cannot discard the value required, you cannot place)
Special Cards
Other than normal number Ascent cards and the winning Summit Card, there are also Bridge Cards & Campfire Cards
Bridge Cards - These cannot be placed on the far edges of a row, and must be swapped out with an Ascent card by game's end. When they are swapped out, they cause discards equal to the greater difference of neighbours. e.g. if you had 5 B 2 and swapped the B with a 3, you would discard the greater of 5-3=2 rather than 3-2=1
Campfire Cards - These replace Ascent cards of the same colour, the replaced Ascent card is immediately moved up the mountain to a legal empty space on a higher row, if this is not possible then the Campfire Card cannot be played. Campfires remain and are ignored pretending the card on the opposite side is the value for discard requirements e.g. if there was 3 C and you placed a 5 so it was 3 C 5, the 3 is compared with the 5 to make 2 discards
Goats (Optional)
Some Ascent cards feature a goat icon. Placing one of these cards adds a goat meeple to the mountain, on the ascent card that was placed. Goats can be moved up the mountain as your turn. Goats can be on the same card, after which they move together. If playing with goats, the goal is to move them to the top of the mountain. You still have to fill the bridges and place the summit card.