| Our Recommended Age: | 6+ |
| Recommended Age: | 8+ |
| Players: | 2-6 |
| Cost: | $29.99 |
| Play Time: | 20-50 minutes |
| Company Site: | www.calliopegames.com |
| Contents: | 6 Climber Pawns, 6 Oxygen game boards, 6 Oxygen Marker tokens, 13 Custom frosted dice, 29 Mountain Tiles, Instructions. |
We have come to expect games that are fun for adults but kids can play too (without adjusting rules or game play) from Calliope Games and Dicey Peaks is another fantastic example of that! Perfect for both Game Nights and Family Game Nights! As a brave (or not so brave) adventurer you are racing against other players to the “top” of Yeti Mountain, but you need to be careful and keep track of your oxygen, watch out for avalanches and oh yeah….beware of the Yeti!
Dicey Peaks was one of my favorite games to play at Gen Con 2017. I want to be a brave adventurer but since I cannot do that in real life I will pretend while I climb Yeti Mountain. It is recommended for ages 8+ but kids as young as about 6 could play. There is a little reading involved but other players could help a non reader out.
Don’t let the recommended age fool you. It says 8+ because they intend for their games to be playable by kids without adjusting rules or game play so the whole family can enjoy the game together. However, Dicey Peaks is a great adults only game as well. In my opinion these are the best games because Family Game Night is our favorite night of the week!
Ok moving on…the box is standard lift top lid very sturdy box. Oh and yes it has an insert inside! This one fills the inside except for a sort of cross section in the middle that holds the Oxygen game boards in the middle, the dice on one side and the Climber and Oxygen tank markers on the other. Under all of that but in the middle longest section are the Mountain Tiles.
Very organized…I love that about a game. Speaking of the pieces they are all very well made. The chipboard that they used for the Oxygen game boards is thick which is fantastic since that is your main game piece.
The Mountain Tile pieces are made out of the same material and the artwork on them is beautiful and perfect for the theme of the game. Detailed and a little bit dark to give you that sense of impending danger but not too dark as to scare younger players.
The Dice are standard size but specially made for Dicey Peaks. They are semi-clear and frosted in Dark Blue, Blue and White which again adds to the theme of the game and the icons are etched into them with white. I love they thought about the details enough to use frosted dice.
The Climbers all look the same except for color and the Oxygen tanks look the same, again except for color. They are made out of good quality plastic and intricately detailed. Seriously, check out the Climbers! They have a backpack, a walking stick, helmets and are on a “mountain slope” and these are just the player tokens!
We are all very impressed with the quality of Dicey Peaks. The kids both like the Climbers and try to play with them like they are actually climbing a mountain. They also make Avalanche sounds when they bust which is sort of a rumble, ahh! ending with a whoosh and a blech…for death. They are very imaginative…and hilarious. We don’t know what a Yeti sounds like but the Comedian can do a pretty good Wookie impersonation so he makes that noise when Yeti are rolled on a die…makes it more fun. Now on to the how to’s!
Objective:
Your goal is to reach the top of the mountain…alive…and first. You can “die” but only at the summit…plan ahead.
Setup:
Give everyone an Oxygen game board and have them pick their color and get the Oxygen tank and Climber tokens as well. Put your game board in front of you and put your Oxygen tank token on the 9 there.
Now take the Mountain Tiles and split them into groups based off of the numbers on the back. You should see 0,3,4,5 and 6 on the backs. Keep them face down and shuffle each pile and then build the Mountain!
Start with 6 of the # 6 tiles at the bottom, then 5 of the # 5 tiles, 4 of the # 4, 3 of the # 3 and then for the # 0 tiles put as the top three tiles but two and then one as the final on top so the whole game area looks like a triangle. Make sense? Good moving on…though if not there is a picture in the instructions.
Put the rest of the tiles face down in the box, no peeking. They won’t be used but some people may be able to tell what is being used if they see what isn’t…card counters. All the Climber tokens or pawns start at the base of the mountain on the left-most side. Put the dice where everyone can reach them and the person who most recently hiked a mountain goes first. Although since none of us have hiked a mountain we just say the last to hike up a hill…
Play:
On your turn you choose any 5 dice to roll. The Dark Blue dice have more chances of resting, the White have more chances of climbing and the Light Blue have and equal chance of both. So first you should decide if you want to rest or climb.
Climbing takes your further up the mountain while resting replenishes your Oxygen levels. The symbol for climing is the Pickaxe and for resting is the Tent. The Avalanche symbol is the triangle with the little balls of “snow” falling down it and the claw is the symbol for the Yeti. We’ll get to him in a minute.
Roll the 5 dice and choose whether you will be resting or climbing. Set aside any that are symbols for what you have chosen, Tents for resting, Pickaxe for climbing. If you chose to climb also set aside the Avalanches and no matter what you chose set aside any Yetis.
After your first roll you can choose to end your turn or press your luck. Choosing to end your turn will simply apply all of the dice currently rolled. If you choose to roll again you roll 3 more dice towards your goal. If you don’t have 3 dice to roll you have to end your turn.
You can keep rolling as many times as you want as long as you have 3 dice to roll, however if you bust your turn ends without getting to use any of the dice. You can bust while climbing or resting, well by trying to climb or rest anyway.
While climbing if you get 3 Avalanches or more Pickaxe symbols than the amount of Oxygen on your game board, you bust. While resting if you get Tent symbols that would give you more than 9 Oxygen you bust. Also while resting if you get 3 Yeti symbols you become so scared you freeze and cannot move…thus you bust!
Any Yeti that you set aside when you rolled will effect all players who are behind you on the mountain. Those players move exactly one space forwards but it doesn’t cost them any Oxygen and they cannot flip over the tile they land on. Any players on the same tile as you or ahead of you are not scared of the Yeti though.
Winning:
Remember those top three tiles? Well one of them contains the Flag you need to find. Find it and you win! There are dangers of course, so beware. You cannot choose to rest at the top of the mountain and the Oxygen you have when you get there is all you have while you are there.
If you run out of Oxygen while you are on the Summit then your adventure is over. If you happen to move past level 3 while climbing to the Summit you have to lower your Oxygen marker one space per Pickaxe rolled. Choose one tile to land on and flip it over. Again, find the flag and win! Yay! Don’t find and you begin your next turn on the Summit.
You must roll all 5 dice and have at least one Pickaxe in order to flip a tile. You do have to lower your Oxygen marker by one space for each Pickaxe rolled and then flip over a tile. You can bust on the Summit though so be careful!
Dicey Peaks is a great game for the whole family. A perfect blend of fun and challenge to make it fun for adults and kids alike. We love playing on Family Game Nights and it is a great game to introduce to people new to gaming.
Show us your Victory pose! @MyGeeklings #DiceyPeaks @CalliopeGames
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