K2: Lhotse
K2: Lhotse Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Box Contents
- Two-sided game board: The South Face / South Col Race
- 10 weather tiles
- 5 pairs of fixed rope tokens
Before the first game, carefully punch out the tokens.
Scenario 1: The South Face
Game Preparation
Game preparation is the same as in the base game K2, except for the following changes:
- Place the Lhotse board with the South Face side up, as shown in the illustration.
- Use the Lhotse weather tiles, not the base game weather tiles. Deal 2 weather tiles face down to each player. Each player chooses one of their tiles to keep in the game and discards the other face down to the box. In a game for 2–4 players, draw 4, 3, or 2 from the remaining weather tiles, so that there will be a total of 6 weather tiles in the game. In a game for 5 players, draw 1 random tile from the 5 discarded tiles, so that there will be 6 in the game. Shuffle the 6 selected weather tiles and place them near the board as in the base game.
- Each player chooses a color, and takes all the components in this color from the base game: a deck of cards, 2 pairs of climber pawns, a pair of tents, a player board, and two acclimatization markers, as usual. Each player also takes a pair of fixed rope tokens from the Lhotse expansion.
Each player puts one of their climbers on each of the two starting spaces.
Sequence of Play
The game is played according to all the rules of K2, except for the following changes:
Weather Influence
K2: Lhotse introduces new weather tiles. Unlike weather tiles in the base game, the Lhotse weather tiles distinguish different weather in the 3 sections of the map: the western ("W"), central ("C") and eastern ("E") sections of the South Face. The weather in each section varies depending on altitude. The weather tiles have 3 values, one for each section.
Icons on the board and tiles: Western section (W), Central section (C), Eastern section (E).
Example: This icon shows that acclimatization drops by 1 for climbers above 7000 meters, but only in the eastern section ("E").
Landslide
A landslide is a new effect appearing on weather tiles. It is resolved in the acclimatization phase, after modifying all climbers' acclimatization. Each climber in a landslide section loses 2 additional acclimatization points, even climbers in tents. Each climber and each tent in the landslide slides 1 space down, along printed map connections (not along fixed ropes).
Apply the landslide effect starting from the lowest affected spaces, then resolving successively higher spaces. If a piece could slide down to 2 possible lower spaces, then it must slide to a space in the same section. If there are still 2 eligible lower spaces (i.e. in the same section), then the piece's owner decides where the piece goes.
When sliding down, ignore the normal maximum number of climbers on a space!
Example of a landslide on a weather tile. This landslide only affects spaces which are above 6000 meters in the eastern section ("E").
Fixed Rope Tokens
During the action phase, a player with an active climber above 6000 meters may place a pair of fixed rope tokens, which links the climber's space with another space. Each player has only 1 pair of fixed rope tokens in their color. Once placed, fixed rope cannot be moved.
2 spaces which each have a fixed rope token of the same color are considered connected. A climber moving from one space to the other pays the cost of the space being entered as usual. Players can use fixed ropes placed by other players.
The climber must spend 1 movement point to place the pair of fixed rope tokens. This movement point is spent as usual as part of the climber's movement, and 1 of the tokens must be placed on the space which the climber occupies, similar to pitching a tent.
Connections between fixed rope tokens don't count as printed board connections. Fixed ropes can cross other fixed ropes. More than 1 fixed rope token can be placed on the same space.
To connect 2 spaces by fixed rope, the spaces must meet these requirements:
- The difference in the 2 spaces' victory point values must be at most 1.
- The spaces must be on 2 different adjacent paths. A path is a series of spaces connected with ropes in the same color. Two paths are adjacent if there is no other path between them. The fixed rope connection cannot cross a printed board connection or space, but the fixed rope does not have to be visualized as a straight line; it can curve as needed.
- Both spaces must be above 6000 meters.
Fixed rope tokens should be placed to indicate which space is higher. A space with a higher victory point value (in the flag) is always higher, and its token's arrow should point down. The lower value space should have its token's arrow pointing up. If both spaces have the same victory point value, then both fixed rope tokens should point sideways at each other. This matters when moving with a rope card which has 2 values (up and down). If you move from a higher space to a lower space, then you use the larger value for downward movement, as usual. If you move sideways (between spaces at the same altitude), then this is treated as upward movement.
Example 1: If he chose the top space, he would have to place the tokens in such a way that the space worth more points is higher. Placing the tokens costs him 1 movement point. For his remaining movement points, he can move to the connected space by spending 2 upward movement points.
Example 2: In this case, the tokens are placed sideways, as the spaces are worth the same amount of points. Placing the tokens costs the player 1 movement point. The remaining movement points are not enough to use the new connection.
Example 3: When the player chooses a space below his current space, he places the first fixed rope token with the arrow pointing downwards on his space and the second token pointing upwards on the target space. Placing the tokens costs the player 1 movement point. For his remaining movement points, he can move to the connected space.
End of the Game
The game ends after the last day of the sixth weather tile. The player with the most victory points wins.
In case of a tie, the tie is broken by whichever player first reached the top of Lhotse (the middle peak). If no tying player reached the peak, then the tie remains a tie.
Scenario 2: South Col Race
Game Preparation
Game preparation is the same as in the base game K2, except for the following changes:
- Place the Lhotse board with the South Col side up, as shown in the illustration.
- Choose the set of winter or summer weather tiles from the base game K2. Shuffle the 6 tiles face down and randomly discard 1 without revealing it, leaving a deck of 5 tiles. The remaining weather rules are the same as in the base game K2. Alternatively, you can draw 5 tiles from the Lhotse expansion, and treat the entire board as the central section ("C").
- Each player chooses a color, and takes all the components in this color from the base game K2: a deck of cards, 2 pairs of climber pawns, a pair of tents, a player board, and 2 acclimatization markers, as usual. Players in this variant have tents, but not fixed ropes.
Each player discards 3 cards into the box: one each of acclimatization cards with values 2, 1 and 0.
More experienced players can agree instead that each player secretly chooses which of their 3 cards to discard, then all players simultaneously reveal their chosen cards. Thus each player has a deck of only 15 cards in the game.
Sequence of Play
The sequence of play is the same as in the base game K2.
End of the Game
The game ends after the last day of the fifth weather tile. Each player gains additional victory points based on the cards they discarded during setup. Each player sums the acclimatization points on their 3 discarded cards. Each 2 discarded acclimatization points give 1 additional victory point.
The player with the most victory points wins.
In case of a tie, the tie is broken by whichever player first reached the summit. If no tying player reached the summit, then the tie remains a tie.
Example: The yellow player scored 18 points on the map. During setup, Yellow discarded the following cards: [green 1], [blue 1] and [blue 0]. Therefore, Yellow gains no additional victory points.
The Green player scored 17 points on the map. During setup, Green discarded [blue 1], [blue 1] and [blue 0]. Therefore Green gains 1 additional VP, tying with Yellow. Green reached the summit before Yellow, and therefore wins!
Editor's note: the printed example shows the yellow player's first discarded card in green, not blue; the caption is transcribed as printed.
Solo Game
The solo rules are the same as in the base game K2. The player compares their score with the table below to determine their victory level.
| Victory level | Summer (sun icon) | Winter (snowflake icon) |
|---|---|---|
| Himalayan Mountaineer | 20 VP | 17–20 VP |
| Alpinist | 16–17 VP | 15–16 VP |
| Hiker | 11–15 VP | 10–14 VP |
| Sailor | < 11 VP | < 10 VP |