Karakorum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1) Laying Down Cards From the Pile
  • 2) Assigning Cards to Expeditions
  • 3) Scoring Expeditions
  • Special Rules for Scoring Expeditions
• End of the Game
• Winning Conditions
• Expedition Goal Cards

Contents

• 120 summit cards in three colors, with values from 1 to 8 (each card value in a given color appears five times, containing the appropriate number of ice axes: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3).
• 12 expedition goal cards, 4 for each peak/color (detailed description of these cards can be found at the end of the instructions).
• 4 player boards.
• 12 expedition pawns in three colors.
• Instructions.
• First player marker (blue pawn).

Goal of the Game

The players' goal is to skillfully collect summit cards in order to lead each of their expeditions as high as possible. At the end of the game, the expeditions that reached the highest point on each peak will be determined, but these expeditions will not necessarily determine the winner. The winner is the player who conquers all three peaks, or the one who evenly leads all their expeditions!

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the summit cards and create a face-down pile in the center of the playing area. Leave a space next to the pile for cards to be played during subsequent rounds.
2. Place the 12 expedition goal cards near the pile, grouping them by destination (color).
3. Each player receives a board depicting a route to the three peaks. At the bottom of the board is the base camp - there, players place expedition pawns in three colors, corresponding to the peak colors. The base camp is considered space number 0.
4. The player who last climbed the mountains receives the first player marker.

Playing the Game

The game consists of a series of rounds during which a maximum of three steps will be performed: laying down cards from the stack, assigning them to the appropriate expeditions, and scoring individual expeditions.

When all players have had their turn, the active player passes the first player pawn to the person sitting to their left.

1) Laying Down Cards From the Pile

The player with the first player marker is the active player and must lay down at least 1 card from the pile, and then may decide to lay down additional cards, up to a limit of +1 card relative to the number of players participating in the expedition. This means that, for example, in a three-player game, the active player can lay down, one by one, a maximum of 4 cards. The active player decides when to stop revealing cards, knowing that some of them may go to their opponents!

After laying down the desired number of cards, the active player MUST take at least 1 of the revealed cards. They can take more, as long as they relate to the same peak (are of the same color).

Then, if there are any revealed cards remaining on the table, they can be taken by the other players. Starting with the player to the left of the active player and moving clockwise, players may take 1 card from among the available cards on the table. Unlike the active player, the other players can decline to take a card! If any cards remain next to the pile at the end of this step, they are placed on the discard pile.

Example: In a four-player game, Adam reveals the maximum number of cards. Of the 5 cards revealed, 3 cards refer to the red peak, and 2 cards refer to the green peak. Knowing that he will have to assign the cards he took to individual expeditions, Adam decides to take 2 red cards with values 5 and 7. The rest of the cards can be collected by the remaining players.

Paulina, sitting next to him, decides to take a green card with a value of 4 (there is also a green 5 on the table, but she can only take one card), Tomek, sitting further away, takes a red 4, and Tatiana, being the last in this round, refuses to take the remaining green 5 because she would not be able to add it to her expeditions.

2) Assigning Cards to Expeditions

All players who took a card (or cards, in the case of the active player) in the first step must now assign them [in player order] to their expeditions according to the rules below.

A. Each player can have a maximum of 4 expeditions in front of them: 1 main expedition in each available color and 1 trekking expedition in any color. This means that a player can have a maximum of two expeditions of one color and one expedition in each of the other two colors. [Having two expeditions of one color and two expeditions of another color is not allowed.]

B. A player can start an expedition with a card of any value. To expand it, they will have to add cards of the same color with values equal to or higher than the value shown on the top card of the given expedition's pile.

C. When adding cards to an expedition, they should be arranged so that the increasing card values and the axes shown at the bottom of the cards are visible (see example).

Note: There is one exceptional situation in which the active player is not obliged to take any of the cards laid down! This happens when they have four expeditions laid out in front of them and are unable to add any cards to them or remove [see "Special Rules for Scoring"] any expeditions. Of course, for this to happen, the active player must first lay down cards from the pile up to the limit (number of players + 1), and the other players, according to the rules described above, may each take one of the cards laid down. Unselected cards are moved to the discard pile as usual.

3) Scoring Expeditions

[Scoring is always optional.] As soon as a player has added a new summit card to one of their expeditions and that expedition contains at least three cards, that player may choose to score points for THAT expedition. This opportunity is available to every player who has taken a card this round, starting with the active player and moving clockwise. [In player order, each player performs steps 2 (assigning) and 3 (scoring) together as a whole action before next player goes.]

There are two ways to score an expedition:

1. If the expedition to which the card was added meets the condition of one of the available expedition objective cards, the player may discard that objective card and move the marker of the appropriate color on their board the number of spaces indicated on the objective card.

   Note: If, at the time of scoring, the expedition meets the conditions of multiple objective cards, the player can choose only one of them!

2. If the expedition to which the card was added does not meet the conditions of any of the available objective cards (or if it does, but the player does not wish to use it), the player may move the marker of the appropriate color on their board by the number of spaces corresponding to the axes visible on all cards of that expedition. [Remember that only expeditions containing three or more cards can be scored.]

After awarding points for a given expedition, all summit cards included in it are placed on the discard pile. If, during their turn, a player has added summit cards to multiple expeditions [of the same color, and only possible for the active player], they may score points for each expedition separately, choosing between the two ways of scoring described above.

Special Rules for Scoring Expeditions

1. If the active player took more than one card in the first step, they may:

   • add them all to one expedition and optionally score points for it;
   • divide them between two expeditions they own and optionally, for both or for one of them, score points;
   • divide them between an expedition they own and a new second expedition of the same color (observing the rule of having two expeditions of a given color and four expeditions in total) and optionally, for both or for one of them, score points;
   • add one of them to the expedition they own, score points for it, and then, after removing it, start a new expedition in the same color.

2. If, as a result of scoring an expedition, a player reaches (or would cross) the last space on the track (space number 30), any remaining moves after scoring the expedition are lost. If a player has a second expedition of that color in front of them, they may "score" it in the future (but without moving the color marker), or they will be forced to remove it, according to the rules below.

3. A player cannot score an expedition containing 1 or 2 cards. However, whenever a player takes a new card, they may REMOVE one or more of their expeditions containing 1 or 2 cards, placing them on the discard pile. For each removed expedition (regardless of how many cards it consisted of), the player must move the color marker on their board corresponding to the removed expedition back 3 spaces. If the corresponding marker has not been moved forward enough to be moved back 3 spaces, it is placed on the base camp (space 0). It should be remembered that an expedition consisting of 3 or more cards cannot be removed!

Tip: Removing an expedition, although it causes the marker on the player's board to move back, can be helpful when it is necessary to "unblock" a space for a new expedition or when, due to the course of the game, the player feels that expanding the expedition may be difficult to carry out.

End of the Game

The last round is played when the active player reveals the last card in the deck. This round proceeds according to the standard rules, after which the first player marker is passed for the last time to the player following to the active player's left and any current expeditions are canceled.

Starting with the new active player, all participants must cancel all current expeditions according to the following rules and in the order given:

1. If there are any expeditions in front of the player containing 3 or more cards, count axes on them, and advance the appropriate markers on the board. Note! Objective cards cannot be scored during this step!
2. If the player has any expeditions composed of 1 or 2 cards, they must remove them by moving the appropriate markers back on the board by 3 spaces, according to the rules previously described.

Winning Conditions

The game of Karakorum can be won in two ways:

1. If at any stage of the game all three expedition markers of any player are in the last space on the track on their board (space number 30), they are immediately declared the winner!

2. However, if the players have reached the end of the game after running out of cards, the winner is determined as follows:

   A. For each of the three peaks (colors), determine which player has advanced furthest on the track: they become the champion of that peak. In the event of a tie, all tied players become champions of that peak.

   If a player has not become the champion of any peak, they do not take part in the fight for victory [Paulina, in the rulebook example].

   If a player is the leader of one peak, he/she removes the expedition marker of the color of this peak from his/her board [Tomek removes the green marker from his board].

   If a player is the leader of 2 or 3 peaks, he removes from among these markers the one that corresponds to the less advanced expedition (closer to the base camp) [Adam removes the yellow marker from his board].

   B. The peak champions then add the values of the two remaining expedition markers on their boards. The player with the higher score is the winner! [Adam, in the example.] In the event of a tie, the tied climbers share the victory.

Expedition Goal Cards

There are 12 expedition goal cards in the game, 4 for each peak/color:

• 4-card-expedition objective: A player may complete this goal card if their scoring expedition consists of at least 4 summit cards. This allows the player to advance the expedition marker on their board 5 spaces.

• 6-card-expedition objective: A player may complete this goal card if their scoring expedition consists of at least 6 summit cards. This allows the player to advance the expedition marker on their board 12 spaces.

• Double-3-card-expedition objective: A player may complete this goal card if they have 2 expeditions of the same color in front of them and each of them contains at least 3 cards. This allows the player to advance the expedition marker on their board 10 spaces. Note! A player who wants to achieve this goal can possibly add a card to only one of the two expeditions of a given color, but after scoring points for this goal, he must discard both expeditions.

• 10-axe-expedition objective: A player may complete this goal card if at least 10 axes are visible on one of their expeditions. This allows the player to advance the expedition marker on their board 15 spaces.