Peaks
Peaks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 6 Rest Bonus Tiles
- 100 Mountain Cards
- 28 Bonus Cards
- 22 Boost Cards
- 34 Companion Cards
- 1 Danger Die
Player Components x 6 colors:
- 1 Player Mat
- 1 Energy Tracker
- 1 Stamina Tracker
- 1 Experience Tracker
- 1 Character
- 9 Big Cubes
- 9 Small Cubes
- 3 Upgrade Dice
- 16 Flags
Setup
Global Setup
1. Board: Place the board in the middle of the table. Make sure there is space nearby for discard piles of each of its 4 card types.
2. Companion & Bonus Cards: Shuffle the companion cards and bonus cards separately. Place the decks face down on the rightmost two deck spaces on the board.
3. Mountain Cards: Shuffle the 'A' and 'B' mountain cards separately. Place the 'A' mountain deck face down on the left of the 2 mountain deck spaces and the 'B' deck on the right. Deal 4 'A' mountain cards face up to the display.
4. Rest Bonus Tiles: Shuffle the rest bonus tiles and place one face up in each continent.
5. Danger Die: Place the danger die nearby.
Player Setup
A. Player Mat: Gain 1 player mat and place it in front of you. Gain one of each of the three types of upgrade tiles and upgrade dice. Place them on your player mat as shown on the graphic, right.
B. Playing Pieces: Gain the flags, character, cubes, energy tracker, stamina tracker, and experience tracker of your color. Place 1 of your small cubes on each of the 0 spaces of the gear on your player mat; place your experience tracker on the 0 space of the experience track at the top of the board; place your character in the continent you are currently in (in real life); and place the remaining pieces next to your player mat.
C. Starting Cards: Gain 2 mountain cards from the top of the 'A' deck and 2 boost cards (see Boost Cards, page 3). Mountains and boosts are public — place them face up next to your player mat.
If this is your first game, do not gain boost cards. Instead, on the track on your player mat, place your energy tracker on space 12 and your stamina tracker on space 7. Then move your experience tracker on the board up 4 spaces (to the first '2' space).
Select a starting player. After each player has applied the effects of their chosen boost card, play will proceed clockwise, with players placing a big cube on an action on their turn and executing it.
The end of the game is triggered when a player has placed all 16 of their flags on the board.
Want to jump right in? After setting up the game, check out the game summary on the rear cover for all you need to know to get started!
Boost Cards
Boost cards give you a starting boost to begin the game. Before the first player takes their turn, each player simultaneously chooses one of their two boost cards and applies its effect.
Each boost card will tell you which space on the track on your player mat to place your energy tracker and stamina tracker, as well as other bonuses as explained on the card. For a list of the bonuses, see Rewards, page 5. Then return all boost cards to the box.
Examples: "Start with 10 Energy, 7 Stamina, and 2 Experience advances (the middle '1' space)." — "Start with 11 Energy, 6 Stamina, 2 Companion cards, and 1 Experience advancement (the first '1' space)."
Gameplay
There are 3 actions to choose from on your turn: REST, PREPARE, and CLIMB.
The basic actions are presented below, but it is possible to improve them (see Tile Upgrades, page 7).
Rest
If you need more energy to climb a mountain, choose the REST action. When you choose to take the REST action, place a big cube on the action on your player mat and do the following in order:
01. Travel to any continent.
Move your character to any continent. You may travel to the same continent you started in.
02. Either gain energy up to your stamina or gain [2] energy.
Move your energy tracker to the same space as your stamina tracker on the track on your player mat. Instead, you may move your energy tracker up 2 spaces.
REST EXAMPLE: The green player chooses the REST action for their turn and places a big cube on it on their player mat.
They then decide to gain energy up to their stamina and so move the energy tracker from the '2' space to the '7' space.
Prepare
If you need more mountains or some gear, choose the PREPARE action. Place a big cube on the action and do the following in order:
01. Gain 1 mountain.
Gain 1 mountain from the face-up display or from the top of either mountain deck and place it face up next to your player mat. If you ever have more than 4 face-up mountains at the end of one of your turns, discard down to 4.
02. Discard the mountain in the leftmost slot (if any) and replenish.
Discard the mountain in the leftmost slot of the display if it hasn't been taken. Then, slide all cards to the left and replenish the empty spaces with cards from the deck that is directly to the right of the display. At the start of the game this is the 'A' mountain deck, which changes to the 'B' deck when any player gets 8 experience.
03. Gain up to [0] gear.
Gear is a requirement of climbing some mountains that you can't just hike up. At the beginning of the game you won't gain gear, but it is possible to start gaining gear when you PREPARE by gaining an upgrade (see Rewards, page 5, and Tile Upgrades, page 7).
When you gain gear, move 1 of the cubes on gear on your player mat to the right 1 space. This means you have 1 more of that gear type.
PREPARE EXAMPLE: The green player chooses the PREPARE action for their turn and places a big cube on it on their player mat. They choose to take Boby and place it face up next to their player mat.
As the leftmost mountain hasn't been taken this turn, Vinicunca is discarded. Mount Vesuvius is moved to the leftmost slot of the display and the 2 spaces are replenished from the 'A' deck.
Finally, the green player has upgraded their PREPARE action die to 1, and so may gain 1 gear. They choose to gain a tent.
Climb
When you're ready to climb a mountain, choose the CLIMB action. Place a big cube on the action and do the following in order:
01. Choose one of your mountains and either its X or Y rewards.
Each mountain card has 2 groups of rewards at the top. Announce which group you choose — you will gain the chosen group of rewards when you successfully climb the mountain (see Rewards, right).
02. You and others who tag along travel and pay requirements.
Other players may join in on your climbs too, whether they're invited or not! You (and others who decide to tag along) must travel to the continent of the chosen mountain if not already there. There are also up to 4 types of requirements at the bottom of the mountain card that each player on the climb must satisfy (see Requirements, right).
03. Gain [1] experience advancement and chosen rewards. Others gain [1] experience advancement and unchosen rewards.
Gain the rewards chosen at the start of this turn and any other players who tagged along on the climb gain the unchosen rewards (see Rewards, right). All players who climbed the mountain also gain 1 experience advancement (you gain the top number of experience advancements on the upgrade die, others gain the bottom number). After being climbed, mountain cards are placed face down in a "climbed mountains" pile next to your player mat.
Requirements
Energy: You (and others tagging along) must pay the specified energy to satisfy this requirement. To pay energy, reduce your energy tracker by that many spaces on your player mat.
The energy requirement is lower for all players on the climb if at least one player tags along, as indicated beside the energy requirement on each mountain.
At any time, when paying any energy cost, you may first discard bonus cards, companions, or unclimbed mountains to gain 1 energy for each.
Acclimatization: You must not have moved this turn to satisfy this requirement. Therefore, you may only climb mountains with this requirement if you were already in the right continent at the start of your turn (and others may only tag along if they were too!).
Gear: To satisfy this requirement, for each gear type on the mountain, you (and others) reduce the corresponding gear on your player mat by 1 by moving it 1 space to the left.
Experience: This requirement is satisfied together by the players on the climb rather than individually. The number on the space where your tracker is on the experience track on the board is the amount of experience you have. Your experience, the highest experience of any others tagging along, and the experience of each companion (yours and other players', see Companions, page 6) on this climb count towards the experience requirement.
You can still satisfy this requirement if you do not collectively meet it — but there's a risk! Roll the danger die once for each experience you are below the requirement. If any roll results in a danger, you and any players tagging along may not gain any of the rewards marked with a red triangle. The most dangerous mountains require you roll the danger die 1 extra time (+danger), even if you wouldn't otherwise roll it.
Rewards
NOTE: You (and others) won't gain rewards marked with a red triangle if you rolled any danger this turn — you didn't quite make it to the top of the mountain!
Flag: Place a flag from your supply on the board in the continent shown on the mountain card.
Stamina: Move your stamina tracker on your player mat up 1 space. If it enters a space with a bonus after it, gain the depicted bonus (flag in your current continent or bonus card).
Bonus Card: Gain a bonus card from the top of the deck. Bonus cards bolster your final score by increasing your flag total if you fulfill the requirement. You may instead discard them during the game to gain a smaller bonus as noted on each card.
Companion: Gain a companion card from the top of the deck (see Companions, page 6).
Die Upgrade: Gain a die upgrade. Die upgrades improve the final step of an action, allowing you to gain more energy, gear, or experience advancements. When you gain a die upgrade, rotate 1 of the 3 upgrade dice on your player mat 1 space counterclockwise. Each action die can be upgraded 3 times and as noted on each die, place 1 flag in your current continent when you upgrade it to max.
Experience Advancement: Move your tracker on the experience track on the board up 1 space. If it enters a highlighted space, gain the depicted bonus (a tile upgrade (see Tile Upgrades, page 7), any 1 gear, a stamina, or a flag in your current continent). If you are the first player to get to 8 experience, swap over the 'A' and 'B' mountain decks on the board so that the 'B' deck is on the left — this usually occurs around halfway through the game.
Climb Example
The blue player chooses the CLIMB action for their turn and places a cube on it on their player mat.
They choose to climb Licancabur and choose the X rewards: 1 flag if they do not roll any danger this turn and 1 die upgrade and experience advancement.
Licancabur has an acclimatization requirement, so the red player may not tag along. As the yellow player is already in the right continent and has enough energy, they decide to tag along. The blue and yellow players both pay 6 energy. As collectively they are 1 experience below the requirement, (they have not brought any companions on the climb,) the blue player rolls the danger die once.
Their roll doesn't result in a danger, so the blue player places a flag in South America and gains a die upgrade and experience advancement, and the yellow player gains a die upgrade and a stamina. Both players then gain 1 experience advancement (as the blue player has not yet upgraded their CLIMB action die). Finally, the blue player places Licancabur in their face-down "climbed mountains" pile.
Companions
Companions help you climb mountains by contributing to the overall experience requirement and giving you an ability if you use them when you climb or tag along on another player's climb.
When you gain a companion, slide it into an empty companion slot in the top of your player mat and place a small cube on its highest use number. If there are no empty slots in your player mat, you may either discard it, or replace an existing companion, discarding the replaced companion.
To gain access to a companion's ability and experience on a climb, slide the cube on its use numbers left by 1 during the "pay requirements" step (before rolling the danger die). If the use number of any of your companions is to be reduced below 1, instead discard it after use.
Each ability is explained on its card and affects only the owner of the companion. You can still bring a companion on a climb for their experience even if you can't use their ability. There is no limit to the number of companions brought on a climb.
Companion card anatomy: A. Experience — B. Ability — C. Use Numbers.
Tile Upgrades
As you advance on the experience track, your improved technical knowledge allows you to do even more on your turn. When your tracker on the experience track enters a highlighted space with a tile upgrade icon, move one of the upgrade tiles on your player mat up one space, revealing an extra step to take each time you this action from now on.
Rest Tile Upgrades
01. Gain the rest bonus.
Gain the rest bonus of the continent you end up in:
- Gain energy up to your stamina (note this happens before the last step of your REST action, so you can then gain even more energy!).
- Gain 1 gear (tent, crampons, or climbing shoes).
- Gain 1 gear (harness, ice axe, or oxygen).
- Discard a bonus card to gain a bonus card.
- Gain 1 experience advancement.
- Move 1 cube on any of your actions to another (don't take the action; note you can gain action bonuses at any time on your turn).
02. You may pay 3 energy and discard 2 cards to gain a flag.
You may discard bonus cards, companions, or unclimbed mountains in any combination. You may never discard climbed mountains.
Prepare Tile Upgrades
01. Draw 3 mountains from either deck. Gain 1 and discard the others.
The mountains you choose must come from the same deck.
02. Gain up to 2 of any 1 gear type.
Choose a gear type and move its cube along up to 2 spaces.
Climb Tile Upgrades
01. If this mountain is over 4200m, all players climbing gain a stamina or 2 experience advancements.
The climbing players independently choose which reward to gain.
02. If there are multiple players climbing, you may pay 3 energy to gain a flag. If you do, others climbing may too.
Place flags in your current continent.
Extra Action Step Example
The yellow player gains experience advancements so that their tracker enters a highlighted space with a tile upgrade icon. They choose to slide up the upgrade tile on the REST action, revealing an extra step. Every time they take the REST action from now on, after travelling, they may also pay 3 energy and discard any 2 of their cards to place a flag in their current continent, before gaining the rest bonus and energy.
Action Bonuses
When you choose an action on your turn, you place a big cube on it. At any time during your turn (even before executing the action), if you have at least 3 cubes on an action, you may remove all cubes from all 3 actions to gain the action bonus shown in the top right corner of that action:
- If you have at least 3 cubes on the REST action, gain 1 stamina.
- If you have at least 3 cubes on the PREPARE action, gain any 1 die upgrade.
- If you have at least 3 cubes on the CLIMB action, place 1 flag in your current continent or gain 3 experience advancements.
Other Important Notes
Negotiation: You may negotiate at any time whether you will climb a particular mountain or bring companions on a climb etc., even before choosing an action for your turn. Any agreements are binding for that turn only. This means that you can propose a climb for a mountain that you do not have enough energy for by yourself but will if others tag along (of course you cannot then climb it if they refuse to tag along!).
Timing: Always execute each visible step of the chosen action on your player mat in order. Action bonuses can be taken at any time on your turn (and therefore effects apply to later steps). If any timing conflicts arise (about gaining rewards or whether players will tag along or bring companions etc.), decide in player order from the current player.
Rewards and Bonuses: Everything you gain is optional. When you gain multiple things in the same step, gain them one at a time in any order you wish (this means when gaining a CLIMB die upgrade, you may apply the effects before players gain the experience advancements for the climb).
Limitations: If any deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile of that card type and make a new one. Cubes and flags are not component limited. There is no hand limit for bonus cards.
Game End
After a player places their 16th flag on the board, the current player finishes their turn and then every player takes 1 more turn who still has flags left at the beginning of their turn. If you would ever place more than 16 flags, use cubes as a substitute. Then all players simultaneously perform the following steps in order:
01. Reveal your bonus cards and place flags on the cards that have a fulfilled game-end requirement (do not place flags on the board for these).
02. Place 1 flag in each continent in which you have more flags than each of the other players (ties don't count).
03. Place 2 flags anywhere on the board if you have at least 1 flag in every continent.
04. Place 1 flag anywhere on the board for each of your neighbors that you have more climbed mountains than. Your neighbors are the players sitting to your immediate left and right.
Count the total number of your flags (and extra cubes) on the board and your bonus cards. The player with the highest total wins!
In case of a tie, the player who has the highest mountain in their "climbed mountains" pile wins. If players are still tied, the first player among the tied players to reach the summit of one of the mountains featured in this game is the winner.
Game Summary
On your turn, place a player cube on 1 of the 3 actions on your player mat (REST, PREPARE, or CLIMB) and execute each step of the chosen action in order.
If you ever have 3 player cubes on an action, you may remove all player cubes from all 3 actions to gain the action bonus shown in the top right corner of that action.
Rest (summary)
01. Travel to any continent. Move your character to any continent. You may travel to the same continent you started in.
02. Either gain energy up to your stamina or gain [2] energy. Move your energy tracker to the same space as your stamina tracker on the track on your player mat. Instead, you may move your energy tracker up 2 spaces.
Prepare (summary)
01. Gain 1 mountain. Gain 1 mountain from the face-up display or from the top of either mountain deck and place it face up next to your player mat. If you have more than 4 face-up mountains at the end of one of your turns, discard to 4.
02. Discard the mountain in the leftmost slot (if any) and replenish. Discard the mountain in the leftmost slot of the display if it hasn't been taken and slide all cards to the left. Replenish the empty spaces with cards from the deck that is directly to the right of the display.
03. Gain up to [0] gear. At the beginning of the game you won't gain gear, but it is possible to start gaining gear when you PREPARE by gaining an upgrade. When you gain gear, move 1 of your player cubes on gear on your player mat to the right 1 space.
Climb (summary)
01. Choose one of your mountains and either its X or Y rewards. You will gain the chosen group of rewards at the top of the mountain when you successfully climb the mountain.
02. You and others who tag along travel and pay requirements. You (and others who decide to tag along) travel to the mountain's continent. There are also up to 4 types of requirements at the bottom of the mountain card that each player on the climb must satisfy.
03. Gain [1] experience advancement and chosen rewards. Others gain [1] experience advancement and unchosen rewards. Gain the rewards chosen at the start of this turn and any players who tagged along on the climb gain the unchosen rewards. All players who climbed the mountain also gain 1 experience advancement. Place the mountain card face down in a "climbed mountains" pile next to your player mat.
Requirements (summary)
Energy: Reduce your energy tracker by the indicated number of spaces on your player mat. The energy requirement is lower for all players on the climb if at least one player tags along. At any time, when paying any energy cost, you may first discard bonus cards, companions, or unclimbed mountains to gain 1 energy for each.
Acclimatization: You must not have moved this turn to satisfy this requirement.
Gear: Reduce the indicated gear on your player mat by 1.
Experience: Your experience, the highest experience of any others tagging along, and the experience of each companion on this climb collectively count towards the experience requirement. Roll the danger die once for each experience you are below the requirement. If any roll results in a danger, you and any players tagging along may not gain any of the rewards marked with a red triangle. Some mountains require 1 extra roll.
Rewards (summary)
Flag: Place a flag in your character's continent.
Stamina: Move your stamina tracker on your player mat up 1 space and gain the depicted bonus (if any).
Bonus Card: Gain a bonus card. Bonus cards bolster your final score by increasing your flag total if you fulfill the requirement. You may instead discard them during the game to gain a smaller bonus as noted on each card.
Companion: Gain a companion card from the top of the deck and place a cube on its highest use number. To gain access to a companion's ability and experience on a future climb, slide the cube on its use numbers left by 1 during the "pay requirements" step.
Die Upgrade: Rotate 1 of the action dice on your player mat 1 space counterclockwise. Place 1 flag in your current continent when you upgrade a die to max.
Experience Advancement: Move your player cube on the experience track up 1 space and gain the depicted bonus (if any). If you are the first player to get to 8 experience, swap over the mountain decks on the board.
Tile Upgrade: Slide one of the upgrade tiles on your player mat up one space, revealing an extra step to take each time you take this action from now on.
Rest Bonuses
Gain the bonus of the continent you travel to (or stay in) when taking the REST action after you've gained your first REST tile upgrade.
- Gain energy up to your stamina.
- Gain 1 depicted gear.
- Gain 1 depicted gear.
- Discard a bonus card to gain a bonus card.
- Gain 1 experience advancement.
- Move 1 cube on any of your actions to another.
Game End (summary)
After a player places their 16th flag on the board, every player with flags left takes 1 more turn. If you would ever place more than 16 flags, use player cubes as a substitute. Then all players perform the steps described on the board. The player with the most flags on the board + bonus cards wins!
Credits
Mountain information comes from Summit Post (summitpost.org) and Peak Bagger (peakbagger.com), as well as other sources.