Roll to the South Pole
Roll to the South Pole Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 game board
- Terrain tiles and flag tiles
- 15 six-sided dice, in three colors
- 5 tents
- 1 explorer pawn
- 25 strength cubes
- 20 camp site markers
- 20 flag markers
- 5 player aid boards
Preparations
A Fold out the game board. Shuffle the tiles, and put them face down on the hexagonal spaces. Tiles with a flag symbol should be placed on flag spaces. Remaining tiles are randomly distributed on the remaining unnumbered spaces. One flag tile will be left over - put this tile back in the game box without looking at it.
The strength cubes and the camp site markers are stored on the designated spaces on the game board.
B Each player chooses a color, and takes the corresponding player aid and tent. Put your tent on the starting space near the ship.
C The player with the coldest nose tip will be the start player and takes the explorer pawn.
D Depending on the number of players participating, take a certain number of your flag markers and place them on your player aid (see table below). Remaining flag markers are put back in the game box.
| Number of players | 2 | 3 | 4-5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flags each | 4 | 3 | 2 |
E Depending on your position in the playing order, take a certain number of strength cubes (as shown in the table below) and place them on your player aid. Remaining cubes are put in a pile on the designated space on the game board.
| Player order | 1st | 2nd & 3rd | 4th & 5th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cubes | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Summary of a Player's Turn
- Place explorer pawn on tile with your tent
- Choose six dice
Movement phase:
- Move explorer pawn to adjacent tile
- Roll dice to see if you reach the tile
Successful roll:
- a) Continue moving, or:
- b) End your turn by placing a camp site marker and moving your tent.
Unsuccessful roll:
- Take 1 cube and end your turn.
Strength cubes can be used to:
- Reroll any number of dice
- Temporarily change color of one die
- Secretly look at any one face down tile
Other rules:
- Dice showing no dots may be discarded to receive 1 strength cube
- If you reach an unoccupied camp site, move your tent here and continue movement.
Goal of the game:
- The first player to place all her flag markers has reached the South Pole, and is the winner.
A Player's Turn
The start player takes the first turn, and then the other players follow in clockwise order around the table.
When it is your turn, you take the explorer pawn and place it on the space where your tent is located (in the first round, this will be the boat space).
You then choose which 6 dice you would like to use this round. When choosing dice, you can choose any combination of colors - but choose carefully, as you will be stuck with these dice throughout this turn.
After choosing dice, you begin your movement phase. After every successful movement, you may choose to continue moving or to end your turn by establishing a new camp site (described later).
Note: There are three kinds of terrain (black, blue and white), and it is often wise to take dice in the colors ahead of you on the game board. On the back side of each tile, one of the terrain types required on the tile is revealed (a break in the clouds reveals what type of terrain can be found underneath). This will help plan your movement. Plan your moves, and try to focus your movement to only one or two colors each turn.
Movement Phase
1) Move the explorer pawn
Move the explorer pawn onto an adjacent tile. If the space has a face down tile, you flip it over, revealing it to all players.
Note: You are allowed to move to any neighboring tile, even a tile with another player's tent, or a tile that you have already visited this turn. You are not allowed to move on any of the three mountains.
2) Roll dice to see if you reach the tile
Roll your dice and count the dots shown. Your current tile shows one or two types of terrains (white snow, black rocks and blue glacier) together with a number, which is the minimum value(s) you must roll on the dice to successfully reach this tile.
Example: A tile showing a black "4" and a blue "3" means that you have to roll at least 4 dots on black dice and 3 dots on blue dice in order to successfully reach this tile.
3a) Unsuccessful roll - failing to reach a tile
If you did not roll the required number of dots on the right colored dice, you may use strength cubes to try to improve your dice results (see "Use of strength cubes"). If you do not have, or do not want to use any strength cubes, your turn ends and the next player takes the explorer pawn. Your tent is not moved, it remains wherever it is currently located, so on your next turn you will continue from the space with your tent. All dice are returned to the common supply.
You then take one strength cube from the supply and put it on your player aid. Then it is the next player's turn.
Note: Don't forget to take a strength cube when you fail to reach a tile!
3b) Successful roll - reaching a tile
If you manage to roll the required minimum number of dots, you have successfully reached the tile.
After a successful move you must either
A) Continue moving, OR
B) Establish a new camp site: Place a camp site marker on your current tile, place your tent on it, and end your turn.
A) Continue moving
If you decide to continue moving, you perform the movement phase again: Move the explorer pawn to a neighbouring tile (reveal it if it was face down), and reroll your dice. Note that you must continue to use the same dice that you chose at the beginning of your turn.
B) Establish a new camp site
If you decide to establish a new camp site, put a camp site marker on this tile, and place your tent on top of it. Your turn now ends, so all dice are returned to the supply, and then the next player takes the explorer pawn and begins his turn.
You are not allowed to establish a new camp site on a tile with another player's tent. When you reach such a tile you have to continue moving.
Note: When you establish a new camp site, you put down a camp site marker and move your tent to this tile. If later your tent is moved again, the camp site marker will remain in place.
Example A) Roald wants to take a risk and continues moving. He flips over the new tile, moves the explorer pawn, and rolls his dice again.
Example B) Roald meets the requirements on his current tile, and decides to end his turn. He puts a campsite marker on the tile and places his tent on top of it.
Additional Rules
Reaching a tile with a vacant camp site
Camp sites are found pre-printed on some tiles and on any tiles where a player has previously camped. If you successfully reach a tile with an unoccupied camp site, you may immediately move your tent to this camp site, and then continue moving.
If the camp site marker is currently occupied by another player's tent, you cannot move your tent here, and must continue to move.
Did you know? The explorers of 1911 went on shorter trips to establish depots before they began their real attempt at the South Pole. The camp sites pre-printed on some tiles represent these depots.
Use of strength cubes
You may discard a strength cube from your player aid to perform one of the following actions:
Reroll any number of dice
Example: You use a strength cube for a reroll. You decide to keep two of your dice and reroll the remaining four.
Temporarily change the color of one die
Example 1: You have rolled a black 3. Using one strength cube, you can use this die to meet demands for blue dots.
Example 2: You have rolled a black 2 and a white 1. You use two strength cubes to use both these dice for meeting a blue demand.
If you move on, all dice are once again regarded as their own color.
Secretly look at any one face down tile
The tile is then put back face down in the same place. You are allowed to use a strength cube to look at a tile before deciding whether to move on, or even at the start of your turn, before choosing dice.
Used cubes are returned to the general supply. You are allowed to use any number of strength cubes in a turn, and for each cube you can freely choose which of the special effects you want to use.
Resting to regain strength
When you have rolled dice, any die that are showing no dots may be discarded in order gain one strength cube. The die is returned to the supply, and you immediately gain 1 strength cube. You are allowed to discard several dice with no dots to gain more strength cubes. The strength cubes can be saved on your player aid or be spent for effects right away. Dice spent for resting are lost for your remaining turn. Resting is optional.
Note: You can never have more than 5 strength cubes. Excess strength cubes are discarded!
Flag tiles - reaching the South Pole
Whenever you move onto a flag tile, this tile is flipped face up just as any other tile. Only some of the flag tiles will have a flag symbol on their front side. The first player to successfully reach a tile with a flag symbol on the front gets to place one of his/her flag markers on this tile. Only one flag marker can be placed on each tile. When a flag marker is placed, it remains on the tile for the rest of the game.
The first player to place all his/her flag markers has reached the South Pole, and wins the game. The game ends immediately. As in real life, no one cares about the second place.
The number of flag markers that you need to place depends on the number of players playing (see preparation).
Did you know? Back in 1911 it was hard to know the exact position of the geographic pole. The explorers therefore set up flags within a certain radius of the estimated pole to make sure they covered the actual point.
Things to remember
- You choose 6 dice at the beginning of each turn, and these dice are used throughout your whole turn (you do not get to pick new dice for each space you move).
- When you fail to reach a tile, you receive one cube from the supply.
- You may use dice for resting even if you do not successfully reach the current tile.
- You cannot establish a new camp site on a tile with another player's tent. When you reach such a tile, you have to continue moving.
- When you successfully reach a tile with a free camp site, you can move your tent there and still continue to move.
- When you decide to end your turn by establishing a new camp site and moving your tent: Don't forget to put a camp site marker in the new space!