Matterhorn
Matterhorn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 1 game board (with the Summit at the top and an Eliminating area at the bottom)
- 5 dice
- 2 player pieces in each of 4 colours
- 40 Action tokens (Action side / Obstacle side)
The Challenge (game objective)
To be the first climber to reach the Matterhorn summit with your climbing partner (your two player pieces of the same colour). To start, roll the dice in order to place an Action token on the game board. You can repeat this step as many times as you wish. However, be careful! If you can't place a token after a roll of the dice you will lose all the 'Actions' you have accumulated during your turn.
3 AM - Waking Up (setting-up the game)
Place the game board with the 5 dice on a flat surface. The players take a turn to choose the colour of their player pieces. Turns are taken to throw one of the dice - the person who throws the highest number puts his/her two player pieces on line 12 of the board. They don't need to be placed next to each other. The other players then take their turn (anticlockwise) to do the same. Once all the player pieces are in place the game can begin.
IMPORTANT: During the game there can only be one player piece or token on a given board circle.
The Climb (how to play)
The player who was the last to place his/her player pieces on the board starts the game. Game turns are then taken in clockwise direction.
1. Roll the dice
The first player starts the game by rolling the five dice. The scores of all dice are added. The result tells the player on which line he/she can place an action token. Lines range from 5 to 12.
Please note: if a number appears more than once it does not count (double, triple, quadruple and quintuple).
Example 1: 5+5+6+1+1 = 6 (the two "5" and the two "1" are not considered in the sum).
Example 2: 5+6+1+2+4 = 18. Since the result is higher than 12 the player cannot place an Action token on the board. He/she might want to discard a dice. -> Refer to 2. Eliminating dice.
2. Eliminating dice
After rolling the dice, a player can, should he/she wish to do so, eliminate one or more of the dice to change the result of the throw to his/her advantage, for example, if the result of the dice throw prevents the player from placing an Action token (see next paragraph). When eliminating dice, the player must place them in the "elimination" area on the game board. The player might also want to eliminate one dice from a double score (or two dice from a triple score, etc.), so that the remaining dice counts toward the result as it appears only once.
Example 1: 5+5+6+1+1 = 6.
If the player wishes a different result than a 6, he could eliminate one of the dice with a double score, so the remaining dice add up to a new result (shown in the printed rulebook as dice illustrations), or if only one "5" is eliminated, the double 1 still doesn't count in the result.
Example 2: 5+6+1+2+4 = 18, however if the player chooses to eliminate a 6 what is left is 5+1+2+4 = 12.
3. Placing an Action token
Once the player has taken a decision on the final result (whether dice have been eliminated or not), he/she must place an Action token (Action side up) on an empty circle on the game board. The empty circle must be on the corresponding line number.
For example 5+5+6+1+1 = 6. The player places his/her Action token on line 6 of the board.
Bonus move: If a player places an Action token on a line on which there is already a piece belonging to another player, including his/her own pieces, he/she earns a bonus move (see section 4.2 for details of possible bonus moves). This move should be done immediately (before the next roll of the dice) and will not be undone should the player lose his/her turn.
The player can't place a token if:
- he/she has already placed another token on the same line during the same turn (two action tokens with the action side up must never be on the same line).
- there is no room left on the corresponding line (all board circles are already occupied by other tokens/player pieces).
- the final result of the dice thrown is less than 5 or more than 12 (all the game board lines are numbered between 5 and 12).
3.1 Losing a turn
If the player is not able to place an Action token on the game board, his/her turn in this round is finished. Action tokens placed on the board must remain on the board and be turned over with the 'obstacle' side face up. By way of consolation, the player may place an Action token on the board, directly with the 'obstacle' side face up (to interfere with the other players' ascent). Nevertheless, he/she must continue to comply with rule 3 by not placing the token on a line where he/she already placed an Action token during his/her turn.
4. The Choice
If the player did not lose his/her turn, he/she may decide on rolling the dice again or ending participation in the round.
4.1 Rolling the dice again
If the player chooses to roll the dice again, steps 1-4 above are repeated.
Please note: Eliminated dice are not rolled again, and double, triple, etc. dice do not count in the result but cannot be eliminated this time, so that these dice are rolled again.
4.2 Stopping a turn
If a player decides to end his/her turn, then he/she can choose to carry out a number of moves equal to the number of Action tokens (with the Action side showing) he/she has placed on the game board. The player may make one of the following moves:
- Move one of his/her player pieces to an adjacent free circle (above, below or to the side).
- Move a player piece of an opponent either sideways or upwards, to a free numbered circle (it is not allowed to move it backwards).
- Remove an Action token which is 'obstacle' side up.
Please note: You can combine these actions in any way you wish.
5. End of the turn
Once the player has completed his/her moves, all tokens with the Action side showing are turned over to show the 'obstacle' side. No more space on a line? In this case all tokens are removed to allow the player pieces to move upwards.
Please note: This rule applies only at the end of the turn (during a player's turn it is possible for a line to be full).
6. The Summit
The first player to reach the summit of the mountain, with his/her two player pieces, is the winner. One Action is required to get to the summit from line 5.
Option: When the game has been played once, participants can decide that the players have to use 2 Actions to get to the summit from line 5. This means that a player can't use a bonus move to get to the summit.