Roll to the Top: Journeys
Roll to the Top: Journeys Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Info
- 1-6 Players
- 20 Minutes
- Ages 8+
Components
- 3 Travel Envelopes, each with:
- 6 Double Sided Travel Boards
- 1 Postcard
- 6 Dry Erase Markers
- 5 Exploration Dice: D4, D6, D8, D12, D20
- 1 Action Die
Objective
In Roll to the Top: Journeys, all players use the same pool of dice to fill in their travel boards. As you fill the boxes, the numbers you place must be greater than or equal to the numbers below them, so plan carefully! The first player to completely fill their board wins.
Credits
Design: Peter Joustra & Corné van Moorsel Development: Michael Dunsmore Additional Landmarks: John Brieger Writing: Julie Ahern Illustration: Horia Tundrea 3D Artist: Filip Gavril Graphic Design: Anca Gavril & Daniel Profiri
Setup
Each player takes identical Travel Boards and a dry erase marker.
The player who most recently took a trip is the first active player. They roll all 5 exploration dice. All dice with an even number will be the dice pool on the first turn. Set aside the other dice. If all dice have odd numbers, reroll them all until at least one die has an even number.
1. Roll Dice
The active player rolls all exploration dice in the dice pool and the action die, and places the action die in front of the player to their left.
2. Explore the Landmark
All players simultaneously use the numbers from the rolled dice to fill in the boxes on their Travel Board.
- Each box can contain a single number.
- You may write numbers from individual dice, or add any number of dice together to create larger numbers.
- You may only use each die once (either by itself or added with other dice).
- You may choose not to use any or all of the dice.
- In the starting boxes - marked with a dot - any number is allowed.
- In boxes that are on top of one or more other boxes, you may write a number if:
- all the underlying boxes contain a number, AND
- the number you are writing in the top box is greater than or equal to each of the underlying boxes.
- In boxes that do not have a dot and do not have any directly underlying boxes, you may write any number after one of the boxes directly beside it is filled in.
Diagram notes from the rulebook: multiple numbers may be written in a box by adding dice values together to get higher numbers; any number can be written in a starting box; a box may have empty space below it; 2 is smaller than the numbers below it, so it could not be written there; a 3 is written after filling the box on a side.
3. Change Dice
The player to the left of the active player becomes the new active player.
The new active player must perform the action showing on the action die.
- Plus symbol: Add one die to the dice pool.
- Minus symbol: Remove a die from the dice pool.
- Plus/Minus symbol: Add OR Remove a die from the dice pool.
- Swap arrows symbol: Swap a die from the dice pool with a die not currently in the dice pool.
Exceptions
- If all 5 dice are in the dice pool, the active player MUST remove a die from the pool. Ignore the action die.
- If only 1 die is in the dice pool, the active player MUST add a die to the pool. Ignore the action die.
- If no players wrote a number on their board this turn, add a die to the dice pool (if available). Ignore the action die and the exceptions above.
The new active player now rolls the dice as described in step 1. A new turn has begun. Keep repeating Roll Dice, Explore the Landmark, Change Dice. The role of active player will pass clockwise around the table but remember that all players can write numbers every turn.
Complete the Landmark
When someone fills in their last box, the game is over and they win. There is no tiebreaker, all players who fill in their last box on the last turn win.
If you want to play multiple games, each player gets 1 point for each empty box on their landmark. Lowest total score after all games wins.
For a truly epic Journey, play all six landmarks.
Solo Mode
To play alone, grab a second copy of your chosen travel board to serve as "The Companion". Having a traveling companion is usually a fun way to see a new locale, but you don't want to let them slow you down.
You are always the active player and change the dice pool according to the normal rules.
After you roll, but before you write numbers on your own travel board, X out boxes on the Companion's board equal to the number of dice in the dice pool minus 1. If there is only one die in the dice poll, X one box instead of zero.
Solo Game End and Scoring
The game ends at the end of a turn when you have completely filled your sheet with numbers or the Companion sheet is completely filled. Your score is the number of empty boxes on the Companion sheet.
| Empty Boxes | Rank |
|---|---|
| 0 | Obvious Tourist |
| 1-3 | Well-Traveled |
| 4-6 | Practically a Local |
| 7-9 | Globetrotter |
| 10-12 | Citizen of the World |
| 13+ | Superhuman Sightseer |
Landmarks
Pyramid at Giza
You can't hide any numbers on this travel board, so plan carefully to join your lower numbers together.
Eiffel Tower
Sprint up to the spire, paying attention to the few spots you can place a larger number in the center of the board.
Major Oak
Build a careful base at the bottom of this board, as it will guide everything else you do as you climb.
Matterhorn
There are many spaces where you can place high numbers in the center of this travel board, so don't be afraid to take risks.
Half Dome, Yosemite
Take risks to climb the left-hand face with high numbers while managing your risk on the two columns on the right that merge quickly.
Marina Bay Sands
Each of the three columns presents a slightly different placement puzzle, and they don't join until fairly late in this board.
Variant: Big to Small
Instead of numbers having to be larger than or equal to the box below them, they have to be smaller than or equal. Likewise, if the landmark has special rules requiring the number to be smaller, it now has to be larger. Be careful! It is much easier to get really stuck with this variant.