Blocky Mountains: Starting Player Route Card (2014)

Overview

The Starting Player Route Card for Blocky Mountains was first released as a PDF available for download from the publisher's website. This card is intended to be used as a more fun, thematic, and prowess-showing way of determining the start player.

Setup The illustration on the card depicts blocks with and without numbers. The non-numbered blocks are the basic setup, but by adding the numbered gray blocks, you can increase the difficulty to level 2 or 3 (this is clearly depicted on the back of the card).

Play

First, all players simultaneously bid by showing fingers from their fist equal to the skill level each thinks she can complete. Then, the player who has shown the highest level (e.g., three fingers = difficulty level 3), has one attempt at the appropriate route. If the player masters the route, she takes the white route marker and becomes the starting player on the route map. If she fails, she takes the last position in turn order, followed by the player with the next lower difficulty level, etc.

Very important: If several players have shown the same number of fingers, then whichever of them is first to shout, “Trapper,” is the one who must face the challenge. If there's still a tie, then whoever shouts “Grizzly” first takes the challenge!