Dicey Peaks

This week has been quite the whirlwind.  Now that the boys are back in school, they've returned to daily homework and AR books, which hasn't allowed for as much game time before dinner and being dropped off at their mom's house. 

Last night, we attempted to play The Grimm Forest, which began quite well.  Genevieve decided that she'd join us, and then decided that she wanted to play on her own with the game pieces.  As it was close to bedtime, the boys and I decided that we'd let her go ahead and build a small village, and postponed the game for Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, that seems to have set a precedent for Genevieve playing civil engineer whenever The Grimm Forest box is opened. 

I need to figure out how to monetize these skills, somehow.

This morning, we attempted to play The Grimm Forest once again, but our plans were thwarted by Genevieve's pig city planning.  I don't always give in to her whims, but I know better than to argue with her when I want to play games with the boys.  Usually, it works out better when I adapt my plans a bit.

So, Genevieve continued to build the swine subdivision, while the boys and I talked my mom (who is staying with us for the holidays) into playing along with us.  Isaiah chose Dicey Peaks, as it would be easy enough to explain to Gramma, who is decidedly a non-gamer.

Dicey Peaks, another of my favorite Kickstarter purchases, is a dice-rolling, press-your-luck game, for two to six players.  The box recommends ages 8+, but we've been playing it since Benjamin was five.  Each of the players is a stalwart mountain climber, hoping to be the first to reach the summit of the fabled Yeti Mountain.  In order to do so, they will have to manage their oxygen supply, dodge avalanches, and escape the eponymous yeti that stalks the peaks.

The game board is constructed of hexagonal tiles that are randomly placed, face-down.  When a player lands on a tile, they flip it over to reveal an additional action that they must take: changes to their oxygen supply, additional movement they must make, revealing tiles of their choice, or quietly enjoying their wintry surrounding with no additional action.

Player movement is determined by dice rolls.  A player's turn begins with dice selection.

There are three colors of dice:

• clear (more likely to produce pickaxes) 
• light blue (neutral) 
• dark blue (more likely to produce tents).  

A player with a good amount of oxygen in their tank (tracked on the card pictured below) would probably roll the clear dice to get pickaxes; each pickaxe allows for one space of movement.  In addition, every movement takes away from their oxygen supply.

I gambled with my oxygen, and ran out...thus losing the game near the summit.

To regain oxygen, the player would likely roll the dark blue dice in order to get tents.  Each tent gives one point of oxygen replenishment.  If at any time you run out of oxygen, you collapse and forfeit the game...which was my fate during this play-through.

There are several other mechanics, which I'll quickly list:

• After a player's initial roll, they declare whether they want to climb or rest
• You can re-roll dice as many times as you want, but must roll a minimum of three dice
• Yeti paws cannot be re-rolled
• Roll three avalanches while climbing and you bust (they cannot be re-rolled while climbing
• Rolling more pickaxes than you have oxygen remaining is a bust 
• Rolling more tents than you have room left to gain oxygen is a bust 
• You cannot gain oxygen during the final descent (while searching for the summit flag)

That might seem like a lot of variables, but the actual gameplay is pretty straightforward.  There are several tutorials available on YouTube, for visual learners.

Dicey Peaks is one of our go-to games, as it is quick and balanced.  Setup only takes a minute or two, and the game usually takes 20-30 minutes to complete.  Initially, I had to help the boys choose which dice to roll, but during this game, they were the ones showing Gramma how to play.

As you can see from the oxygen tracking card above, I ran out of oxygen and lost the game.  At beginning of that turn, I had six units left in my tank.  All five of my dice were pickaxes, and I smugly moved my token up the mountain.  As I turned over the tile that I'd landed on, I revealed...-2 oxygen.  With my tank completely empty, I collapsed on the mountainside.  The boys were pretty amused; Mom consoled me patronizingly.

Benjamin reached the top of the mountain first.  He was not able to locate the flag immediately, which allowed Isaiah and Mom to catch up a bit.  Isaiah had been too eager to climb early on, and was forced to rest a bit.  Mom landed on a tile that moved her back to the previous tier of tiles.

It took three turns at the top, but Benjamin eventually uncovered the flag tile and claimed victory.  He says that it was his first time winning at Dicey Peaks, but I disagreed.  To be fair, Isaiah has won this game more than any of us.  It is possible that I haven't won at all...even while teaching them how to play.

I'm hoping to get another game in tonight, while the boys have a friend sleepover...but we'll have to wait to see how that goes.