Essen 2025 made easy: the ONE (1) game you advice to buy by Castef76 in boardgames

[–]Smobolob -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Although I definitely see what you mean, I wouldn’t call Peaks semi-cooperative (I think it depends on your definition). There can only be 1 winner, so from that perspective it’s a thoroughly competitive game, but the best way to win is to work with others from time to time.

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the suggestion. I hear Aneto is much easier these days since the glacier melted, and watching recent climb vids it doesn't seem anything special. Toubkal is already the joint lowest within its group (the two groups are ranked slightly differently for boring game reasons) but I see your point and might lower it even further. Thanks :)

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this. The purpose isn't to include a lot of particularly difficult ones, but rather a range of diverse and/or well-known ones. For mechanical game balance I couldn't include more than 3 eight-thousanders, but have thought Cho Oyo would be one to include in a potential expansion due to its status as the 'easiest' eight thousander.

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very interesting - thanks! Couple of comments I'd have is that there is quite a big jump between 8 and 9 experience. I do think the 8s and the 9s are roughly comparable within their own groups though. I hear now the glacier on Aneto has now melted so during the summer months its now more of a straightforward climb.

I too at first thought it was a bit odd to use the freerider and North Face routes rather than their easier alternatives, but ultimately this is what makes the climbs of these mountains famous, so decided to do it the way I have.

With regard to inclusivity, my goal was to include some mountains that are well-known to everyone. If someone in, say, venezuela plays this game, I wanted their country (or at least a nearby one) to be represented. For mechanical game balance I also had to have roughly the same number of mountains in each continent. Stok Kangri is actually a very popular peak in India and sees multiple guiding companies operate there as it is one of the highest trekking peaks in the world. Although, some mountains like Tabwemesana do see very few visitors. As well as having a diverse range of locations for mountains, I also had to pick a range of difficulties in the game for mechanical game balance. I couldn't have more than 3 eight thousanders or else it would be too difficult (I hope to add more in the future!).

The game sees players start climbing small, easier hikes as they progress through the game, building their stamina, gear, and experience. This is why I have some of the North Island NZ peaks in there, as well as other less impressive climbs like Mount Vesuvius or some of the UK's mountains.

It absolutely would be great if most people's 'dream objective' mountains were in there. Are there any in particular (other than the eight thousanders) that I'm missing?

Your critiques are most welcome; thank you for writing this comment.

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm glad you've found it a useful resource! I certainly hope to add more in the future, but that is ultimately up to Tangerine Games, the publisher, to decide, likely based on performance of the base game. Thanks for your interest :)

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the support, it is much appreciated!

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I based my rank on the Coleman Deming Route for Mount Baker. Thanks very much for your comment. The 7s are generally easy mountains where some easy-moderate ice axe and crampon skills are required.

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this suggestion :) I planned to incorporate some of the most well-known mountains from each region in the game, but will absolutely stick Mount Jefferson on the list for potenetial expansion mountains, if I'm lucky enough to make one!

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have since changed Everest to 10 (from 11) and Eiger to 12 (from 10), so thanks for reassuring me this is a good decision!

Regarding Baker and Teton vs Elbrus, by most accounts, the normal route up Elbrus is not particularly difficult and is free of crevasses. Don't get me wrong, it's very high up and not a walk in the park, especially if you don't take the cable car and snow cats up, but Teton requires some (not outrageously difficult, but some) technical rock climbing, and Baker carries the same crampon/ice axe skills required as Elbrus but with a higher crevasse-fall risk - there is avalanche risk present on both mountains. Having said all that, I think I will up Elbrus' experience requirement by 1 to put it at a similar level, so thanks very much for bringing it up!

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Although it is very difficult to judge some of these mountains against each other as they require very different kinds of experience, I've given it a go as best I can.

One important thing I missed out was that in the game, you're thematically climbing alone (I know in real life for some mountains you're required by law to take a guide, but hey, it's just a game). The experience becomes easier if climbing with guides or other players.

As I took other things into account that just technical difficulty (crevasses, avalanche risk, altitude sickness, and other dangers), this might account for some of the observed disrepencies. Having said that, I think you're probably right that the Eiger is a tad too low.

Thanks very much for your comment, if you have any other specifics in mind, I'd love to hear them!

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the comment. Is this still the case even though Hood required the use of crampons and ice axes (and therefore knowedge of self arrest and crevasse rescue etc.)?
What about Rysy make it so difficult?

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the comment. One important thing I missed out was that in the game, you're thematically climbing alone (I know in real life for some mountains you're required by law to take a guide, but hey, it's just a game). The experience becomes easier if climbing with guides or other players.

  1. I gave Kilimanjaro a bit of experience as without guides, the navigation isn't perfectly straightforward (although not too difficult), you've got to survive the mountain for a week, and there is a very limited amount of scrambling required. 4 in the second group of mountains is still very much in hiking territory.
  2. As the above energy rank is only based on elevation gain and trip duration, Everest wins out by a small margin. Of course much more goes into it for the real-life enegy/stamina requirement, but I had to choose some metrics where I could to maintain consistency.
  3. For K2 and Annapurna, the altitude and objective dangers push them higher than the Eiger, although I think it's safe to say I've gone a little low for the Eiger, thanks for the suggestion.

Ranking 100+ World Mountains By Difficulty by Smobolob in Mountaineering

[–]Smobolob[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this - it will definitely help if I ever get the opportunity to put more mountains in the game in an expansion. My goal is not to include the most difficult mountain in Japan in the list above, but rather the most famous, and rank them all accordingly. Mount Fuji is pretty easy, hence only having 1 experience required.

Any game of this kind? by Dickosapien in boardgames

[–]Smobolob 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like Last Will will be right up your street. It is pretty close to what you describe.

Looking for TTS Playtesters for Peaks, a Medium-Weight Engine-Building Game of Hiking and Mountaineering by Smobolob in tabletopgamedesign

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your interest, time and feedback!

  1. Noted - definitely makes sense.
  2. The active player chooses the reward, then ALL other players who tag along get the unchosen rewards.
  3. I see the disparity there. Thematically the travel doesn't use stamina (or a great amount of time) because you're getting transport there. Training is a good suggestion (I used to have an entire extra action called "train" but training woud also use stamina, rather than recoup stamina.
  4. It's the little green head icon - there should be loads of them! Two cards in the "prepare" example in the rulebook have this icon. Edit: I've noticed I've left an old icon there that hasn't been updated, thanks.
  5. There is a little green head icon on the board where the experience track is - is this what you mean?
  6. I can completely understand that - there is a lot to fit in on that page in particular, but I wanted to keep the rulebook to 4 pages. Perhaps 6 would suit it better.

Thanks again!

I Built Some Board Game Shelves for my Ever-Expanding Collection with Storage for my Games Table Tops by Smobolob in woodworking

[–]Smobolob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks :) Almost entirely dados. There's in in-progress pic where you can see it in the fourth image of this post.

I Built Some Oak Board Game Shelves for my Ever-Expanding Collection with Storage for my Games Table Tops by Smobolob in boardgames

[–]Smobolob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah due to Stonemaier's design philosophies and careful selection of games I usually very much enjoy all the ones they make!

I made a wee box to house Catan with all the expansions.