Himalaya

Author: Günter Burkhardt
Translation by Bob Scherer-Hoock

Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins

Introduction

Himalaya is an adventure game for 2-5 mountain climbers, age 10 years and up.

Players move their mountain climber and Sherpas along the arduous path to the great summit. Avalanches, landslides and the unpredictable Yeti impede the long march. By skillful positioning in the game, one can withstand the adverse climate of the mountain. Whoever first arrives on the summit wins.

Components

Goal of the Game

To arrive with your mountain climber on the summit space first!

Preparations

Each player chooses a mountain climber and four Sherpas of one color. The mountain climber starts at the base camp. One of the four Sherpas start on each of the four first fields of the climbing route.

Each player gets one or more supply cards in their color:

The Yeti is put on the field with the Yeti cave.

Take the special bad weather card out from the Yeti cards. Shuffle the remaining nine cards and put them face down on the game board. Place the bad weather face up under this stack.

According to the number of people playing, a certain number of dice are used:

The leftover dice remain in the box.

The youngest player begins; play continues in a clockwise fashion.

The Game

The start-player throws all dice and selects one of them. He/she sets this die before them and moves one of his/her pawns (mountain climber or Sherpa) according to the die number.

The next player chooses another die, etc. until all dice are taken. The next player then throws all the dice again and can select the first one. Before he/she selects a die a Yeti card must always be pulled (see the rule section of "The Yeti").

There are two exceptions:

  1. If a player only has one die to chose from, he/she can take this die or can immediately throw all the dice and then pick one with which to move.

  2. Instead of selecting a die, a player can play one of his/her supply cards. He/she may prefer one of the figures stated on the card (for example with card 3/4, a player may move 3 or 4 spaces). The supplies are spent and are set beside the board.

Special Spaces

Yeti Cave: The Yeti starts here. Here, no pawn may stand during the entire game, other than the Yeti. Movement across the space is of course allowed.

Avalanches and Landslides: If a Sherpa lands on one of these fields, he immediately slides to the field beneath it (arrow).

High Camps: Sherpas that stand here are protected from the Yeti. Furthermore one can freshen supplies here. If two or more Sherpas of a player meet in a high camp, then a supply card that has already been used may be picked up and taken into the hand again. However this gain is allowed only once per camp!

Snowfields: On these spaces and on the summit space (goal) movement with a supply card is not allowed.

Spaces where the Yeti sits: On the space that the Yeti stands, no other pawns may be moved. Jumping across this field is allowed.

Moving the Sherpas

Sherpas may also go backwards. During these moves, they move only half the die number of the selected die. With an odd number, the total is rounded up (1=1, 3=2, 5=3). Movement both forward and backward in the same turn is not allowed.

Take-along rule

If a Sherpa lands on a space that already contains their own or another player's Sherpas, the player can apply the take-along rule:

1. The Sherpa additionally moves as many spaces as the number of Sherpas he has found already on the space.

1a. He/she is allowed to (but does not have to) move other Sherpas that belong to him/her along with the Sherpa whose move started this sequence.

or

2. He/she doesn't apply the take-along rule and remains on that space.

More than one such move in a turn is not allowed. The turn ends after a single take-along rule. When moving backwards or when falling back through an avalanche the take-along rule cannot be used.

Moving the Mountain Climbers

A mountain climber may move on to a field only if at least two of his/her own Sherpas stand there. Sherpas of other players are not taken into account. The Sherpas can move further along the path in order to erect new bases. A mountain climber is allowed to remain behind, alone, without Sherpas, after they have moved along.

Only one mountaineer may be on any space at one time (together with any number of Sherpas).

Moving the Yeti

The Yeti always moves when all dice are thrown again. After rolling, but still before the player chooses a die, he/she uncovers the top Yeti card. The Yeti moves the corresponding number of spaces in the direction stated on the card. The card is placed face up under the stack afterwards. For the Yeti, special spaces have no meaning.

Always, if the Yeti lands on a space where Sherpas stand, the Sherpas immediately must go back to the last camp, even to the base camp. If the Yeti catches Sherpas in a camp, they are protected there. They may remain standing there.

If the Yeti moves onto a space with a mountain climber, all the climber's own Sherpas that stand with the mountain climber on that space, are also protected. Other players' Sherpa are not protected. They escape to the next camp back. Special case: If the mountain climber moves during a later turn and leaves his/her own Sherpas behind, so that they now stand alone with the Yeti, they immediately escape back to the last camp!

If all Yeti cards are depleted, they are shuffled again. Now the bad weather card is shuffled in with them.

Game End

As soon as a mountain climber reaches the summit space (goal), the game ends and this player has won. In this event one can leave points on the die unused. The mountain climber is allowed to reach the summit alone, without support of Sherpas.

The game finishes prematurely as soon as the bad weather card is uncovered from the Yeti card deck. The player whose mountain climber is closest to the top wins in this case.

If you still have questions or suggestions about Himalaya, please write to:

Wiener Spielkartenfabrik (Viennese playing card factory)
Ferd. Piatnik & Sons
Post Office Box 79
A-1141 Vienna

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell