What do you do when it is winter and too cold outside to go climbing? You play First Ascent and pretend to climb!
Is pretending to climb as fun as actually climbing? Of course not, but there is a lot of fun to be had while playing First Ascent.
First Ascent started as a Kickstarter project that took multiple years between conception and production. The game was so delayed, in fact, that my husband forgot he contributed to the Kickstarter and was pleasantly surprised when he was notified his game was about to be shipped.
But I digress. When you open your First Ascent package, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of pieces and rules. If you are not familiar with climbing and its unique lexicon, you may find the game even more intimidating. However, the best way to learn about the gameplay is to dive into the game and read the rules as you go. Personally, I found the rules made much more sense when you applied them as you were playing as compared to reading the rules ahead of time.
What are you trying to accomplish while playing First Ascent? As with many games, your goal is to score the most points. You are able to score points in First Ascent through a variety of means. Your primary objective is to climb different routes. Each route requires certain resources in order for you to progress to that route. Therefore, you must collect resources before moving your player. This part of gameplay feels similar to Settlers of Catan. 118
Routes that require more resources earn you more points.
You can also earn points by attaining certain objectives such as climbing routes with particular names or only climbing routes along the outside of the mountain. You also earn more points by being the first player to climb a specific route. This part of the gameplay feels similar to Ticket to Ride. Each turn, a player can choose to climb a route - if they have the necessary resources - or rest. After every round, each player increases their resources, but players who rest can select more resources. A player may need to decide, therefore, between choosing a lower point route or waiting and saving resources to climb a higher point route.
Each player is given eight pieces of rope to complete their climbs. When a player climbs a new route, they place a piece of rope down on the route. Gameplay ends after a player uses all eight pieces of rope. Players then calculate points, and the player with the highest number of points wins.
There are other aspects of the game that are better explored via gameplay, including character cards and skill tokens. If you are an avid climber, you will enjoy exploring the subtle and not-so-subtle nods to the idiosyncrasies of scaling rock walls. If you are not a climber, you can still enjoy First Ascent, particularly if you appreciate multifaceted, strategy-based games. 937