Unsurmountable (Button Shy)

You’ve climbed all of the mightiest mountains: Kilimanjaro, Everest, K2. Yet there’s one towering titan that’s always eluded you. The mountain where anything can happen. In the whisper-thin air the paths twist and shift as you climb, stranding the unprepared and confounding the overconfident. Do you have what it takes to summit this perilous peak?

InUnsurmountable, players will be tackling the rocky slopes of an ever-changing mountain. As the game unfolds, they must place the next piece of the path carefully in order to complete a route to the top while simultaneously meeting any additional goals for the round. It may sound like a walk in the park, but this puzzle has plenty of pitfalls to keep players on their toes.

Unsurmountableis the next title in ourSimply Sololine, followingFood Chain IslandandUgly Gryphon Inn. These titles were designed by Scott Almes for single-player only, focusing on elegant rules that create complex situations. Like the previous two games, Unsurmountable delivers a fun puzzle thats sure to hit the table again and again.

HOW TO PLAY

Set up the game by shuffling the deck of 17 cards. The Rescue Helicopter can be set aside nearby youre going to need it! Place 5 cards face-up in a row along the bottom edge of the play area. This row serves as the players hand, with the leftmost card being available to play into the mountain and new cards being added to the rightmost spot. This row cant normally be reordered.

On each turn, you may choose to play the leftmost card in the row into the mountain. The mountain will form a 10-card pyramid when done. Cards must either be played to the base of the mountain or to a higher slot which is supported by 2 cards underneath. If you manage to complete the pyramid and have a single unbroken route running from the bottom of the mountain to the peak, youve won the game!

Instead of playing a card, you may choose to discard any other card from the row to gain its unique effect. These can range from swapping or moving cards to adding new cards from the deck directly to the mountain. However, its not all good news: a few of them offer risky plays or even ongoing penalties which can slow you down.

After playing or discarding a card, refill the row to 5 cards and keep going until youve conquered the mountain…or its conquered you.

Once youve scaled your first peak, you can continue to test yourself by incorporating the optional difficulty rules. Each of the more difficult grades adds an additional restriction that must be met. These rules are cumulative and not for the faint of heart!