Mont Trottoir
| Mont Trottoir | |
|---|---|
| |
| Designer: | David Fono (with recess.to)] |
| Year: | unknown |
| Players: | 4-9 |
| Stuff required: | 2-3 small things to stand on, 2-6 small ropes / bungee cords. |
| Crew required: | One. |
| Preparation: | Ten minutes. |
| Time required: | 15-30 minutes. |
| Place required: | A sidewalk. |
| Activities: | Physical, athletic, teamwork, strategy |
| This is a playable game - it's finished, tested and ready to play. | |
 | |
Teams of intrepid climbers compete to scale the tallest mountain around, which happens to resemble a sidewalk.
Find a Location
Find a strip of sidewalk or some other urban space that doesn't have too much foot traffic, but has a lot of furniture -- benches, newspaper boxes, bike posts/racks, ledges, railings, ramps, staircases... the more the better.
Props
Basecamps have historically been small plastic stepping stools, but any little thing that someone can stand on will do -- even a placemat, or a big piece of paper.
Ropes have historically been bungee cords of 0.5-1m in length.
Players & Teams
You can play with as few as 2 teams of 2 players (4) or 3 teams of 3 players (9). In practice, 9 is a bit cumbersome; 6 is the sweet spot.
Starting the Game
Create teams, and explain the rules. Distribute cards. Give 1 or 2 ropes to each team.
Determine a starting point (the bottom of the mountain), and an end point (the peak). For the end point, it helps to indicate an actual object -- players reach the peak when they touch the object. Place the basecamp for each team at the starting point. Each player will start from their team's basecamp.
Set a turn order that seems fair. Then: go for it! Make it happen!
Player Instructions
Race other players from the bottom of the mountain to the top. You score points for your team depending on what place you come in. The team with the most points wins.
Gameplay is turn-based. On a turn, you can do the following in any order, within the time limit:
- Take two steps. (A step means your feet leave the ground and then touch the ground.)
- Use one card in your hand.
- Attack once.
SAFETY
Some positions are safe, some aren’t. If you start your turn and you’re not safe, you fall back to your basecamp -- or if basecamp is ahead of you, to the last-place player’s position. You are safe if:
- You are standing off the ground (on an object.) Only 1 player can ever be on a given object.
- You are holding onto someone else who is safe -- via appendages or rope.
You can attack another team on your turn by cutting a link between players who are connected by appendages or ropes, with an awesome karate chop. Any players who become unsafe, fall immediately.
At any time, you can grab onto other players, toss ropes, trade cards, etc., as long your feet don’t move.
Scoring
Players are scored in the order they reach the peak. For example, in a 6 player game, 1st place gets 6 points, 2nd place gets 5 points, etc. At the end of the game, add the scores up for each person on a team.
Cards
Here are some cards to print out. Only the "Establish Basecamp", and arguably the "Ice Axe", are essential; the others are ripe for experimentation. Heck, maybe you could even invent your own cards.
- Card Sheet 1
- Card Sheet 2
- Card Sheet 3
- Card Sheet 4
- Card Sheet 5
And here are some suggestions for allocating cards:
- Ice Axe: 2 per player
- Establish Basecamp: 3 per team
- Crazy Goddam Ninja Climbing: 1 per player
- Avalanche: 2 per team
- Helicopter: 1 per team
- Sherpa: 1 per team
- Yeti: 1 per team
