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Skis Wild

A Mountain Racing Card Game
2–4 Players  •  Ages 8+  •  20–40 Minutes  •  Version 1.0

I.Object of the Game

Be the first to conquer all 5 runs from Ski School to Double Black Diamond. Collect them in order, filling each limit before moving on.

#RunTypeLimit
1 Ski School Beginner 4
2 Green Runs Beginner 3
3 Blue Runs Expert 2
4 Black Run Expert 1
5 Double Black Expert 1

II.Setup

  1. Remove the Help cards from the deck.
  2. For 2 or 3 players, remove cards per the table below.
  3. Shuffle and deal 6 cards to each player.
  4. Place the rest face down as the draw pile.
  5. Turn the top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.
  6. Play starts with the player to the dealer's left and passes left.

The deal rotates one player to the left after each game.

Deck scaling

4 players use the full deck (114). 3 players (88) remove Ski School 5, Green Runs 4, Blue Runs 3, Black Run 2, Double Black 2, Lift Open 2, Bluebird! 1, Trail Map 1, Beginner Gear 2, Pro Gear 2, Lift Ticket 2. 2 players (62) remove double each of those.

Troubles, Safe cards and Yeti are never removed.

III.On Your Turn

Draw one, then do one thing

  1. Draw one card from the draw pile or take the face-up top card of the discard pile.
  2. Play one card face up into your mountain, or against another player.
  3. If you cannot play, or choose not to, discard one card.

One card in, one card out. Your turn then passes to the left.

IV.Taking a Run

Before you may take any run you need all three of these face up, and no Trouble on you:

Lift Openalways
Lift TicketSeason Pass also counts
Beginner Gear / Pro Gearmatch the type
  • Beginner Gear for Beginner, Pro Gear for Expert, Demo Gear for either. Only one type out at a time.
  • Fill each limit before advancing, and clear any Trouble first.

V.Trouble Cards (red)

Play one against another player to stop them. They must clear it before continuing.

Only one Trouble may sit on a player at a time. Targeted while you already have one? Say so and refuse the play: the card returns to their hand and they do something else.

TroubleCleared bySafe card
Lift Closed Lift Open —
Snow Storm Bluebird! Chalet
Closed Trail Trail Map Season Pass
Broken Ski Beginner Gear or Pro Gear Demo Gear
Lose Lift Ticket Lift Ticket Season Pass

VI.Safe Cards (blue)

Play them any time, even before you need them. There is no restriction on when a Safe card may be played. One sitting face up blocks its Trouble outright.

“Send it!” Trouble played at you while the matching Safe card is in your hand? You must call it and play the Safe. Not optional, no hiding it. The Trouble turns back on the attacker and your Safe stays face up. If the attacker already has a Trouble, discard it instead.

The table above shows which Safe card covers which Trouble. Demo Gear also counts as either Beginner Gear or Pro Gear. Season Pass also counts as your Lift Ticket.

VII.Yeti (gold)

  • Take any one run from any player, or the top discard if it is a run. You choose both.
  • It ignores everything else: nothing need be face up, it works with a Trouble on you, and you may take one you do not need, even past its limit.
  • Once used it goes straight to the discard pile. It may never be picked up from there, but it returns to play when the discard pile is reshuffled into a new draw pile.

VIII.Seasons & Victory

When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the whole discard pile, Yeti included, and turn it over as the new draw pile. A new season begins.

The first player to complete all 5 runs wins immediately.

Optional: the Reverse Rule

Agree before the deal. Yeti may be played as a Reverse instead of taking a run: play changes direction until someone reverses again. For three or more players.