Yesterday I wrote about five games that I like a lot form Allplay. One of them was Mountain Goats. This is a small box game but one that I enjoy. Let’s talk about this simple game of climbing up a mountain. Because the game is very simple, but that’s a focus of Allplay. So we clearly know I like it, but what is it about Mountain Goats that makes it a fun experience.

How to Play Mountain Goats

Mountain Goats is a simple game to play. You roll four dice and then you use those dice to go up the mountain. You move up your goat on columns of cards numbered 5 through 10. When you make it to the top of a row, you get a point card. If you are still at the top and play that combination you get another point card. But if an opponents goat makes it up to where you are, you get knocked down to the bottom again. This only happens if you are at the top. Then you start the climb again.

The game is over once all the complete set scoring tokens are gone or a number of piles are emptied. When that happens you complete the round and whomever has the most points wins. And that is basically the whole game. If you roll more than one one on the dice, you can pick a die face on those dice only needing to leave one of them as a one. That’s just to help balance it out and keep a bad roll from messing you up too much.

What Doesn’t Work

There is a lot of randomness in the game. You get a tiny bit of strategy as you roll dice and then figure out how to combine their numbers. However, what the dice are rolled to is completely random. Obvious if you get multiple ones it isn’t random, but most of the time it is. So I think a lot of people will find this too simple and too random as they play it.

What Works

I like the simplicity and speed that this game plays. The rules are simple to learn and I like that about it. I sit down and teach and play the game in a very short period of time. Which is something that I want from a very small game like Mountain Goats. I don’t want a hefty lift or long play time, especially with a game that is lucky.

I find that there is also an excitement to the game. It does come from the luck in the game. You roll dice and you might find that it’s exactly what you need to complete a set. Or sometimes even better, it might let you grab that last scoring tile in the tens spot to keep anyone else from getting it. On your opponents turn you hope that they don’t knock you down so you can keep getting more points. It’s a simple element to the game, but it works for generating excitement in a lucky game.

Who Is Mountain Goats For?

I think it’s for people who want a fast fun filler game. Yes, it might be a game night to play it three times with friends who aren’t gamers as much. But for a lot of people, I think this is that good sort of game to end or start a game night. Or even play between games when you want to break to something lighter. For most gamers with a large game collection it won’t be the focus of the night, but one that might come off the shelf often for what it is.

Final Thoughts on Mountain Goats

I enjoy this game. And I enjoy it for what it is, a light filler. But also because it feels exciting. If a filler game isn’t all that exciting it’ll get played some and then leave the collection. I think Mountain Goats is going to have that longer shelf life because I like and enjoy that little bit of an extra rush of fun from it.

It’s not going to be a game that I play every week. But it’s one that is just fun enough and does just enough that it’s going to feel good when I play it. And I do think that Allplay and Mountain Goats are great games for introducing to people. So simple, but something that feels different and fun if you don’t play a ton of games.

My Grade: B
Casual Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: C

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