Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9214407/14ers

Designer: Zach Sullivan
Publisher: Grazing Bear Games
Artist: Hinterland Outdoors

Zach was kind enough to reach out and provide a copy for us to review this game – thanks, Zach! Also, apologies for the picture quality (I was cheap and printed for free at work).

14ers is a twist on a multi-use card game that’s thematically focused on the major mountains of the world that have peaks over 14,000 feet above sea level. The game takes place over nine rounds where players draft climb cards (mountain cards) and then tuck them under their hiker in one of four spots. Each climb card has a “cost” in boots and axes (“endurance” and “technique”); you don’t lose any endurance or technique, but you have to have enough to match or exceed what’s on the desired climb card.

Once acquired, the player must decide which side of their hiker to add that card to. If the card is placed at the bottom, the hiker gains “training” (which is additional endurance and technique) which can be useful in gaining better climb cards later in the game. If it’s placed on the left side, it’s counted as gear which can provide benefits throughout the game or other useful bonuses. The right is for plans which provide additional ways to score points, and then the top is for capstones, or climb cards that have a point value at the top.

In the solo game, the player faces off against Gerry, a simulated fellow hiker. Gerry’s turns are simple: he always takes the rightmost card in the mountain row, and then he places it around his hiker based on what round it is. He’s super easy to facilitate, replicates another player well enough, and can sometimes be a challenging competitor. I also really enjoy that you always know which card Gerry will end up taking, so you can use that to your advantage and potentially take a card to prevent him from getting it even if it’s not perfect for you.

Besides the base game, there are a few mini expansion module type things included like weather cards, advanced hikers, etc. The advanced hikers are interesting, but I really enjoy the weather cards. They increase the difficulty and force some extra strategic plays and tactical thinking.

Overall, I enjoyed this one! There’s a good amount of variability, the solo mode is smooth, and I like that there are some interesting decisions to make, but it is a little light for me. The weather cards help with this, but it’s not quite puzzly enough to hit my sweet spot. That said, I think this is a great family game, the rules are well written and organized, the artwork is nice and the theme is original, most (if not all) cards are unique, it’s quick, easy, and doesn’t require too much table real estate; there’s really not a lot to complain about, it just doesn’t have quite enough meat on the bone for me. I still plan on playing it again in the future though!