How to Play Rallyman: DIRT – Climb

Game Objective

In Rallyman: DIRT – Climb, players dive into the challenging motorsport category of hillclimb. The objective is to navigate tracks with curves, bumps, steep ascents, and sudden descents, managing the car's speed and fuel. The expansion introduces the Unlimited category, allowing players to design their own Dashboards to create the perfect car for each situation. The Hillclimb event is a time trial, where drivers compete to achieve the best time on the same track, performed 3 times. The winner is the player with the fastest single time across all their attempts.

Setup

Setup for Hillclimb races is similar to a normal stage, with the following exceptions:

• The Stage: When setting up the track, include at least one Climb tile in your design. Examples of Hillclimb tracks can be found at the end of the manual.
• Dashboards: Instead of a normal Dashboard, each player takes an Unlimited Dashboard of their color.
• Try Tokens: Each player takes the 3 Try tokens of their color and places them next to their Dashboard.
• Unlimited Tokens: Prepare the tokens for the Unlimited Dashboards, placing them near the play area.
• Spare Tires: Spare Tire cards are not used in a Hillclimb race.

The first player is determined by normal rules. Then, each player fills their Unlimited Dashboard as described in the "Actions and How to Play" section. Players can modify their Dashboard, including their Track Type tokens, until the start of their first turn.

Game Flow

A Hillclimb race unfolds exactly like a normal rally stage, with a few peculiarities:

• Start of the Race: The first player begins their turn, and the others follow in a staggered start, according to normal rules.
• Crossing the Finish Line: When a player crosses the finish line, they use their Time cards and Second tokens to calculate their score according to normal rules. They record their time (the rally sheet can be used for this) and flip their Try 1 token to indicate that their first attempt is complete.
• Preparation for the Next Attempt:
  • Return any Second tokens to the reserve and place any Damage tokens back into the damage bag.
  • Players can modify their Unlimited Dashboard, including the Track Type tokens, between attempts.
• Returning to the Track: Players start their next attempt in the following round, where they will always be last in the turn order. They place their car back at the start of the Track and play normally. After this round, they follow normal rules for turn order.
• Re-entry Restrictions: Only one player can re-enter the track per round. If there are multiple drivers waiting, the one who finished their previous attempt first has priority. In short games, if not all players have started their first attempt, players can only re-enter after all players have started their first attempt.
• Track Modifications: Shortcut tokens and other track modifications are not removed or replaced between attempts.

Actions and How to Play

Unlimited Dashboards

The Unlimited Dashboards allow you to create a car perfectly suited to your play style and/or the hillclimb you will face. They replace the standard card Dashboards and do not have a specific vehicle model associated with them.

• Each Dashboard has 17 spaces for tokens. You will place dice and effect tokens in most of these spaces, except those needed for the Track Type tokens.

Setting Up Your Track Type Tokens

The exact number of spaces available for dice and special effects depends on how many Track types you will face. The more diverse the Track types, the more basic systems you will need to add to your design. This is represented by the Track Type tokens.

• Take one token for each Track type (Gravel, Asphalt, and Snow) present in the stage.
• Place the token corresponding to the Terrain where you want your car to perform best in the upper right space of the Dashboard.
• If there is a second Track Type token, place it to the left of the first.
• If there is a third Track Type token, it is placed in the leftmost space of the top row.
• If the stage contains only one or two Track types, you will have empty spaces in this row that can be used for other tokens.
• When on the Track type shown on one of the tokens, you can use all dice and/or abilities from the tokens that are in its column and to its left, as indicated by the colored lines attached to each space.
• When on the Track type shown on the rightmost token, you will have full access to your Dashboard.
• When on the Track type shown in the middle, you will not have access to the spaces/tokens under the first Track Type token.
• When on the Track type shown on the left, you will not have access to the 4 spaces/tokens under the other two Track Type tokens.
• Any spaces, including those in the top row, that do not contain a Track Type token can be used to equip your car.

Creating Your Dashboard

After placing your Track Type tokens, you can fill the remaining spaces with the tokens of your choice. Each token placed on your Dashboard represents a die you can use during your turn or some other form of bonus.

• Gear dice: Work as described in the main Rallyman: DIRT manual.
• Brake die: Work as described in the main Rallyman: DIRT manual.
• Coast die: Although only the Coast die is shown, they are still replaced by Leader dice for the first player each round when driving on a Gravel Track tile, according to normal rules.
• Danger limit: There are no limit tiles. Instead, if you leave a space empty, it counts as increasing your limit by 1. This adds to the limit printed on each Dashboard, giving each car a minimum limit of 1.
• Boost die: The Boost die combined with a Gear die allows you to advance one space while increasing your speed by 2 (instead of one). To do this, roll the Boost die along with a Gear die that is 2 gears above your current speed.
  • It is possible to use focus tokens to guarantee a Boost roll. However, the player must guarantee both dice (the Gear die and the Boost die). If they do not have enough focus tokens, they cannot guarantee the roll.
  • The Boost die cannot be combined with a Flying Start.
• Puncture Proof Tires: If you were to draw a Coast damage tile from the damage bag as a result of taking a shortcut, you can discard that tile back into the bag and ignore its effects.
• SISU!: During their turn, a player can flip this token to the "X" side. If they do, they can cancel any and all danger results they have or will roll this turn. You can use this effect when suffering a Loss of Control to ignore its effects, provided it was caused by getting too many danger results and not by a track element or other effect. This ability can only be used once per rally, per token, and has no additional effect afterward. However, players can decide that this ability is reset at the start of each stage or at intervals of their choice.

Damage

Damage tokens apply to Unlimited Dashboards and reduce the amount of dice available to a player, according to normal rules. However, if you draw a damage token indicating a die type not present on your Dashboard, place it back in the damage bag and draw another to replace it.

Climb Tiles

These are a new type of Track tile with special rules to simulate a steep section of the road. You will need to be prepared to face them during your turn, whether ascending or descending.

• Climb tiles are identified by the +1 and -1 arrows on the lines between different spaces on the tile. These arrows also indicate the direction of the slope.
  • When moving in the direction of the -1 arrows, you will be going uphill (Ascending).
  • When moving in the direction of the +1 arrows, you will be going downhill (Descending).
• If you cross one of these lines during a movement (even diagonally), you will be subject to the special rules below.
• These rules take precedence over the main manual for die placement, including for the first die placed each turn.

Ascending

When ascending from one space to another, you must place the Gear die that is one gear below your current speed.

Descending

When descending from one space to another, you must place the Gear die that is one gear above your current speed.

Braking, Boosting, and Coasting on Climb Tiles

You cannot use Brake, Boost, or Coast dice normally when ascending or descending. However, by combining these dice, you can gain some control, which allows you to move as if you were using a Coast die in a normal space.

• Ascending: You can place a Coast die along with a Boost die to advance one space while maintaining the same speed.
• Descending: You can place a Coast die along with a Brake die to advance one space while maintaining the same speed.
• When resolving any of these movements, each pair of dice must be rolled together. You can use Second tokens to guarantee the roll, but both dice must be guaranteed together. If the player does not have enough Second tokens to guarantee both dice, they cannot guarantee the roll.
• Whether ascending or descending, if you cannot place the necessary dice, you are considered Blocked and your turn ends.
• If the first space you would move into during your turn was an Ascent/Descent and you cannot place any dice as described above, you can move your car one space forward without changing gears and following normal movement rules. Your turn then ends as if you were Blocked.

Oxygen Tokens

When a player places a die on a Track tile with an Oxygen token, the number of Coast dice available on their Dashboard is reduced by the number shown on the token (to a minimum of 0).

Cloud Tokens

During their turn, if a player places at least one die of any type on a tile with a Cloud token, they must add an extra danger result to their die roll. This effect cannot be avoided in any way.

Climb Tokens

These tokens allow you to transform any Rallyman Track tile into a Climb tile.

• Place a -1 Climb token on a tile to transform it into an Ascent. When crossing a line between spaces on that tile, you must follow the Ascending rules.
• Place a +1 Climb token on a tile to transform it into a Descent. When crossing a line between spaces on that tile, you must follow the Descending rules.
• The effect does not apply when crossing from one tile to another.
• The effect applies when entering/exiting a Corner, but not when moving between spaces within that Corner.
• The effect applies normally to shortcut spaces.
• Any additional track effects already present in the stage (Jumps, Water) are cumulative with this effect.

Different Track Types

The Climb tiles in this expansion feature two new Track types: Asphalt and Snow. If you are only using the content from this expansion and the base box and want to keep things simple, you can consider the Climb tiles as Gravel Track.

When planning your movement, each new die placed cannot exceed the limits on your Dashboard for the Track type it is placed on. Each column represents the types and maximum number of dice you can place on each Track type during your turn. This applies whether you are staying on one Track type throughout the movement or changing in the middle.

Leader Dice

Some tire types indicate that you must use Leader dice instead of your normal Coast dice on certain Track types. You MUST use these dice when on that Track type, even if you are not the first player that turn. If you are the first player, you will not suffer additional effects.

Rolling the Dice

Dice are still rolled in exactly the same way: one by one or Flat Out. But, if your movement covers more than one track type, your limits are handled differently.

• Rolling one by one: If you go from a space and track type where you haven't rolled enough to suffer a Loss of Control to another space and track type where you have as many or more danger results than shown on the Dashboard, you immediately suffer a Loss of Control in that space.
• Going Flat Out: Roll normally. However, your limit is the lowest value of all track types you cross during that movement.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when all players have completed their final attempt. Each player has 3 attempts on the track, flipping their Try tokens as they complete each attempt.

Scoring is calculated using each player's Time cards and Second tokens, according to normal rules, when crossing the finish line. The player records their time for each attempt.

The player with the fastest single time across all their attempts wins the race.

Tips for Winning

• Carefully examine the track before building your Dashboard. Track elements, conditions, and other factors can greatly influence how you build your car.
• Take advantage of the ability to modify your Unlimited Dashboard, including the Track Type tokens, between attempts. This allows you to optimize your car for different parts of the track or to adapt to the progress of other drivers.
• Consider combining Coast die with Boost die (for ascents) or Brake die (for descents) on Climb tiles to maintain control and speed, as normal use of these dice is restricted in these sections.