How to Play

Whistle Mountain

2-4 players 60-90 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Players invest railroad profits in mountain technologies, using workers to construct scaffolds and machines while managing airship fleets. Rising floodwaters from melting snow create dynamic tension as the board changes. Victory requires balancing quick contraption construction against upgrading worker and airship abilities, with resource availability determined by collective player building choices.

Published 2020

Whistle Mountain

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Assemble the main board
Place the 4-piece board in the center of the table
2
Create VP star supply
Form a pile with all victory point stars nearby
3
Create resource supply
Make a common pool with all coal, iron, water, gold, and whistle tokens
4
Set up small machine market
Place 3 random small machines face-up, stack the rest face-down
5
Set up medium machine market
Place 3 random medium machines face-up, stack the rest face-down
6
Set up large machine market
Place 3 random large machines face-up, stack the rest face-down
7
Set up upgrade market
Place 3 random upgrades face-up, stack the rest face-down
8
Stack scaffoldings
Place all 42 scaffoldings in their designated stacks
9
Install water bar holders
Place the 2 water bar holders in their slots, then stack all 8 water bars below the first row of the grid
10
Place tower awards
Place 1 random face-up award on each tower level, with 4 rescue awards on the lowest level
11
Place duplicator token
Set the duplicator token near the main board
12
Prepare card deck
Shuffle and place the deck face-down in the draw pile area
13
Select starting player
Randomly choose who goes first
14
Distribute player boards
Each player takes a player board and 3 airships in their color
15
Place workers in barracks
Place 1 of your workers on each barracks level, and 3 in the whirlpool
16
Draft starting abilities
Starting with the last player, take starting abilities equal to player count +1, keep 1, pass the rest right; first player keeps 1 and discards the extra
17
Place initial scaffolding
Starting with player 1 counter-clockwise, take 2 scaffoldings from the top of the stack, place 1 so at least one edge aligns with the bottom of the grid (do not score VP), keep the other in your storage
18
Distribute starting resources
Each player receives 1 coal, 1 iron, 1 gold, and 1 water
19
Remove advanced components for first game
Remove pieces marked with star-shaped screws: Dispatch, Elevator, Lift (medium machines); Coal Slide, Doomsday Device, Jetpack Lab, Sanctuary, Swap Meet, Toll Bridge, Trap (large machines); Aeronaut, Architect, Dreadnought, Team Lead (starting abilities); Duplicator, Extension, Lifeboat, Shuttle (upgrades)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Perform one main action
Choose either Collect or Build as your main action
2
Execute bonus actions
You may play one card AND/OR collect one award, in any order before, during, or after your main action
3
Respect resource limits
At end of turn, you may keep maximum 4 of each resource type; return excess to supply
4
Deploy an airship
Take an airship from your player board and place it on the main board: on the grid, on a machine, or on a dock
5
Place airship on grid or machine
Position airship to occupy 1, 2, or 3 empty squares (based on size) entirely on the grid or entirely on one machine
6
Placement restrictions
Cannot cover other airships, scaffolding pieces not covered by machines, or more than one machine; cannot activate machines placed after your airship
7
Place airship on dock
Place your airship on an unoccupied dock at the board edge and immediately perform the indicated action
8
Return all airships
Move all your airships from the main board back to your player board
9
Perform up to 4 actions
Execute up to 3 build actions and 1 move/rescue action in any order
10
Build a scaffolding
Place a scaffolding from your storage onto empty grid spaces entirely above the highest water bar
11
Build a machine - Find location
Each square segment must be placed entirely on scaffoldings; surface must be solid (no holes) and empty (not covered by machines or water bar); machines may cover resources
12
Build a machine - Promote workers
Workers from the machine placement area advance to the tower; starting with active player clockwise, move each worker horizontally right to the tower; first worker to each level with an award claims it
13
Build a machine - Place machine
Put the machine from your storage in the now-empty location; immediately gain VP and benefits shown on the machine
14
Build a machine - Raise water level
If any part of machine is built above the bridge, add 1 water bar from the stack above the highest water bar
15
Move action
Spend 1 gold to move one worker from barracks or scaffolding to an empty scaffolding space
16
Rescue action
Spend 2 gold to save one worker from whirlpool and place on empty scaffolding space
17
Manage resources
Coal, iron, water, gold, and whistles are gained and spent throughout the game
18
Use whistles as wildcards
Whistles substitute for any resource when spending; whistles cannot be replaced by other resources when specifically required
19
Store resources
Keep resources in storage area on your player board; maximum 4 of each at end of turn
20
Track cards
Cards in hand are secret but quantity must be visible; discards go face-up in a pile; reshuffle discards when deck is empty
21
Limit upgrades
Maximum 6 upgrades per player
22
No limits on other items
No limit on cards, awards, machines, or scaffoldings you may have
23
Play one card
Execute effects of one card from your storage, then place it face-up on discard pile
24
Collect one award
Execute effects of one award from your storage, then remove it from the game
25
Start with 9 workers
7 wait in barracks, 2 start in whirlpool
26
Advance workers
Send workers to scaffoldings, then promote them to tower positions for end-game VP
27
Rescue drowning workers
Workers caught by rising water fall to whirlpool; rescue them via rescue dock or abilities

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Empty barracks
When no workers remain in the barracks (all moved or swept away), the active player completes their turn
2
Final round
Each other player takes one more turn, then the game ends
3
Score tower workers
Gain VP for each worker on each tower floor according to the displayed values
4
Score machines
Gain 1 VP for each machine in your storage
5
Score awards
Gain 1 VP for each award in your storage
6
Score scaffoldings
Gain 1 VP for every 2 scaffoldings in your storage
7
Score cards
Gain 1 VP for every 2 cards in your storage
8
Score resources
Gain 1 VP for every 4 resources in your storage
9
Score upgrades
Gain VP shown on each of your upgrades
10
Penalize whirlpool workers
Lose 5 VP for each of your workers in the whirlpool
11
Highest VP wins
The player with the most victory points wins
12
First tiebreaker
Player with highest worker in the tower wins
13
Second tiebreaker
Player with most items in storage (machines, awards, scaffoldings, cards, resources) wins
14
Final tiebreaker
Tied players must immediately play another game of Whistle Mountain to determine the winner

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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FULL rules

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