Warning: Bouldering is inherently dangerous. If playing this card game puts you in an unsafe position or distracts you from climbing safely, do not play. Always prioritize your safety on the wall.

Introduction

Take a break from the beta by breaking the beta! Beta Break turns any boulder problem into a competitive game with your climbing friends. Every problem becomes a new challenge with a simple draw from the deck.

Who Can Play?

Beta Break is for climbers in a gym setting, ideally 2-5 players, though solo play works too. Familiarity with bouldering terms (send, dyno, problem, etc.) is helpful.

What You Need

• A deck of Beta Break cards.
• An indoor boulder problem. Beta Break is designed to be played at an indoor bouldering gym.

No mats, dice, or tokens—just the cards!

Card Types

Beta Break includes 3 card types:

• Beta: Dictates how to climb the problem.
• Break: Augments the Beta, generally by requiring a specific move or hold be used during the attempt.
• Eliminate: Restricts which holds can be used on the problem.

Note: Start positions (hand/foot holds) and finish holds are immune to card effects unless otherwise specified by the card description.

Recommended Deck Setup

• Beta cards: 4 per player (with a maximum of 20).
• Break cards: 4 per player (with a maximum of 20).
• Eliminate cards: Subtract 4 from the number of handholds on the problem.

This is the recommended deck setup. But do experiment and have fun!

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How to Play

Setup

1. Choose a boulder problem (suggested difficulty: V0-V3). All players will use this same boulder problem for the duration of the game.
2. Randomly choose a Beta card and a Break card to be the first active effects. Place these cards side-by-side, faceup.
3. Shuffle the deck and place it face-down. This is the Draw pile.

Turn Structure

1. The player with the most amount of experience goes first. They draw a card, becoming the Climber.
2. The Climber follows the card’s effect (We recommend that the Climber read the card out loud! This encourages the other players to strategize along). If the drawn card is a Beta or Break card, that becomes the active card of its type. Place the drawn card over the existing card of its type. All send attempts must honor this effect until a new Beta or Break card is drawn to replace the active card of its type. If the drawn card is an Eliminate card, the Climber chooses a hold to eliminate from all attempts for all players
3. The Climber attempts to send the problem while honoring the rules of the active Beta and Break cards.
4. The next player takes their turn.

Failing a Send

• The player becomes a Ghost Player
• Eliminate cards remain in play.

End of a Round

When the deck is exhausted, reshuffle all cards except the active Beta and Break cards. Continue playing with the newly-shuffled deck.

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Winning

The game ends when all but one Climber is a Ghost Player.

Ghost Players

Ghost players can, during their turns, elect to send the problem while ignoring Beta and Break card effects (but still honoring Eliminated holds) Should a Ghost player succeed the send, they may move an Eliminate status to a different hold.

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Glossary

• Player: A game participant.
• Ghost Player: A player who has failed a send.
• Climber: The player attempting the send.
• Problem: The boulder route.
• Round: A full cycle of the deck.
• Send Attempt: An attempt to climb the problem.

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Special Rules

• Safety Rule: If the Climber feels unsafe, they can attempt the send without adhering to active Beta or Break cards.

Alternate Play Modes

Do you want to make Beta Break even more interesting? Try out some alternate play modes by clicking here.