We concocted these experimental rules some years back, in an effort to give people a way to play Prime Climb with younger players. The goal was to give kids a way to get started when they could add but not yet multiply.

Recently, we’ve been playing with our 6-year-old son. He’s the kind of kid who will get out board games he’s too young for and want to play. This gave us a way to play Prime Climb and we were happy to discover that this variation is surprising… fun! It’s a different game, with a mechanic I like a lot, where landing on the red spaces can either give you a small bonus to the pawn that landed on them, or a big bonus to your other pawn. We experimented last night with activating the the Prime Magic Move the moment you land on the red space (meaning you apply one die, get the bonus, then apply the other die, and possibly get a second bonus in one turn). We had some very exciting turns!

I’m including these rules below, and on the official rules page for Prime Climb. I hope this gives a good starting way to play with younger children!

If you don’t yet have Prime Climb, this is a good time to consider getting it. I’m putting in our most recent Amazon review so you can take it from someone other than me.

Prime Climb simplified rules, for kids ages 6 and up.

You won’t need the cards for this game. But you can still bump! To start, pick your color and put both your pawns on 0.

The winner is the first person to get both pawns to 101. On your turn:

1. Roll
   Roll both dice. These give you the numbers to use to add and subtract to the pawn or pawns of your choice. Use your rolls one at a time.
2. Move
   Move the pawn or pawns of your choice by adding or subtracting each number you rolled to where that pawn currently is.

   Example
   If you rolled an 8 and a 1, you could move one pawn 8 forward, then 1 back. Or you could move one pawn 8 forward, and the other pawn 1 forward.

3. Bump
   If one of your pawns lands on the same space as another pawn, bump that pawn back 10 spaces.
4. Prime Magic Move!
   If one or both of your pawns lands on an entirely red space (i.e., a prime greater than 10), then you must do one of the following:

• Move that pawn forward to the next red space.
• Move your other pawn to twice its current position, if possible.
  (This is a spot with the same colors, plus one additional orange segment)

The winner is the first person to get both pawns to 101.

Download the PDF of these instructions here.

If there is ambiguity in these instructions, use what you know about Prime Climb to help decide how you should play. Or choose what seems like the most fun way to resolve questions about the rules.

This game is still being refined, so try it out and let me know how it works! You can send feedback to dan@mathforlove.com.