Ambassador Program

Spread the love for First Ascent

We need your help!

We want to share First Ascent campaign with as many friends, climbers, and gamers as possible—at this point, we can't guarantee the game will be available in stores, or that we will have a large stock available to sell after the Kickstarter campaign, so the Kickstarter may be people’s only chance to get the game! That’s why we need your help to spread the word by being a First Ascent Ambassador.

What you will receive for being an ambassador…

  • Your name and acknowledgment of your support in the final rulebook

  • Recognition in a highlighted Instagram story as an early adopter and supporter of First Ascent

  • “Hardcore tier” ambassadors will receive a 12”x16” print of the Shawangunks or New River Gorge of their choice featuring artwork from First Ascent signed by game designer Kate Otte.

 We’ve established two tiers to decide your level of commitment:

Casual tier: 

  • Hang up physical posters at local gyms (we will mail them to you!)

  • Word-of-mouth spread First Ascent by telling 5 friends about the game!

  • Post about First Ascent on social media and suggesting people sign up for newsletter at www.playfirstascent.com or follow on IG @firstascentgame

Hardcore tier:

  • Everything in the casual tier plus...

  • Advocate for your local gym, climbing club, or climbing coalition to include First Ascent in their newsletters/social media and/or introduce us to those folks via email.

  • Post about First Ascent in a climbing or gaming related Facebook group, Reddit, or other social media community. 

  • Send us a 15 second video clip explaining why you’re excited about First Ascent

 Optional suggestion:

  • On Boardgame Geek, add First Ascent to your “wishlist” and comment on the First Ascent page about why you’re excited for the game.

What we will provide Ambassadors:

  • We will mail you printed posters to hang up, 3 per gym, just let us know how many you want!

  • Access to the Ambassador Kit containing the First Ascent rulebook, social media content (aka cool game artwork you can share), and email templates to send friends and gym managers.

  • Phone call/virtual meeting with Garrett and/or Kate for any questions and discussion about First Ascent

 FAQ

I’ve never played, what do you want me to tell people about First Ascent?
First Ascent is coming to Kickstarter in Spring 2021 and the best way to stay in the loop is to sign up for our newsletter on our home page. The kickstarter may be the only time to buy First Ascent! Even if you haven’t had a chance to play First Ascent, we think there are lots of reasons to be excited!

1) The Basics - First Ascent is a strategic board game for 2-5 players, takes 45-90 min to play and is for ages 14+** (see note below). If you’ve played other board games, an easy comparison is to say that its like a rock climbing version of Settlers of Catan mixed with Ticket to Ride. You can learn more about how the game is played on our “How to Play” page.  

If you're talking to gamers, here are some other talking points that might interest them: 

  • the core game mechanics are resource management, route building, engine building, and set matching

  • you play as a character with a unique ability! there are 12 asymmetrical characters - so beginners can play as someone easier and more advanced players can choose someone a little harder. many of these characters are based on real climbers :)

  • the board is modular and changes every game! There are also 2 sides to the board. Replay value is HIGH

  • throughout the game, you'll be working towards shared and personal objectives that might influence where you climb on the mountain

2) Theme - This is a game created by passionate rock climbers and will be immediately obvious to other climbers who play the game! It features pitches based on real routes, gear, techniques, and situations that any climber will appreciate and get a kick out of. But you don’t have to know anything about rock climbing to enjoy the game—it's a really cool way to share climbing with your non-climber friends!


3) Artwork - There are more than 100 unique pieces of beautiful artwork in the game all created by game designer and illustrator Kate specifically for First Ascent!

4) Diversity and inclusion - We want everyone to see themselves in First Ascent and relate to this game. We also want to celebrate the incredible climbing community and have consciously included people of all different races, gender identities, ages, body types and abilities (especially a huge shoutout to adaptive climbers!). The artwork shows a vision for how both climbing media and board game artwork can be more inclusive and respectful. Another thing to note is that women make up a tiny fraction of board game designers — only about 10-20%. Supporting this project can help Kate pass along what she's learned and encourage other women to start designing and thrive in the field!

** ages: if people ask if kids can play, there isn't anything "adult" about the game or inappropriate — kids as young as 8 could understand to play with the help of a parent. We say ages 14+ because the mechanics are a little more complex than most kids games.

What is the status of First Ascent?
The artwork and gameplay are 97% complete! We have ordered prototypes to send to board game reviewers and YouTube content creators. We are planning to launch the Kickstarter at the end of May, with exact details coming soon.

Why Kickstarter and what are you raising money for?
Although First Ascent is essentially complete, we need to raise funds in order to manufacture the game and Kickstarter is the most common way for independent board game creators to bring their vision to reality. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform so if we don’t meet our funding goal, backers will not be charged so this reduces the risk for you, should you choose to support us. If we meet or exceed our funding goal then we will have the capital to create the game and this reduces risk for us as game creators!