Mountains have not been a popular subject for board-game producers. It seems that this subject matter brings with it certain inherent difficulties. Boards used in games have a defined length and width, but do not have height. Pieces move forwards, backwards, sidewards and diagonally, but rarely up and down. The nature of a table game is different from mountain climbing. Mountains stand tall before us, are high, steep, severe and sometimes remain unattainable. To conquer them, you need to climb them, but how can one translate this into a board game?

The first games to appear were board games with travel as a topic in which mountains were completely flattened. Often they featured a definite route to traverse from start to finishing point. Then, boards with geographic maps appeared, where the altitude of mountain ranges was conveyed by the quantity of bends and appropriate colours.

The first major ascents of the Alps resulted in many casualties, which prompted the creation of games with illustrations that showed how difficult it was to transfer the danger of mountain climbing to a board game. Games also showed how altitude was being covered with such technological achievements as horse-drawn coaches, trains, roads, cable cars and eventually aeroplanes. But that is not all, since in the late 19th century an era began in which discoveries became the main theme of board games, such as Stanley's travels to Africa, Nansen's expedition to the North Pole, Byrd's flight over the South Pole and the gold rush in Klondike. With the conquest of Mount Everest, attempts were made to convey in games the characteristic features of mountains and their steepness. It led to the production of three-dimensional games.