About Higher Ground
Higher Ground is a ten-rung ladder built from single cards. You start a climb with a stake and one face-up card. Call whether the next card will be higher or lower; a card of the same rank counts as right for either call. Each correct call moves you one rung up and multiplies what you are carrying.
You can step off with Collect after any correct call, and you are taken off automatically at the top rung. A wrong call ends the climb and the carried points are lost. Two free card swaps per climb let you replace an awkward middle card such as an eight.
How to play
- Choose a stake and press Start climb. One card is dealt face up.
- Press Higher or Lower. The number beside each button shows the step multiplier for that call.
- If the call is right you move up a rung and your carried points grow. If it is wrong the climb ends.
- Press Collect at any time after a correct call to add the carried points to your total.
- Use Swap card, up to twice a climb, to draw a new current card without a call.
Score table
| Current card | Higher or same | Lower or same |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | off (cannot lose) | × 12.61 |
| 3 | × 1.05 | × 6.31 |
| 4 | × 1.15 | × 4.20 |
| 5 | × 1.26 | × 3.15 |
| 6 | × 1.40 | × 2.52 |
| 7 | × 1.58 | × 2.10 |
| 8 | × 1.80 | × 1.80 |
| 9 | × 2.10 | × 1.58 |
| 10 | × 2.52 | × 1.40 |
| J | × 3.15 | × 1.26 |
| Q | × 4.20 | × 1.15 |
| K | × 6.31 | × 1.05 |
| A | × 12.61 | off (cannot lose) |
Each multiplier is 0.97 divided by the chance of the call being right, so a long shot climbs faster than a safe call. A call that cannot lose is switched off.
Design notes
Every step multiplier is 0.97 divided by the chance of the call being right, so a call that is right twelve times out of thirteen barely moves you, and a call that is right once in thirteen moves you a long way. Calls that cannot lose, such as higher on a two, are switched off.
The deck is reshuffled for every card, so counting what has gone before does not help. The ladder is about choosing when to stop, which is also a decent habit away from the screen.
