I really like the idea!
I think there are a few tweaks that could really push it to the next level.
- Some way of knowing the stats of the Climbers, how can I know the value of -1 hp if I don't know the HP of the climber? Maybe instead of a full display for each, they could have different sprites depending on their status. Healthy, hurt, about to die! Could help prioritize where we use our spells.
- Since the game is so long, maybe have the difficulty scale? Having the early climbers be a bit weaker would really help to not be overwhelmed early.
- Lastly, there is a pretty critical bug. When the stamina's reach negative values, the Climbers start climbing up! Maybe a fix / balance for this would be: a negative stamina value pushes the climber down 1, then their stamina resets to 1/1.
Overall I really like where its going!