Hits & Outs
Hits & Outs Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Infield ×1
- Scoreboard ×1
- Dry Erase Marker ×1
- Token Covers ×4
- Result Tokens ×4 (Hit ×1, Out ×3)
- Out Counters ×3
- Call Your Shot Token ×1
- Baseball Players ×10 (Batters ×2, Pitchers ×2, Runners ×6)
Game Setup
Each player chooses a team and collects their Baseball Players. Randomly draw one of the Pitchers and place it on the pitcher's mound in the middle of the Infield. The player managing that Pitcher receives the Result Tokens and the Token Covers. Place the opposing team's Batter next to home plate, and place the Out Counters gray side up in a row next to the Infield. Write each team's name on the Scoreboard. It's time to play ball!
How to Play
1 | The Pitcher Places a Token at Each Base
Using the Scoreboard as a screen, the pitching player hides all four Result Tokens (Hit and Out) under Token Covers before placing one at each corner of the Infield, next to each base. Do not place the Hit randomly! The pitching player MUST know where the Hit is hidden — the goal of the game is to always outsmart the batting player!
- Indicates a Hit
- Indicates an Out
2 | The Batter Tries to "Hit" the Baseball
The batting player begins guessing where the Hit was placed by removing one of the Token Covers.
Out!
If an Out is revealed, flip an Out Counter to its red side, because their Batter failed to get a hit. The batting player continues revealing tokens until they find the Hit, or until all three Out Counters are showing their red side.
Hit!
If the Hit is revealed, the Batter successfully got on base. The batting player places a Runner on the base where the token was revealed. Existing Runners advance according to the rules on the next page.
If the Hit is revealed at home plate, their Batter hit a Home Run! In this case, the batting player scores 1 run for the Batter plus 1 run for each Runner on the bases, and all Runners are removed from the bases.
3 | The Pitcher Hides the Tokens Again
After a Hit, the pitching player places the Result Tokens again (Step 1) and the batting player tries to "hit" the baseball again (Step 2). Do not reset the Out Counters.
4 | How to Advance Runners
If the batting player gets a hit with Runners on base, the number of outs determines how far the Runners advance. Each Runner who reaches home plate scores 1 run and is removed from the Infield.
With No Outs
Runners on the bases advance the same number of bases as the Batter: one base for a Single; two bases for a Double; and three bases for a Triple.
- Runner on second, Batter hits a Double: 1 run scores.
- Runners on second and third, Batter hits a Double: 2 runs score.
With One or Two Outs
Runners on the bases only advance if they are forced to by the Batter or other Runners.
- Runner on second, Batter hits a Single: Does not advance.
- Runner on second, Batter hits a Double: Advances one base.
- Runners on second and third, Batter hits a Double: Both advance one base; 1 run scores.
5 | Switching Between Pitching and Hitting
Players switch roles when all three Out Counters have been flipped to their red side. Return them to their gray side before resuming play.
6 | End of the Game and Extra Innings
The winner is the player with the highest total score after three innings. If the game is tied, extra innings can be played by using the EX column on the Scoreboard. Both players start extra innings with a Runner on second base.
Scoreboard
Update the Scoreboard whenever the batting player scores runs. Write 0 when the batting player doesn't score any runs during their half of the inning.
Gameplay Variant: Call Your Shot!
To make things even more exciting, you may include this optional rule once you are familiar with the basic rules of the game.
Calling Your Shot!
At the start of each half inning, the batting player receives the Call Your Shot Token with the Home Run (HR) side face-up. During their half of the inning, they may flip the token over before the pitching player places the Token Covers around the bases. If the batting player successfully reveals the Hit on the first try, their hit is a Home Run regardless of where the token was placed!
If the batting player reveals an Out, flip over an Out Counter as usual and continue normal play.
Example: The previous hit resulted in a Single, so there is a Runner on first base. Before the pitching player begins Step 1, the batting player announces that they will try to hit a 2-run Home Run with their next guess, and they flip over the Call Your Shot Token to the used side. But they guess incorrectly and reveal an Out. On their next guess they reveal the Hit at second base, but since they didn't successfully "call their shot" on the first attempt, they will have Runners on second and third base.