PitRush
PitRush Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. About the game
PitRush is an action-packed game of skills, where players try to capture the pits of the gameboard with their discs in order to earn the most points. Players take shots by flicking their disc with their finger. Opponent discs can be struck off and pits can be taken over by stopping on top of the disc in the pit.
The game can be played in two modes. The Arena mode is for 3-6 players, who shoot simultaneously, and bad shots can be retried without penalty. In the Contest mode 2-4 players shoot one after the other, which offers more space for tactical play, so it gives a greater challenge when played with experienced opponents.
The base set which is enough to play both game modes with the recommended player and disc numbers includes the following:
- Game board
- 49 discs
- 10 pieces from each of 3 colors
- 8 pieces from the 4th color
- 6 pieces from the 5th color
- 5 pieces from the 6th color
- Disc removal stick
2. Arena mode (3-6 players)
In the Arena mode, a match consists of two game phases and a scoring. Depending on the number of players, everyone starts with a number of discs shown in the table below.
| 3 players | 4 players | 5 players | 6 players | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discs per player | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
Warning! Some of the colors have fewer disks, they can only be used when more players play.
Seating: every player puts their discs in front of themselves on the table, outside the board.
Phase I
Choose a starting player whose shot will start the game. After this first shot, every player can shoot anytime, independently from others' shots. The aim of this phase is to occupy as many pits as possible. The following rules restrict shooting:
- Discs must be flicked from the shooting line (touching the line before the shot).
- If a player has ran out of discs outside of the board, player can take back a disc of his own from the board, which is not in a pit, and shoot with that. Only one disc can be taken back at a time.
- Players can always remove other discs from their shooting area to make room for shooting. The removed discs must be placed on one of the corners of the rail.
Phase II
Once every pit is filled with a disc, Phase II begins. Players gather their discs which are not inside pits. After that, beginning with the starting player, going clockwise, players take turns to shoot one of their gathered discs.
If a player has no more discs to shoot, the play continues with the next player. When every player has made a shot with all their discs, Phase II is finished.
While in Phase I the players aim to shoot their discs into the pits, in Phase II there are no empty pits. Players should try to take over pits by stopping their discs on the top of the one in the pit. This way, you can score more points and make your opponents score less.
Discs inside a shooting area or touching a shooting line can still be removed but these discs go out of the game, their owner can't shoot with them again.
Scoring
A disc inside a pit (or on top of another disc) scores points to the owner of the disc. The further is the disc from the shooting line the more points it's worth: the closest pit is worth 1 point, the next three pits 2, and so on, the furthest pits are worth 5 points. The points are shown on the figure below:
Figure (Player's view from the shooting line): pit values rise from 1 at the pit nearest the shooting line to 5 at the furthest pits.
When children are playing who have difficulties to follow these scoring rules, they can use a simpler method where every pit is worth 1 point.
A disc can score points to its owner in two ways:
- A Player's disc is inside a pit, and no opponent disc is on the top of it (own discs can be on it).
- B The disc is on top of another (any colored) disc inside a pit. It doesn't matter if other discs are on the top too. If a player has more than one disc on the top, he or she scores the points for each discs.
If you want more competition, write down the scores of each player after every match and compare the final scores after a previously decided number of matches (5 is recommended).
3. Contest mode (2-4 players)
In the Contest mode, a match consists of two game phases and a scoring, just like in Arena mode but the rules of the phases are different. Depending on the number of players, everyone starts with a number of discs shown in the table below.
| 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discs per player | 10 | 7 | 5 |
In a 4-player game, it is recommended to use the colors with the least number of disks to make sure that enough neutral disks remain.
Seating: every player puts their discs in front of themselves on the table, outside the board. The discs of the remaining colors will be used as neutral discs.
Phase I
Choose a starting player who takes the first shot. After that, players take turns in a clockwise order, shooting one by one.
Contrary to Arena mode, the discs not in pits won't be removed at the end of the phase. Because of this, players can aim to take over filled pits even in Phase I. This comes in handy when you try to create formations which will be described at the scoring section.
Phase II
After players have shot their last disc, Phase II begins. The game continues by taking turns but since they don't have discs, they must take back one of their discs which is not inside a pit and take a shot with that. The following action is taken depending on this shot:
- A If any disc fell into a pit (own or opponent disc), nothing special happens, the next player's turn follows.
- B If none of the discs fell into any of the pits, the next player has to put a neutral disc into an empty pit (he or she chooses) before starting the next turn.
If a disc is hanging on the edge of an empty pit (even covers a little part of the pit), no neutral disc can be placed into that pit.
Match end
The match ends immediately when any of the following happens:
- A Every pit is filled with a disc.
- B A neutral disc has to be placed but there are no valid pits.
- C All discs of a player are inside pits.
Scoring
Scoring is similar to the Arena scoring with a few special cases and the formations. The neutral discs aren't worth points to anyone but the discs on top of them are worth the usual points. Discs hanging on the edge of empty pits aren't worth any points.
Creating formations is a way to earn extra points. A small triangle is worth +1 point, and a complete row is worth as many points as the number of pits it has. A pit can belong to more than one formations, even to more players.
Figure: examples of a complete row (+3), a row that is not complete (+0), a small triangle (+1), and a combined formation. White numbers on discs show points earned from the pits, and green numbers for creating formations. In the example, the blue player scores 18 points.
5. Frequently asked questions
What if another disc inside my shooting area is obstructing my shot? Before shooting, remove the obstructing disc and place it on a corner. You can only do this if the disc is inside your shooting area or touching the shooting line. In Arena mode you can do it any time during Phase I. In every other case only if it is your turn.
What to do if a disc flies off the board? It should be handled like it was removed from a player's shooting area. If it happened during Phase I of Arena mode, you can ask the other players to wait until you find it.
Are formations worth points in Arena mode? Formations work better in Contest mode because you have more time to plan your shots there. However, there is no reason why you couldn't use them in Arena mode, so if you decide on using them before starting the match, have fun with them!
If I have a disc inside a pit and another one on top of it, do I get double points for the formations too? No, as you can see on the explaining figure, one player can only score points once for a formation. Even if the player has multiple discs on top of all the pits of the formation.
What exactly counts as being on top of a pit? If the surface of the board is visible between the pit and the disc, then the disc is not on top of the pit. It's important to note that the disc has to cover part of the pit, not part of the disc inside it.