And now for something completely different…

I’ve been stuck this week improving my dice combat mechanics for the cooperative sci-fi time travel game before I can proceed, so I’ve been taking some time to improve my rule writing skills. One of my earliest projects was a hybrid Beer Pong/Stratego game that I created with my old roommate, Ben. It combines the dexterity of beer pong with the strategy and memory aspects of Stratego and adds hand management. I mentioned this game in a Reddit post on drinking games a few days ago, and it seemed like there was enough interest to warrant a blog post about it. All it requires is a rectangular table (if the table is smaller than regulation beer pong size, the game will focus more on the Stratego aspect over the dexterity elements), 2 ping pong balls, plastic cups, a deck of cards, and a drink of choice. This game is also enjoyable without the alcohol as there is still plenty of dexterity required and some enjoyable mind games.

Pongo

2 players or 2 teams of 2 players. 15-30 minutes.

Goal

Eliminate all of your opponent’s cups.

Set-Up

Begin with 1 deck of cards with J-K removed for all suits (If you don’t want your cards to end up wet and sticky, you should put two suits of the cards in card sleeves). Set the cups up as you would for a normal beer pong game. Each player randomly places the cards for one suit under their cups face down. The 10 cards of another suit make up the player’s hand. At this point each player should have one suit of cards under the cups which is called the table suit and another in their hands as the hand suit.

IMPORTANT – When a player discards a card, each suit goes to a separate discard pile. Each player should have two discard piles, one for the hand suit and one for the table suit. The contents of a player’s hand suit discard pile are not visible.

If all players agree, they can write down which table suit cards have been removed.

Game Start

Players each choose a card from their hand and play them simultaneously to determine who goes first. The player who plays a card with the higher value gets to go first. If there is a tie, both players simultaneously play an additional card. If there is a further tie, players should continue simultaneously playing cards with this method until there is no longer a tie. All played cards are discarded into each player’s discard pile.

Player Turn

When it is a player’s turn to shoot, they are the shooting player and the other player is the defending player. When a player is the shooting player they have two options:

1. Shoot twice

OR

2. Discard a card from hand after drinking enough beer to equal a cup. Once a player no longer have cards in his hand, he retrieves all cards from his hand suit discard pile.

At the end of the turn the defending player is allowed to swap all face up cards with any other card before flipping them back face down. Cards will be face up if the shooting player made a shot but was unable to beat the card value. The defending player must let the shooting player know where the cards that were face-up are placed.

Shooting – A shot consists of tossing a ball across the table in an attempt to make it in a cup. When a shot is made, the shooting player chooses a card from his hand. After choosing a card, the card under the cup is flipped face up. If the card chosen by the shooting player is of higher value, the cup is removed and the card under the cup is discarded. If the card is of lower value, the card under the cup stays face up and the cup remains. If it is the same value a Duel commences. In all cases, the shooting player’s card is discarded.

Duel – The shooting player is allowed to choose between War or a Shootoff.

War – Players each choose a card from their hands and play them simultaneously. The player who plays a card with the higher value wins the war. If there is a tie, both players play an additional card and continue selecting cards until there is no longer a tie. All played cards are discarded into each player’s discard pile. If the shooting player won the war, the cup is discarded. If the defending player won the war, the cup remains on the table and the card remains face up until the end of the turn.

– Players each choose a card from their hands and play them simultaneously. The player who plays a card with the higher value wins the war. If there is a tie, both players play an additional card and continue selecting cards until there is no longer a tie. All played cards are discarded into each player’s discard pile. If the shooting player won the war, the cup is discarded. If the defending player won the war, the cup remains on the table and the card remains face up until the end of the turn. Shootoff– In a shootoff the shooting player must make the ball into a cup of the defending player’s choice in order to remove the cup that started the shootoff. If the shooting player fails to do so, they lose the shootoff. If the shooting player makes the shot, the defending player is allowed to rebuttal. As a rebuttal the defending player gets a chance to protect the cup by making a shot in a cup of the shooting player’s choice. If the defending player makes the shot, they win the shootoff and the cup that started the shootoff is protected. If the shooting player doesn’t win the shootoff, the cup remains on the table and the card remains face up until the end of the turn. Otherwise the cup is removed and the card is discarded.

Other Rules

Advantage – If a player has more cups they have the advantage. The advantage allows a player to remove their opponent’s cups after making a shot by using a card which is one less than the card under the cup (ex. A player can remove a 9 with an 8). The advantage also allows a player to win a War if their card is one less than the non-advantaged player.

Rollbacks – When both balls are made in one turn, the shooting player can either decide to get the balls back or they can retrieve a card of the suit in their hand from their discard pile.

Autokill – If the shooting player is able to make both of their shots into the same cup during a turn, the cup is automatically removed by any card a shooting player wishes to play.

Re-rack – When a defending player is reduced to 6 or 4 cups, the shooting player is allowed to ask for an immediate rerack. This involves having the remaining cups placed into a formation requested by the shooting player as long as the cups are still touching each other. The defending player should shuffle all cards remaining under the cups and place them underneath the remaining cups however they wish.

Special Cards

Ace – The ace of the hand suit is a special card which has the ability to win against a 10 at any time when played from the hand (normal shooting and in duels). It is useless against all other cards. The Ace of the table suit under a cup is a bomb. If an ace is revealed after the shooting player plays a card to remove a cup, the shooting player’s card is removed from the game. The only way to remove a bomb is to use a 2 against it (see below) or autokill it.

2’s – The two of the hand suit is a special card which has the ability to defuse a bomb. If an ace is revealed after the shooting player plays a 2 to remove a cup, the cup is removed and the ace is discarded.

3’s – The three of the hand suit is a special card which has a scouting ability. It is treated like a normal card except that it is not removed from the game if it is played against a bomb.

Optional Variants

Fortifications – Set up 3 cups off to the side in a straight line parallel with the long side of the table (see below). The 3 cups which are to the side represent the ability to retrieve discarded cards. The cups return 1, 2, or 3 cards to the hand (the closest cup returns 1, the next closest 2, and the furthest cup returns 3) when a shot is made into them. When a duel is declared the defending player is allowed to respond by making 1 shot at a fortification cup.

Strategic setup – Instead of using a random setup, each player gets to choose which cards are placed under each cup similar to re-racking. This allows for some interesting mindgames similar to Stratego.

Please let me know if these rules are unclear. If you try out the game, let me know your thoughts. Have fun.