Tabletop Tuesday - Pit

Welcome to another edition of Tabletop Tuesday - Your weekly exploration into games of dice, cards, luck, and more of the Tabletop world.

This week's game...the game of trading wares and passing bears that is Pit.

Players: 3-8
Time: 30-90 minutes*
Genre: Casual Card / Party Game



Pit is a rather straightforward and easy to learn game, but always breaks into loose in chaotic fun once begun.  The goal of the game is to trade commodities with other players and be the first to collect nine of the same commodity.  There are exactly nine of each type of commodity to be found shuffled about, and the variety of commodities is determined by the number of players.  Players will blindly trade handfuls of cards in hopes of getting their needed pairs, but the catch is this all occurs at the same time.  There are no turns and just like a real stock market, everyone will begin frantically searching for trades.  It's a frantic and furious dash to find and keep track of trades so that you don't end up with the same cards.  First player to corner the market with nine of the same commodity will score the indicated points on the commodity card (ranging from 50-100 points).  This repeats until one player gets to 500 points.

To make things more interesting, there is also a Bull and the Bear card that can be shuffled in.  This means two players will instead have 10 cards each round.  The Bull acts as a wild card, counting towards any commodity.  Should a player have the Bull and 8 of a needed commodity, they can end the round and win the points.  However, should they feel confident, they can hold off on ending the round and try to find that 9th commodity, which with the Bull would score them double the points.  Meanwhile, the Bear will prevent any player from winning the round and will want to be traded off.  Players will want to keep a watchful eye on the Bear's position if they can.  If the round ends, any player who has the Bear or lost with the Bull will end up losing 20 points.  As you notice above, the time it takes to play Pit can be variable as to the number of players and the point total you all agree to play to.  For those looking for an affordable, but enjoyable version of Pit, I recommend Deluxe Pit as it comes with a bell which adds so much more personality and satisfaction to cornering the market.  The version of Pit that you find may also have varying commodities to be found.  I recommend this game for those who enjoy quick thinking and loud noises.

If you have any questions about Pit, let me know in the comments. Otherwise, look forward to future installments of Tabletop Tuesday!