Pebbles and Pits

Overview

Other names

Golden Pebble, Pebbles and Pits, Pits

A game played between two opposing players with pebbles and a playing field made of small pits.

Pieces

A number of small pebbles in two distinct colours and singular larger pebble marked as the goal object. Sets of 18, 24, 30, or 36 pebbles per player are common.

The Playing Field

A hexagonal pattern of small pits around a single central pit are made in the ground, or upon a carved plank or tablet to represent the playing field. Playing fields make vary in size and shape with regional preferences, but are at least four pits in radius counting the central pit.

Rules

Initial Set Up

Two players determine who goes first by common agreement; usually by one player secreting a pebble from each set in their closed fists and the other picking a hand. The chosen pebble is revealed and that player gets to make the first move.

The larger goal pebble is placed in the central pit, and all other pits are cleared of any pebbles.

Play

The object of play is to move the goal pebble to the edge of the play field and remove it to score a win.

Players alternate turns either placing a new pebble in any pit on the outside edge of the play field, or moving a pebble already in play.

The rules for moving a piece are as follows:

• A pebble may be added to a pit on the edge or any immediately adjacent pit to its current position so long as the player's pebbles currently in that location are not outnumbered by their opponent.

• A pebble may only move from a pit if there are equal or more pebbles from the players set in the current pit.

• If the player has a majority of pebbles when totalling all pebbles from adjacent pits to the goal pebble's pit, and their is at least one pebble from either player in every adjacent pit, they may exchange all their pebbles from one adjacent pit with the goal pebble. This removes any and all of their opponents pebbles which currently occupy the goal pebble's new location.

• If the goal pebble reaches the edge and the player has the majority of pebbles in all adjacent pits, the goal pebble may be removed from the play field entirely, and that player scores a win.

Matches

Matches of 3, 5, or 7 games are common with the starting player determined by agreement or randomly for the first game, and the loser of the previous game getting to make the first move each subsequent game.