Pith

Pith piþ

A game of pith about to begin
Years active	In various forms, 200s BNB to present
Genres	Matching
Players	2 to 4
Skills	Tactics, observation, memory, bluffing
Related games
Little pith * Piṭṭháu * Peuh Taus

Pith (piþ) is a tile-based game popular in the western Orddonach, introduced to the region in the form of the Namunian piṭṭháu sometime in the 200s BNB.

Gameplay

Players start with a concealed hand of 12 tiles. The objective of pith is to be the first to make a winning hand. To achieve this, they must use both discarded tiles from the player directly preceding them or from the walls of tiles in the centre of the table (stāerwy stáerwy, sg. staer stáer).

Setup and turn order

Before the game can begin, the tiles are all scrambled face down. One player is chosen to be the head (towr), and, depending on regional and house rules, the order of play will go clockwise or counterclockwise starting from this player (generally, it is counterclockwise, except in Hearn, Blackstrath and Nemmark). 12 tiles are given to each player and the rest are then arranged into four walls forming a square perimeter. Three of these walls have 28 tiles (7×2×2), while one (the head's wall) has 32 (8×2×2). Players take tiles starting from this longer wall and continuing in order of play.

Gameplay

The game is divided into rounds and officially begins when the head draws first from their wall. At this point, they can:

• Take the tile they drew and discard one of their own, or
• Discard the tile, along with at most 3 other tiles in their hand.

The moment a player discards a tile, the turn goes to the next player, who may either:

• Take at most the 4 last tiles from the discard pile (in the order they were discarded) and discard up to 4 of their own tiles (taking care to never have a hand under 4 or over 12 tiles), or
• Take one tile from the walls and discard one of their own, or
• If the player's current hand is less than 12 tiles, take at most the four last tiles from the discard pile and don't discard, or
• Discard at most four of their own tiles and pass the turn.

A player may never have more than 12 tiles or less than 4 in their hand. Winning hands can only be 12 tiles long (with a few exceptions for special hands which may or may not be valid depending on regional rules). The moment a player gets a winning hand, they must show it to the rest of the table, at which point they become the head of the next round.

If the walls are completely exhausted by the end of a round, the game ends in a draw, and no points are awarded to any player. The game resets from there (new walls are built, new hands are started) and a new round begins. In these situations, the role of the head may remain the same or move to the next player in play order.

Scoring and end of play

Scoring in pith serves to determine the overall performance of each player, as well as determining who becomes the head of the each round. A hand's score is based on the sum of the lawr (points) assigned to each of its composing melds. The maximum score for the end of a session differs by region, custom and house rules, but is usually somewhere around 144 lawr.

Melds

A winning hand must be made of combinations of tiles called melds. A meld is a combination of at least 2 and at most 4 tiles of the same suit, either all of the same number or in numerical sequence. Each meld has a score that counts to the overall value of the final hand. Great tiles, thus seasons (S) and high kings (K), cannot be used in numerical sequences and do not belong to any suits. However, melds using them will double the value of the meld. Moons (M) are wildcards that may stand in for any numerical tile necessary to complete a meld.

Legal melds from weakest to strongest

Meld	Description	Example	Score
Eyes (mēdr médr)	A pair of identical tiles.		1 lawr
Short (mav maf)	Three tiles in numerical sequence		2 lawr
Threefold (mi mi)	Three tiles of the same number		2 lawr
Row (lirn lirn)	Four tiles in numerical sequence		4 lawr
Fourfold (pyn pyn)	Four tiles of the same number		4 lawr

Winning hands

A winning hand is composed of 12 tiles arranged in melds. There exist four types of winning hands.

Types of winning hands

Name	Description	Bonus	Example
Common (ōrdur órdur)	A hand composed of tiles belonging to different suits.	No bonus	———
Level (bar bar)	A hand composed entirely of tiles belonging to the same suit	Score of hand doubled	————
Perfect (hibng hibeng)	A hand composed almost entirely of tiles belonging to the same suit. One meld is composed of great tiles	Score of hand doubled plus 10 lawr	———
Blessed (moeb moeb)	A hand composed entirely of great tiles.	Score of hand doubled plus 20 lawr	———