PIPFALL

Rules overview

PIPFALL: Program. Contend. Decay.

Overview

PipFall is a tactical abstract game where your units are also your resources. Each turn, secretly program three actions for your dice: Will you move them into a dominant position, knowing that all movement causes permanent decay of their strength? Or will you use a suit power to reinforce, heal, or flip them? Once programmed, players contest lanes on the board to claim the right to execute their actions, setting up a high-stakes initiative battle. Master the art of attrition and anticipation; win by eliminating your opponents or by having the greatest remaining power when the deck runs dry.

Objective

Be the last player with dice on the board, or finish the third full deck cycle with the highest total pip value across all your remaining dice.

Components

• 1 Game Board sized by player count: 5x5 (2 players), 7x7 (3 players), 8x8 (4 players)
• 16 Dice (4 in each of 4 player colors)
• 12 Lane Markers (3 per player, numbered 1, 2, 3)
• 1 First Player Marker
• 1 Standard 52-Card Deck
• 1 Rulebook

Setup

Each player takes four dice of their color and three numbered lane markers. Determine seating and give one corner of the board to each player. Give the First Player marker to a chosen starting player.

Deck & Restore Card Preparation

1. Take the Standard 52-Card Deck.
2. Separate the Club Face Cards: Remove the Ace of Clubs, King of Clubs, Queen of Clubs, and Jack of Clubs from the deck.
3. Distribute Restore Cards: Give one of these four removed Club cards to each player to place face-up in their personal area—this is their one-time Restore card.
4. Create Draw Deck: Shuffle the remaining 48 cards to form the main game deck for dealing.

Static Opening

Each player places their four dice in a diamond pattern in their corner: pip-6 in the corner space, pip-5 (left) and pip-4 (right) in the row directly in front of it, and pip-3 centered in front of those. This creates a 6-5/4-3 diamond shape for all players.

Game Flow

The game is played in rounds. Each round contains these phases:

1. Deal and Program

2. Lane Marker Placement

3. Initiative Reveal

4. Action Resolution

5. Cleanup

Deal and Program

Deal each player four cards from the deck. Each player chooses three of these cards and places them face down in a single row from left to right. The fourth card is set aside and will be used as the Initiative card for the round. Once placed, the order of the three programmed cards may not be changed. The leftmost programmed card corresponds to Lane Marker 1, the middle card to Lane Marker 2, and the rightmost card to Lane Marker 3. Note, players may look at their programmed cards but cannot change their order after placing them.

Lane Marker Placement Players place lane markers in three placement cycles. Starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player places one lane marker per cycle. When placing a lane marker, the marker must be placed on a row or column containing at least one of that player’s dice unless all such lanes are already taken.

If all legal lanes the player occupies are taken, the player must place the lane marker directly on top of the corresponding programmed card for that cycle. A marker placed on a card indicates that the card will not resolve this round and will not be revealed. The card is discarded during cleanup. No movement or decay occurs for cards nullified during lane placement. Players may not place lane markers on top of previously claimed lanes.

Initiative Reveal

All players reveal their Initiative card. Initiative is determined by standard card ranking: Ace high, down to 2. If two or more players reveal the same rank, suits break ties in the order Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. The player with the highest Initiative card is the Activation Start Player for the round. The three activation cycles are resolved one by one (Card 1, then Card 2, then Card 3). In each of these three cycles, players resolve their action starting with the Activation Start Player and continuing in clockwise order around the table.

Action Resolution

There are three activation cycles, one for each programmed card. During each cycle, players act in turn order starting with Initiative winner and proceeding clockwise. When a player’s turn arrives for that cycle, they attempt to activate the die in the lane indicated by their marker for that cycle.

A die cannot be activated more than once per round. If the die in that lane has already been activated or no such die exists in that lane at the time of activation, the action is nullified and the card resolves with no effect. This type of nullification does not cause decay, movement, or any penalty.

If a player has a legal unactivated die in that lane, they apply the chosen card effect to that die. Number cards may be used for movement or for suit power. Face cards may only be used for suit power.

Movement

Movement is 0 to 3 spaces in a single straight orthogonal line. Diagonal movement is not allowed. Passing through dice is allowed, and every passed space counts for movement. A die that is moved, including zero-movement, suffers decay. Decay reduces the pip value of the die by one. A die reduced to zero pips is removed from the board immediately.

Combat

Combat Resolution: If a die ends its movement on a space containing another die, combat occurs. The die with the higher pip value wins. The losing die is removed from the board immediately. If both dice show the same pip value, both dice are removed (mutual destruction).

Post-Combat Decay: The movement action is now complete. The attacking die suffers decay by one pip. If this decay reduces the die to zero pips, it is removed.

Suit Powers

Suit powers affect only the player’s own dice, and only the currency activated die. Hearts: Increase the die’s pip value by 2, up to a maximum of 6. If the full +2 cannot be applied, the die's value is increased by +1 if possible. Diamonds: Reduce the die’s pip value by 2, to a minimum of 1. If the full -2 cannot be applied, the die's value is reduced by -1 if possible. Suit Success Threshold: A suit power action (Hearts, Diamonds, or Spades) succeeds only if it results in a net pip value change of at least +/-1 pip. If a die's pip value is unchanged (e.g., using a Heart on a 6-pip die), the action fails, and the die suffers a forced zero-movement and decay. The Clubs power is an exception; it always succeeds without regard to pip change and guarantees no movement and no decay.

Zero Movement

Zero movement is still movement. Any movement, including zero movement chosen by the player, causes decay. Forced zero-movement from suit failure also causes decay.

Movement and 1-Pip Dice

Any die with a pip value of 1 that performs a movement action (including zero movement) is removed due to decay.

Null Actions

A null action occurs only when the lane chosen for that card contains no legal unactivated die. In this case, the card resolves with no effect and is simply discarded at cleanup. There is no movement, no decay, and no penalty. Null actions occur only due to lane conditions, never due to suit failure.

Restore

Each player begins with one Club face card in their personal area. This card may be used once per game to return a previously removed die to the board.

Cleanup

Remove Markers & Discard Cards: All lane markers are removed and returned to players. All programmed cards and Initiative cards are discarded into the discard pile facedown.

Eligibility Check & Restore Window: Starting with the current First Player, players check their eligibility to Restore.

• Restore Condition: A player may only Restore if at least one of their dice is still on the board at the end of the round.
• Players declare the use of their one-time Restore card.

Resolve Restore: If declared, the player attempts to place the die.

• A restored die must be placed in that player’s starting corner.
• If the corner space is occupied by any die (opponent or your own), the Restore cannot be used at that time.
• A successfully restored die enters at a pip value of 4.
• The Restore card is only consumed if the die is successfully returned to the board.

Elimination Check: A player with no dice remaining on the board and who could not, or chose not to, successfully Restore is immediately eliminated from the game.

Rotation & Deal: The First Player marker rotates clockwise. New cards are dealt for the next round. (The state of the deck (full cycle count) affects the game end ).

End of Game

Elimination Win: If all players but one have ALL their dice removed from the game at the end of the action phase the game ends immediately.

Deck Cycle End Trigger

Two Player: 2 deck cycles (shuffles)

Three/Four Player: 3 deck cycles (shuffles)

If there are still at least two players with dice on the board at the end of the action phase after deck cycle action phase trigger, the game end immediately

Each player totals the pip value of all dice remaining on the board. Highest total wins. Ties go to the player with more dice. If still tied, the tied players share victory.

Note: Restore is NOT possible for an elimination or deck cycle end game.

Variants

True Initiative Order: Players act in Initiative ranking order during each activation cycle instead of using clockwise rotation.

Combat Glory: A die that wins combat does not decay after that activation

Mutual Destruction Glory Bonus: When both dice are removed in combat, the attacking player may increase the pip value of one other die they control by one, up to six. If they have no other dice, this bonus is lost.

Rolled Opening: Players roll their four dice and assign them into the same 6-5/4-3 diamond shape by ordering the rolled values from highest in the corner to lowest at the front.

Glossary

• Activation: Using a programmed card on a die. Corner: The player’s starting home space.
• Decay: Reduction of pip value by one after movement or forced zero-movement.
• Initiative: Determination of action order via Initiative cards.
• Lane: A row or column chosen during lane marker placement.
• Movement: 0 to 3 orthogonal spaces in a straight line.
• Null Action: A programmed card that cannot activate a die due to lane conditions; causes no decay.
• Pip: The top face value of a die.
• Restore: One-time return of a die at pip-4 during Cleanup.
• Suit Power: The effect of a card’s suit when chosen instead of movement.