Another Box Variant: Cutthroat

Usually the way pickup goes is this: first four players ready play box. The next two ready join in. Whoever shows up after that sets up Goaltimate and we play that. If we get up to 12, the late arrivals set up Ultimate. Used to be we'd just wait to have numbers for Ultimate before we'd do anything, and that would drive me nuts. Now getting there early just means you get to have more fun, and the latecomers do the work for you.

Anyway, we had a situation recently where we only had three ready to play so I started thinking about the three-person basketball game "cutthroat" and how you could do that with box. Here's what I cooked up:

• Somebody starts with the disc. They throw it to somebody. The thrower and the receiver are now on O, the other player is on D, and the disc is now clear (the O can score on their next pass). If they score, the O players each get a point. If they don't, the D player gets 2 points. Make it take it, play on immediately.
• On a turn, the D picks it up and throws it to somebody. Thrower and receiver are on O, disc is now clear, etc., same as above.
• If the very first pass of a possession (where the thrower is picking somebody to play O with) is incomplete then anybody can pick it up. If nobody wants to pick it up, it goes back to the thrower. No score, no penalty, try again.
• Stall is to three.
• Keep your own score, and call it out every time you get points. If you don't call it out, it doesn't count.
• First player to 11 wins.

The test drive of this game was a roaring success. Very fast-paced, couldn't stop laughing. Looking forward to the next time we only have three to start.

Oh, I didn't include it above because it's an unnecessary complication, but it grew kinda naturally out of our regular house rules, which I love. In our regular game, there is a fast break rule: if the defense catches it, there's no need to clear the disc, you can score on your very next pass. You can even throw such a pass from inside the box to another player in the box for the score (no Callahans). The way this manifests in cutthroat is that if the defense catches the disc, the very next pass can score. In effect, the thrower can choose who they want to give a point to. The game is already pretty funny during the transition, as the potential receivers try to make themselves desirable targets, while at the same time trying not to be woefully out of position in case the thrower goes to the other player instead. Making the transition throw a scoring opportunity in these cases turns the subtle jockeying into shameless pandering while still trying to protect against the back-stab.

Try it, you'll like it!