Cup and Table Games
Fleet Pong: Official Rules
Pre-game briefing
The record before the whistle
The Commission has set out the table facts first: what this game asks of the players and how to put it in order. The governing rules follow without requiring anyone to invent precedent.
Objective
Find and sink all four ships in the other team's cup fleet before they sink yours.
Setup
Two teams of two stand at opposite ends of a 6- or 8-foot folding table. Set a temporary divider across the center so neither team can inspect the other half while the fleets are placed.
Each team receives 11 cups and arranges four ships on its own half of the table:
- Carrier: four cups in one straight line.
- Cruiser: three cups in one straight line.
- Destroyer: two cups in one straight line.
- Scout: two cups in one straight line.
Ships may run lengthwise or across the table. They may touch but may not overlap, and every ship must stay entirely on its own half. Diagonal ships are not official, but may be declared before setup.
Fill game cups with water. Players who want a drink keep it separately and decide for themselves whether a sunk cup calls for one; no player is required to drink to keep the game moving. Remove the divider once both teams confirm their fleets are placed. Cups do not move again.
Official Rules
Rule 1. Starting and turns
Rule 1.1. A coin toss decides the first shooting team. Teams then alternate turns.
Rule 1.2. On a turn, both teammates shoot one ball each. They may shoot in either order, but the second ball is not thrown until the first ball has settled or left the table.
Rule 1.3. A shooter releases the ball from behind their own end of the table. The elbow rule applies: the elbow stays behind the table edge until release.
Rule 2. Hits and ships
Rule 2.1. A ball that lands in an opposing cup is a hit. The defending team names the ship that was hit, removes that cup, and gives the ball back to the shooting team.
Rule 2.2. When every cup belonging to a ship has been removed, the defending team announces that ship sunk. A ship is not sunk early because it looks doomed. The Commission has reviewed the photographs.
Rule 2.3. A cup once removed stays removed. No re-racks, repairs or fleet redeployments are permitted.
Rule 3. Special shots
Rule 3.1. A bounce shot is a ball that strikes the table before landing in a cup. It counts as the hit cup plus one additional cup from that same ship, chosen by the defending team. A defender may swat a ball after it has touched the table.
Rule 3.2. If the ship has no other cups left when a bounce shot lands, the bounce counts only as the one hit. A bonus hit cannot jump to another ship.
Rule 3.3. If both teammates sink the same cup on one turn, that ship takes three hits total: the named cup and up to two other cups of the defending team's choice from that ship. The shooting team gets both balls back for one additional turn.
Rule 3.4. If fewer than two other cups remain on that ship, the same-cup shot removes only the cups that remain. The extra-turn award still applies.
Rule 4. Winning
Rule 4.1. The first team to sink every opposing ship wins immediately.
Rule 4.2. A team that sinks the final ship keeps the table intact until both teams agree the fleet record is correct. Victory is not a license to sweep cups onto the floor.
House Rules Register
- Diagonal ships. Approved, if declared before setup. Both teams use the same placement rule.
- One ball per turn. Approved. Best for one-on-one play or a smaller table.
- A bounce shot counts as one hit only. Approved. The defending team may still swat it after the bounce.
- Redemption turn. The team whose final ship is sunk may keep shooting until it misses; if it sinks every surviving opposing cup, both teams rebuild only their Cruiser and play sudden death. Commissioner's Discretion. Declare it before the first fleet is placed.
- Moving, straightening or re-spacing ships after the divider comes down. Prohibited. The fleet has sailed.
Official Rulings
A ship's cups touch another ship's cups. Which ship takes the bonus hit from a bounce? Only the ship that contains the cup the ball landed in. Touching is not a merger.
A defender cannot remember which removed cups belonged to which ship. What happens? The Official calls a reconstruction from the remaining cups and both teams' good-faith account. If that cannot settle it, replay the current ship from its original size.
A ball lands in a cup and knocks a second cup over. Are both hit? No. The landing cup is the hit. Restore the knocked cup to its original place if it can be identified; otherwise the defending team places it on its ship's original line.
Penalties and Signals
- Fleet redeployment Penalty: restore the cup to its original position; if that position cannot be agreed, the offending team loses its next turn. Signal: the Official moves one flat hand slowly across the table, then points back.
- Early swat Penalty: the shot counts as a regular hit if it would reasonably have reached the cup line; otherwise it is retaken. Signal: the Official raises an open palm, then points to the table.
- Ship sunk Penalty: Signal: the Official lowers one flat hand below the table edge.
- Same-cup strike Penalty: Signal: the Official holds up three fingers, then points both thumbs back for balls back.
From the Archives
Fleet Pong began with a folding table, a privacy sheet and the observation that cup arrangements can be strategic if anyone is required to remember them. The Commission endorsed the idea after determining that four named ships are easier to referee than eleven cups with no chain of command.
Archive No. 2711 records the first disputed bounce: the defending team argued that a two-cup Scout could not lose both cups at once. The Commission agreed, then noted that it could. The Scout was sunk.
Zero-Proof Option
Keep every game cup filled with water and use water, soda or another non-alcoholic drink in personal cups. Hits, ships and the entirely unnecessary naval announcements work exactly the same.