Upthrust is a jumping game where you try to jump your pieces into higher scoring levels. The board is a pegboard consisting of 4 columns and 11 levels. Each player starts with 4 pieces each in a different column at the lowest 4 levels of the board.
On your turn, one of your pieces can jump up the number of levels (while remaining in the same column) equal to the number of pieces on the level it jumps from. However:
- Only one piece may occupy each space.
- The highest piece of any color may not make a single level jump.
- In the non-scoring levels, two pieces of the same color cannot be at the same level.
The game ends when no player can legally move or if there 2 pieces left in the non scoring levels. Highest total score wins.
This was originally published as a solitaire game titled Score Up, but the gameplay is almost identical. (In the original version two pieces of the same color can never be in the same row.)