Pitcher

The pitcher is one of ten mugs used in the Drinking puzzle.

The pitcher gives the user a 45 point bonus when 'chugging', or 'drinking' a piece. This mug may be used by anyone, but is more expensive than the goblet, so is not the normal choice for new players.

The pitcher is a mug that revolves around gaining points from drinking pieces. This makes it a difficult mug to use well, because drinking pieces has strong disadvantages. A player does not receive the stain bonus and his/her drunkenness level rises, bringing them closer to missing a turn. Using the pitcher requires a player to closely monitor his/her drunkenness level, making sure not to overdo it and pass out too often, giving the opponent yet another opportunity to outperform this mug.

The pitcher theoretically gains an advantage from playing games to lower point totals, but other mugs can easily bridge the gap. A pitcher will be more effective with a larger variety of pieces (6 color/shape) due to the tendency for there to be more situations where there are no legal moves, forcing players to take drinks. The pitcher is strong against the chalice in theory due to its innate ability to capitalize on clogged boards, but the bonus points received are just not enough to significantly alter the course of the game. One thing worth mentioning is that in large multiplayer games (5-6 people) guzzling will take up much more of the game and points from completed rows will be divided many ways very frequently, making the pitcher a valid choice.