TILT

What is the TILT golf game?

TILT is a golf side game in which every hole pays points off a fixed table on your net score, times a multiplier. The table is albatross sixteen, eagle eight, birdie four, par two, bogey nothing, double bogey or worse minus four. The multiplier starts at one. A net birdie sends the next hole up one step, an eagle two, an albatross three. A net par takes you off tilt and the next hole is back to one. A bogey or worse pays what it pays and leaves the multiplier where it is. Most points at the end wins.

It is the boom or bust game. A player on a run is collecting four, eight, twelve, and the same player is one double bogey from losing twelve on the hole that ends it. Big Fairways plays the No Laying Up rules, the version written up and played by the No Laying Up crew, and nothing else, because two versions of the same game on one card was more confusing than fun.

Players	Two or more. Everybody plays against the table, so it scales to a whole group.
The table	Net albatross 16, eagle 8, birdie 4, par 2, bogey 0, double bogey or worse minus 4.
The multiplier	Starts at x1. Birdie up one step, eagle up two, albatross up three. Par back to x1. Bogey or worse, no change.
What a hole pays	The table times the multiplier you walked onto the tee with. No cap.
Handicaps	Yes. Everything is on the net score, by stroke index.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, and it shows every player's multiplier on the tee.

How do you play TILT?

You play a normal round and every hole pays off the table. Here is the whole game in six steps.

1. Every player starts on x1.
2. Play the hole and post the score. Look up your net score on the table: birdie 4, par 2, bogey 0, double or worse minus 4, eagle 8.
3. Multiply it by the multiplier you walked onto the tee with. That is your points for the hole, plus or minus.
4. A net birdie sends your multiplier up one step for the next hole, an eagle two, an albatross three. You are on tilt.
5. A net par takes you off tilt: it pays two times the multiplier and the next hole is back to x1. A bogey or worse pays the table and leaves the multiplier where it is.
6. Most points at the end wins, and Settle Up nets it down.

Why does a par take you off tilt?

Because tilt is a streak, and a par is not part of a streak. The idea behind the game is that a hot player keeps getting hotter and pays for it the moment the run ends. A birdie proves you are on a run and raises the stakes on the next hole. A par is steady golf, which pays what it pays and calms everything back down to one. A bogey is the odd one: it pays nothing, but it does not take you off tilt either, so a player on x3 who bogeys is still on x3 walking to the next tee, and the double bogey after that costs twelve. That is the bust in boom or bust.

What is an example of TILT scoring?

This is the worked example from the people who wrote the rules. A player goes par, bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie, double bogey. The par pays two on x1. The bogey pays nothing and stays on x1. The birdie pays four on x1 and sends the next hole to x2. The bogey pays nothing on x2 and stays there. The birdie pays four times two, eight, and sends the next hole to x3. The double bogey pays minus four times three, minus twelve, and the player is still on x3. Six holes, two plus nothing plus four plus nothing plus eight minus twelve, two points, finishing on x3. Big Fairways checks its own engine against that example.

Why does Big Fairways play the No Laying Up rules only?

Because two versions of the same game on one card were too confusing. There is a Big Fairways version of TILT, where every hole has a value that climbs on pars and birdies and only falls on a double bogey, and it produces a different winner off the same scores. Alex took it out of the app on 28 September 2026 and kept the No Laying Up rules, the ones written up at nolayingup.com and verified against their own worked example. That is the version this page teaches, the version the walk above plays and the version the app scores.

What is the difference between TILT and Train?

Both are streak games on the net score and both live in the app, but they pay differently. In Train a net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays Stableford points until two bogeys in a row or one double throw you off, and you keep everything you earned. In TILT the multiplier is the streak, a par ends it, and a double bogey on a high multiplier takes points away. Train is the kinder ride. TILT is the one with the swings.

What is the best TILT strategy?

TILT pays for streaks and punishes the hole that ends one, so the right shot depends on your multiplier. A few things win TILT more often than good golf does.

• On x1, go at flags. A birdie is worth four and it starts the run. A bogey costs nothing. There is no reason to lay up on x1.
• On tilt, avoid the double. On x3 a double bogey is minus twelve. A bogey is nothing and keeps you on x3, a par is six and resets. Play for the middle of the green.
• Know your stroke holes. Everything is net. A par with a stroke is a net birdie, four points and a step up. Your stroke holes are where your runs start.
• A par is not a bad hole on tilt. On x2 a par pays four and takes you to x1, which is exactly what a birdie paid on x1. Taking the money is fine.
• Watch the other multipliers. The app shows every player's multiplier on the tee. A player on x4 is one birdie from sixteen and one double from minus sixteen.

What are the wrinkles in TILT?

• The multiplier you tee off with is the one that pays. A birdie on x1 pays four, not eight. The step up is for the next hole.
• A bogey does not take you off tilt. It pays nothing and leaves the multiplier alone. Only a par resets it.
• No cap. Four birdies in a row is x5 on the fifth hole. The app does not stop it.
• Minus points are real. A double bogey on tilt takes points off your total. A round can finish below zero.
• An eagle is two steps. Eight points on the table, and the next hole goes up two. An albatross is sixteen and three steps.

How does TILT compare with other golf side games?

TILT is a streak game: every player plays against the table and the multiplier. Here is how it lines up against the other side games. Every one of them is scored in the app, and you can run several at once on one card.

Game	Players	In one line
TILT	Any	Points on the net score with a multiplier that climbs on birdies and resets on a par.
Midnight	Any	Twelve holes count, your best eleven plus the last. Lowest card wins.
Elevens	Any	Eleven holes count, your best ten plus the last. Seven throwaways.
Skins	Any	Win the hole outright to take the skin. Ties carry over or die, your call.
Nassau	2 or 4	Three matches in one: front nine, back nine and the full eighteen, with presses.
Wolf	4	The Wolf picks a partner after the tee shots or goes alone for double.
Vegas	4	Two teams, scores paired into a number, low number wins the difference.
Banker	3 or more	One player takes on everybody else each hole. Presses allowed.
Junk	Any	Points for the little things: sandies, greenies, woodies and more.
Match Play	2	Head to head, hole by hole, up or down.
Train	Any	A net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays until two bogeys in a row.
Mulligans	Any	Your handicap strokes become do overs, then everybody plays gross.
Gridiron Golf	4	Two on two played like football. Win the hole to march the ball, reach the end zone to score.
Hammer	2 or 4	Either side can double the hole while it is being played.
Nines	3	Three players, nine points a hole, split five, three and one.
Hi Lo	4	Two on two. A point for the best ball and a point for the worst.
Snake	Any	Three putt and the snake is yours until somebody else does. No points.
Bingo Bango Bongo	Any	First on, closest, first in. Three points a hole, played gross.
Stableford	Any	Points for every hole, most points wins, a blow up costs you nothing.

Looking for the full list? Every side game the app scores, each with rules and a demo round, is on the golf side games page.

What do the TILT words mean?

The table

The fixed points for each net score: albatross 16, eagle 8, birdie 4, par 2, bogey 0, double or worse minus 4.

The multiplier

What the table is multiplied by on a hole. x1 to start, up a step on a birdie, back to x1 on a par.

On tilt

Any multiplier above x1.

Off tilt

Back on x1, after a par.

A step

One notch on the multiplier. A birdie is one step, an eagle two, an albatross three.

What should a group agree on before playing TILT?

• What a point is worth. TILT points run higher than most games, so pick the value with that in mind.
• Net or gross. The app plays net.
• Whether a picked up hole counts as a double bogey or worse. It does in the app.

The rules are the No Laying Up rules, and the app plays them exactly. The only thing to settle on the first tee is the value of a point.

Why do golfers love TILT?

TILT turns a round into a run. Two birdies in a row and every player in the group is watching your next tee shot, because the hole is worth twelve. The player who has been quiet all day can win it on a late streak, and the player who has led all day can lose it on one double bogey at x4. Boom or bust, and the app does the multiplying.

How does Big Fairways score TILT for you?

Pick TILT when you set up the round and start playing. The app shows every player's multiplier on the tee, looks up the table on the net score after every hole, multiplies it, and moves the multiplier up or back to one. The board says what each player made, the table points, the multiplier and the result, so nobody is doing arithmetic in the cart.

Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end you get one clean total per player, one Settle Up list, and every round posts to your own lifetime scorecard, which only you can see. Send one link and the whole group follows the leaderboard live from their own phones.

Common questions

More golf side games