One sofa, two movers, a very busy street
How to play PIVOT! with a friend
- Take an endYou carry one end, your partner carries the other.
- Walk togetherWalk the same way to carry it. Walk different ways to turn it.
- Pivot!Doors are narrow. Turn it end-on to get it through, before the parking warden comes.
- Mind the trafficDrivers on their phones don't brake, geese bite and trains never stop. Bumps cost health — a glass pane takes one.
The game is the talking
Neither of you controls the sofa. You control an end. Every doorway needs both people to agree which way is round, and the game is named after the word you will both be shouting.
What works is a leader. One of you calls the turn — "your way, now stop" — and the other follows. Swap leader between jobs and you will find out who is better at giving directions than taking them.
Each load has its own temper. A fridge is slow to start and slow to stop. A fish tank sloshes if you turn too fast. A grand piano plays a note every time you hit something, so everyone hears the mistake.
Season 2: Life together
The jobs run as seasons. Season 1 furnishes your first flat together, one awkward object at a time. When all ten things are in, the housewarming starts Season 2.
Life together is the moves a couple makes after that: a housewarming up the stairs past the neighbour, Christmas in the snow with a tree that sheds, a first holiday through an airport and onto a beach, and a wedding in the park, where the geese do not care that it is your big day.
Two phones, or one
Online, you each carry your end from your own phone, live. It's built for a call: put the video on and carry a fridge across a level crossing together.
On one phone, it's two thumbs on one screen, one mover each. Nothing is recorded.
From iMessage, PIVOT! sends an invite that opens the app. It is co-op, so there is no loser and no rating.
Three things that actually help
- Turn it end-on before the door, not in it. Stuck in a doorway, nobody can walk anywhere.
- Pick one leader per job. Two people steering is how a fish tank meets a lamppost.
- Fragile means slow. A glass pane breaks on one bump; a sofa can take a couple.
PIVOT! questions
Is PIVOT! competitive?+
No. It's co-op: you are both on the same side, and there is no rating. You get it there in one piece together, or you don't.
Can we play PIVOT! on one phone?+
Yes. Play on one phone puts both movers on one screen, two thumbs each side. Nothing is recorded.
What do you carry, and where?+
Sofas, fridges, glass panes, a grand piano, a fish tank, a wedding cake, even a cat in a box — across streets, stairwells, parks, a level crossing and a mall.