Paunch is a game in which two players spawn in an arena and hurl rocks at each other.

Gameplay -

When a duel starts, there are twelve rocks (thirteen as of the Empty Boulder update). Each rock is a weapon as well as a respawn point for a player. Two rocks are immediately used as a life for each player, leaving ten rocks in addition to the empty boulder. You can pick up and hold two rocks at a time. Hurling a rock at your opponent will kill them if it hits, after which they will respawn from another random rock. The rock will glow red and explode as the opponent spawns, causing that rock to disappear. The empty boulder, which can be identified by its white color, will never be used as a spawn point. When holding a white rock and regular rock, you always throw the regular rock first regardless of the order they were picked up in. Hitting the opponent with the white rock will automatically win you the game, no matter the score and remaining rocks. When all regular rocks are gone, the game will enter Sudden Death, at which point the next player to die loses. You must knock your opponent out by running in to them if there are no rocks left.

Scoring -

The first person to get a kill in the round gets 3 points.
The person who died first gets 2 points on their first kill.
All other points are score 1 at a time by knocking the opponent down with a rock or melee.
In addition, there appears to be a revenge mechanic as well as a final kill mechanic, as there are occasions where you can score 2 points for a kill immediately after dying (perhaps on a timer?) as well as on occasion the final kill counting as 2 points. However, both of these mechanics do not seem to appear consistent throughout all matches.

How scores are calculated and points assigned -

When players draw, no points are assigned.

Points are hit+knockout for the winner. The loser loses points calculated by the winners hit+knockout score.


Strategy -

The most effective strategy is to immediately locate the empty boulder (it is white), and hold onto it. The easiest way to win is to immediately hit the opponent with the white boulder, ending the game, but you will only earn 2 points per game using this. Normally, you should grab the white boulder, and then hold it so your opponent can't use it against you. You can keep grabbing a regular boulder and throwing it. After you get a kill, look for which boulder is starting to glow red. You can time your next throw to hit just as the player spawns, scoring another hit. After hitting the opponent successfully three or more times, wait until you locate them respawning, and secure the win by using the empty boulder to get a hit on spawn.

Credit to u/palladinum46 for some of this info.