Curling — free online game, no download

Curling is played on a sheet of ice with a target painted at the far end. Each side slides eight stones, taking turns, and when they are all thrown the side with the stone nearest the centre scores — one point for every stone of theirs closer than the other side's best. That scoring rule is why the game is not simply about accuracy: a single stone dead centre is worth one, and three mediocre ones can be worth three.

Here it is one end at a time. Pull back from your stone to set the line and the weight, choose which way it curls, and let go. You throw last, which is the advantage the sport calls the hammer. Your score is ends won in a row, and the computer's aim gets tighter with every one.

How to play

• Drag back from your stone and release, the same way you would pull a catapult. Longer drag, more weight.
• The Handle button sets which way the stone curls — in or out. Change it before you throw.
• A stone curls more as it slows, so a light draw bends a long way and a hard takeout runs almost straight.
• Stones hit each other and knock each other about. That is most of the game.
• When all sixteen are thrown, whoever is nearest the centre scores one for every stone closer than the other side's best.
• Win the end and the next one starts against a sharper opponent. Lose or tie and your streak ends.

Draw, guard, take out — and why the last stone matters

There are only three shots in curling and each answers a different problem. A draw is a light stone thrown to stop in the rings; it curls the most, which is how you get behind something. A guard is thrown short, stopping in front of the target so the other side cannot reach what is behind it. A takeout is heavy and straight, and it removes a stone rather than placing one. Beginners throw draws all game and wonder why the end keeps getting stolen; the answer is usually that they never guarded the one stone that was winning it.

The curl comes from friction, and it grows as the stone slows down. Almost all the bend in a draw happens in the last few metres, which is why a light stone can start well outside the rings and finish in the middle, while a fast one goes more or less where you pointed it. That single fact is the whole aiming problem: you are not aiming at the target, you are aiming at where the ice will take the stone from.

Throwing last is worth a great deal, because you get to answer everything the other side has done. The tactic that follows is counting: if you are already sitting on one stone in the rings and it is your last throw, the safe play is often to guard it rather than try to add another. If you like the physics, Pool is the same collision engine on cloth, Bowling is the version where the target hits back, and Mini Golf shares the pull-back throw.

More games

More from 🕹️ Arcade & one-tap games:

• Volleyball — Move, jump and keep it off your own floor. Hit it rising and it goes long.
• Stack Rush — One tap: drop the sliding block on the tower. Miss the edge and it gets sliced. How high can you go?
• Snake — The timeless classic. Eat, grow, speed up, and try not to become your own worst obstacle.
• Flappy Dot — One tap to flap, endless pipes to dodge. Gaps shrink as you score — medals at 10, 25, 50 and 100.
• Brick Breaker — Smash all 48 bricks with a bouncing ball — aim off the paddle's edge for sharp angles. Three lives, faster every level.

Or browse all games.