Carrom

What is Carrom?

Carrom is the tabletop game of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, played in homes, clubs and street corners for generations. It sits somewhere between pool and shuffleboard: instead of a cue you flick a heavy disc, the striker, with your finger, and it sends the lighter carrom men gliding across a smooth, powdered board into the four corner holes.

Here you play it against the computer on a full-size board: nine white men, nine black and the red queen in the centre. You play white from the bottom of the board, the computer black from the top. Three levels of opponent are on offer, from a relaxed one to one that rarely misses, and every day brings a Daily game with the same break for everyone.

How to play Carrom

You break the first board, the computer the second, you the third.

• Placing the striker. Before every stroke, slide the striker along your baseline: drag it, or tap the line where you want it. It cannot sit on top of a man.
• Striking. Pull back from the striker like a sling and let go. The guide shows the way it will go and how hard, over a short stretch only: judging the angle is the game. The striker may go any way, backward shots included.
• Your men. Pocket a man of your colour and you strike again. A man of the computer's colour stays down for it, and your turn ends.
• The queen. She may go down once you have pocketed a man of your own. Then you must cover her: pocket a man of yours in the same stroke or the next one, or she goes back to the centre.
• Fouls. Pocketing the striker is a foul: the men of yours that fell with it come back to the centre, plus one more as a penalty. Your last man cannot go down before the queen is covered.
• Points. A board ends when one side has pocketed all nine men. It scores one point for every man the other side still has on the board, and three more for the queen if it covered her. First to 12 points wins the match, which lasts three boards at most.

Tips and strategy

1. Cut, do not drive. A man struck dead centre toward a hole often takes the striker in after it. Hit it a little off centre so the striker glances away.
2. Open your men early. A soft stroke into a group of your own men spreads them toward the holes without scattering the computer's for it.
3. Take the queen when the cover is ready. Before pocketing her, make sure one of your men sits near a hole, so the cover is an easy stroke.
4. Use the frame. A man close to the frame can be sent in along it, and a man behind your baseline can be reached with a backward shot or a bounce off the side.
5. Mind the last man. With your last man near a hole and the queen still out, play the queen first: your last man cannot go down before she is covered.

Frequently asked questions

Is Carrom free?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.

Which rules does it use?

The International Carrom Federation's rules, kept to the essentials for a quick match: no thumbing or three-try breaks, any direction allowed for the striker, the queen covered in the same stroke or the next, and a penalty man for a pocketed striker. The board's points work as in club play: one per man the loser still has, plus three for a covered queen.

What happens if I pocket the striker before any man of mine is down?

You owe a penalty man. The next time one of yours drops, it comes straight back to the centre.

How is my score worked out?

100 for every point you take on the boards, 10 for each man of yours pocketed when a board ends, and 500 for winning the match (200 for a draw).

What is the Daily game?

Every day everyone gets the same breaks against the same computer, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.