Choose where to stand, swipe up to bowl and curve the swipe for a hook. Ten frames, proper scoring, and pins that knock each other down.
Scoring
A game has ten frames with up to two balls each to knock down ten pins. A strike — all ten with the first ball — scores 10 plus the pins of your next two balls. A spare — all ten with two balls — scores 10 plus the next ball. Otherwise the frame is simply the pins you knocked down. In the tenth frame a strike or a spare earns the bonus balls straight away, up to three balls in that frame, and a perfect game of twelve strikes is 300.
Pins that wobble but stay up are left where they were nudged for your second ball, so a spare can look slightly different from the diagram you expected.
Controls
Drag sideways to choose where you stand on the approach, then swipe up to bowl: the speed of the swipe is the speed of the ball and its direction is the angle. Curve the swipe, or use the hook button, to make the ball turn on the way down. The camera follows the ball to the pins. On a keyboard, the left and right arrows (or A and D) move you, up and down change the speed, Q and E set the hook and Space bowls.
Strikes and spares
Oil covers the front of the lane and the far end is dry, so a ball with side rotation skids straight at first and bites late, close to the pins. Rolled into the pocket — the gap beside the head pin on the side the ball is curving from — a hook topples far more pins than a straight ball, which tends to meet the head pin square and leave a split.
For spares, a straight ball is the reliable choice. Stand on the opposite side of the lane to the pins you need: a corner pin on the right is best shot from the left side, across the lane, so the ball has the widest margin. When several pins are left, aim at the one nearest to you and let it take the others. Our guide to spares rates all forty common leaves by simulation.
The computer bowler
The computer finds its line by simulating the ball path and solving for the angle that reaches the pocket with its hook, or a straight line at the front pins for a spare. Its errors in position, angle, speed and hook shrink with the level; in our test games it averaged about 60 on Easy, 89 on Medium, 120 on Hard and 169 on Expert.
Questions and answers
How do I bowl a hook?
Curve your swipe, or tap the hook button before the swipe. The ball slides on the oiled front of the lane and turns on the dry end.
Why did a pin stay standing after it wobbled?
A pin falls only when it is hit hard enough. If it survives, it stays exactly where it was pushed for the next ball.
What is the daily spare challenge?
Ten common leaves picked by the date, one ball each. Your score is how many you clear.
Can I bowl a full game alone?
Yes. Solo mode is a full ten-frame game for your own score and personal best.