peer2peergames

Curling

Mixed doubles on a full sheet of ice, against one opponent. Each end starts with two stones already placed, then five thrown by each side, and every stone you throw you also sweep: the throw is one move and the sweep call is the next, made while the stone is still sliding. The ice is tuned to play well; it is not a simulation of any rink.

Play Curling Leaderboard

The rules

  1. An end begins with two positioned stones: a guard on the centre line in front of the house, and a stone in the house at the back of the four-foot. The team with the decision chooses which is theirs. Take the guard and you throw first; take the house stone and you throw last, which is the hammer.
  2. Once a game, the team with the decision may call the power play instead: both positioned stones go to one side, the house stone in the eight-foot and the guard in front of it. It cannot be called in an extra end.
  3. Each side throws five stones an end, alternately. A throw is a line, a weight and a turn: the in-turn curls one way and the out-turn the other, and the aiming guide shows the path before you throw.
  4. After the throw the stone slides to the hog line and stops there on the page, and you call the sweep: none, some, hard, or anything between. Sweeping carries the stone further and straightens its curl. The rest of the slide plays from the line once you have called it. If the deadline runs out while a sweep call is owed, the stone runs unswept; the game goes on and nobody forfeits.
  5. A stone that does not reach the far hog line is taken off, unless it struck another stone. A stone that touches a side line or crosses the back line is out of play at once.
  6. Until the fourth stone of an end has been thrown, no stone in play may be knocked out. If one is, the thrown stone is taken off and every other stone goes back where it was.
  7. When all ten stones have been thrown, the side with the stone nearest the tee scores one for each of its stones nearer than the other side's nearest, counting only stones in or touching the house. An end where nobody scores is blank.
  8. After a scored end the decision passes to the side that did not score. After a blank end it stays with the side that threw first.

How a game ends

  1. Eight ends, and the higher total wins. A tie goes to an extra end, and then another, until one side scores.
  2. A resignation or a missed deadline on a throw or a placement ends the game against that player. A missed deadline on a sweep call does not: the stone runs unswept and play continues.

Worth knowing before you start

  1. Weight is at least as hard as line. The power slider is the weight; the fine strip and the arrow keys nudge the line by fractions of a degree, and the guide draws the curved path the stone would take on its own.
  2. The sweep call is the second half of every stone, and the clock runs again for it. Call it against what you can see: the stone is stopped at the hog line with the whole house in view.
  3. Before the fourth stone of an end, a takeout is worse than useless: the stones go back and yours is taken off. Draw and guard first, hit later.
  4. The hammer is the last stone of the end. Taking the house stone gives it to you; taking the guard gives you the first throw and leaves the hammer with your opponent.

What is different here

  1. One player throws all five stones of the side, rather than a pair of players alternating as mixed doubles has it; a seat here is one person.
  2. There is no last stone draw to decide the first decision: the seed decides, and it is published when the game ends.
  3. Sweeping is one call per stone, made at the hog line, and your opponent never sweeps your stone. The ice is tuned so that the game reads right; the curl, the weight and the effect of sweeping are the site's numbers and not a measurement of any rink.

The seed decides which side has the first decision, and nothing else; it is published when the game ends. The stones themselves are physics, not chance.

Curling terms

The house
The rings at the far end. A stone scores only if it is in or touching the outer ring.
The hammer
The last stone of an end, thrown by the side that took the positioned stone in the house.
The hog line
The line a stone must fully cross to stay in play, and the line at which the sweep is called here.
The power play
Once a game, the positioned stones set off to one side of the house instead of on the centre line.
The in-turn and the out-turn
The two rotations a stone is thrown with; each curls the stone toward one side of the sheet.

Playing it here

  • Against a person or the bot. The bot needs no account and starts at once. To play a person, be rated and keep your games, you need an account: an email address and a password.
  • At your own pace. Every move has a deadline you both see, from one minute to a week. A game can take an evening or it can take a fortnight.
  • Nothing to buy and nothing to win. No stakes, no prizes, no boosts, no undo. The only thing on offer is a place on a leaderboard, and only if you want one.
  • Every game can be checked. Anything decided by chance comes from the game's seed, and the seed is published the moment the game ends, so any finished game can be replayed and verified by anyone. See fair play.