Carrom vs Computer

How to play Carrom

Carrom is a beloved tabletop game from South Asia, played for generations on a smooth wooden board. Two players take turns flicking a heavy striker with a fingertip, trying to knock their own coins — the flat discs called carrommen — into the four corner pockets. One special red coin, the queen, is worth extra but must be “covered”. The game rewards touch and angles rather than brute force: a gentle, well-aimed flick beats a wild smash almost every time. This version gives you a full top-down board with realistic striker physics — cushions, rebounds, momentum and friction all behave the way they do on a real board. Play a friend on the same screen, or take on the computer at three levels and earn ranking points for every win.

The goal

Each player owns a colour — one takes the white coins, the other the black. Your goal is to pocket all nine of your own coins before your opponent pockets theirs. The red queen is a bonus coin that must be pocketed and then “covered” by sinking one of your own coins. The first player to clear all their coins, with the queen rule satisfied, wins the board.

The board and the break

Nineteen coins start in a tight circular cluster in the middle of the board: the red queen sits exactly in the centre, ringed by nine white and nine black carrommen packed together. This opening arrangement is the “break”. On the very first shot a player flicks the striker into the cluster to scatter the coins around the board. The striker is larger and heavier than the coins, so a firm opening break spreads them out toward the pockets.

Controls — positioning and flicking

• Position the striker: drag it left or right along your baseline — the line nearest your edge of the board. You may start the striker anywhere between the two base limits.
• Aim and set power: press on the striker and pull back in the direction opposite to where you want it to go. A guide line shows the aim, and the further you pull, the more power you load into the flick.
• Shoot: release to flick. The striker shoots away from the direction you pulled — just like a real fingertip flick — travelling across the board, bouncing off the cushions and knocking coins toward the pockets.

Rules of play

• Players alternate turns and White always shoots first. On your turn you take one shot with the striker from your own baseline.
• Pocket one of your own coins and you keep the turn — shoot again. Pocket nothing and the turn passes to your opponent.
• Every coin is credited to the player who owns its colour, no matter who sinks it. So if you accidentally pocket an opponent’s coin it counts for them — a soft foul that also ends your turn.
• Pocketing the striker itself is a foul: one of your already-pocketed coins is placed back in the centre of the board and your turn ends.
• Coins come to rest wherever they land — there is no re-racking during play apart from coins returned by the queen and striker-foul rules.

The red queen

The red queen is the most valuable coin, but you cannot simply pocket it and walk away — you must “cover” it. To cover the queen, pocket one of your own coins on the same shot that sinks the queen, or on your very next shot; sinking the queen grants you that follow-up shot. Cover it and the queen is yours. Fail to cover it and the queen is placed back in the centre of the board for anyone to try again. In this version you do not have to touch the queen to win, but once you pocket it you must cover it or hand it back.

Winning

You win the moment all nine of your coins have been pocketed and no queen is left pending for you. Because a pending queen always resolves within a single shot — it is either covered or returned to the centre — the game can never get stuck. If you clear your last coin without ever bothering with the queen, you still win; the queen only obliges you once you decide to pocket it. Sinking your opponent’s coins simply hands them progress, so precise, controlled shots matter far more than power.

Two players or vs the computer

In the two-player game both players share one screen and take turns flicking the striker. The active side is highlighted, and the score bar shows how many coins each player has pocketed and who owns the queen. In “Carrom vs Computer” you play alone against an offline opponent that flicks its own striker using the very same physics you do.

Playing the computer (ranked)

Choose your coins and a difficulty, then break. The computer plans each shot by trying many candidate flicks — different striker positions, angles and powers — simulating each one with the exact same physics engine and picking the flick with the best outcome. Easy looks at only a few options and aims loosely, so beginners can win. Normal considers more shots and aims more accurately. Expert searches the widest set of flicks and plays precisely, rarely wasting a turn. The computer thinks entirely on your device, so it works offline. Beat it to earn ranking points — Easy +10, Normal +30, Expert +100 — and sign in to record your best result on the leaderboard.

Strategy tips

• Aim through the coin, not straight at it. Picture the line from the coin to the pocket, and strike the coin from the opposite side of that line so it rolls straight in.
• Favour touch over force. A soft, accurate flick keeps the striker under control and stops it flying into a pocket for a foul. Save your hardest shots for the opening break.
• Handle the queen early. It is easiest to pocket and cover the queen while you still have plenty of your own coins nearby to cover it with; leave it too late and you may have no coin left to cover it.
• Think about where the striker stops. A good shot pockets a coin and leaves the striker — and your remaining coins — in a friendly spot for the next flick, rather than buried behind your opponent’s coins.

Frequently asked questions