Drag the basket to catch the balls
| Drag | Slide the basket left and right. |
| Catch balls | Each one caught scores a point. |
| Avoid bombs | Catching one ends the round. |
Catch the Ball puts a basket at the bottom of the screen and drops things into it from above. Slide the basket left and right to catch the balls, and steer clear of the bombs mixed in among them. One control, one decision, repeated faster and faster.
The skill it quietly builds is anticipation. Balls fall at a steady speed, so catching them is not about reacting when they arrive but about working out where they will land and being there early. Children pick that up naturally after a few rounds, and it makes the game noticeably easier once it clicks.
Move to where the ball will land, not to where it is now. Following the ball down the screen means you are always slightly behind it. Look at where it is heading and get the basket there first, then wait.
Stay near the middle when nothing is falling. From the centre you can reach either side quickly, whereas parking at one edge means a ball on the far side is already lost before you set off.
Check what you are catching. The bombs fall exactly like the balls, so the only defence is looking rather than sweeping the basket under everything. Sometimes the right move is to deliberately get out of the way.
Small movements beat big ones. Dragging the basket wildly from side to side overshoots constantly, while short adjustments keep you in control as the pace picks up.
The round ends, so avoiding them matters as much as catching the balls.
Yes, things fall faster as your score climbs, which is the whole difficulty curve.
Yes. It needs only one movement and no reading, so it suits about four upward.
Yes, dragging works with a mouse, a finger or a trackpad.
Nothing at all. The whole of Catch the Ball is built into the page itself, which is why there is no loading bar and no waiting before you can play.