Drag the stone to aim, release to slide
| Drag to aim | Set the line and the weight of your throw. |
| Release | Send the stone down the ice. |
Curling asks you to slide a heavy stone down a sheet of ice and stop it as close as possible to the centre of a target, called the button. Simple to describe and famously difficult, because the stone keeps travelling long after you have let go and everything depends on the weight you gave it.
What makes it a real sport rather than a throwing contest is that the stones already on the ice matter as much as the one in your hand. You can draw carefully into space, or you can hit an opponent stone out entirely. Choosing between those two, end after end, is where curling gets its reputation as chess on ice.
Weight matters more than line. A stone on a slightly wrong line but perfect weight finishes near the target; a stone on a perfect line with too much weight sails straight through the house and out of play. Get the power right first.
Use guards when you are ahead. A stone left short of the target blocks the path to the button, making it much harder for your opponent to draw in behind it. Protecting a good position is often worth more than adding another scoring stone.
Take the takeout when you are behind. If your opponent has a stone sitting on the button, a firm throw that knocks it out changes the whole end. It is riskier than a draw, but so is losing.
Watch what the stones already there are doing. Rebounds and collisions are part of the game, so a shot that clips an existing stone can either wreck your position or set up a perfect one. Look at the whole house before you throw.
The exact centre of the target circles. The closer your stone finishes to it, the better.
Yes, and it is a core tactic. A firm throw can remove an opponent's stone entirely.
A stone deliberately left short of the target to block the path, protecting stones behind it.
By whose stones finish closest to the button once all the stones have been thrown.
No. Curling runs entirely inside this page, so it starts the moment the page opens. There is nothing to download, no plugin, and no account to create.