Rules
Carrom rules for two players
Carrom is the board from every verandah. On Twine you flick the striker on your phone, real physics plays the shot out, and both phones see every piece stop in exactly the same place.
Setup
- A square board with a pocket in each corner, nine white pieces, nine black and the red queen.
- The queen starts in the middle with the other eighteen packed round it in two rings, white and black alternating. The rack is turned a little differently every board, so no two breaks are the same.
- One of you plays white and the other black. You each shoot from your own baseline, and each phone shows the board with your own baseline nearest you.
How a round works
- Slide the striker along your baseline to where you want it; it can't sit on top of a piece. Then pull back to aim and let go. The further you pull, the harder the shot.
- Pocket one of your own pieces and you shoot again. Pocket nothing and the turn passes.
- You can pocket the queen at any time, but then you must cover it: pocket one of your own pieces in the same shot or your next one. Miss the cover and the queen goes back to the centre.
- Pocketing the striker is a foul. Your turn ends, anything of yours that went down in that shot comes back to the centre, the queen too, and one more of your pocketed pieces comes back as the penalty.
- Pocketing only your opponent's pieces is also a foul. Their pieces stay down, one of yours comes back, and your turn ends.
- Neither colour can be cleared while the queen is still to be covered. If a shot pockets the last piece of a colour too early, that piece comes back to the centre.
Scoring and winning
- Clear all nine of your colour, with the queen covered, and you win the board. Pocket your opponent's last piece for them and they win it.
- Twine counts boards, not points. In many house games the queen and the pieces left on the board are worth points; on Twine the queen only has to be covered before either colour can be cleared.
- After each board the pieces are racked again and the other player breaks. The first to win two boards wins the match.
Play it with your partner on Twine
Twine racks the board, plays out every shot and enforces every rule above. Play live on a call, or with Play Anytime: take your shot now and your partner takes theirs whenever suits them, wherever they are.
Questions
Do you have to pocket one of your own pieces before the queen?
No. On Twine you can go for the queen at any time. What you can't do is leave it uncovered: pocket one of yours in the same shot or the next, or it goes back to the centre.
What happens if you pocket the striker?
It's a foul. Your turn ends, anything of yours that went down in that shot comes back, and one more of your pocketed pieces comes back too. If you haven't pocketed any yet, there is nothing more to give back.
Does the queen score points on Twine?
No. Twine plays for boards: clear your colour and you win the board, and the first to two boards wins the match. The queen just has to be covered before either colour can be cleared.
Do both phones really see the same shot?
Yes. Both phones run the same physics on the same shot, so every piece stops in exactly the same place on each.