How to Play Carrom Board Game Online
About Carrom
Carrom is an indoor board game that originated in the Indian subcontinent but is now played worldwide. Similar to the traditional board game, carrom has discs/coins which need to be pocketed in any of the four pockets on the playing board, and a more prominent disc known as the 'striker' which is used to pocket the other coloured discs.
Once considered a leisure board game, it is now played globally at a competitive level.
How to Play Carrom?
The aim of the carrom is to pocket all the coloured discs (also known as men) that are on the playing board. It is generally played by 2 or 4 people, where one can face off against a direct opponent, or team up with another player and play against their opponent's team. Each player gets a turn to hit coloured men with their striker within a stipulated time and in a certain operating area, and the player/team who is able to pocket all the discs the earliest wins the game.
A23 Carrom Game Setup:
- 1 Striker
- 6 White Men & 6 Black Men
- 1 Queen
- Carrom Board
Rules of Professional Carrom Game
The rules of the game are formed by the ICF (International Carrom Federation, est: 1988), which are used in all forms of professional Carrom globally.
- Each player is assigned a colour of men and has to pocket the assigned colour of men only.
- The players can't pocket the queen before the first man is pocketed and after the last man is pocketed
- The player who pockets all of their designated colour men is declared the winner
- A game cannot end until the queen is cleared from the table
Foul cases
If the striker goes into one of the pockets, it leads to a penalty of one man and a loss of turn
- If a man along with a striker enters the pocket, that man is also removed from the pocket and returned to the board in the centre circle
Note: here the chance of the player will be skipped due to foul
- If the player pockets his opponent's men, one additional point is automatically added to the opponent's score/tally
- In case the pocketed men is not assigned to the player, the score is added to the opponent and one assigned man is returned to the board from the player's score as a penalty
A23 Freestyle Carrom Game Setup:
- 1 Striker
- 9 White Men & 9 Black Men
- 1 Queen
- Carrom Board
Rules of Freestyle Carrom Game
With every coin pocketed the value of the score is to be incremented
- White +20
- Black +10
- Red +50
The first player to attain 160 will be declared the winner.
Foul cases
- If the striker goes into one of the pockets, it leads to a penalty of one man (lowest scored man that a player has pocketed) and a loss of turn
- If a man along with a striker enters the pocket, that man is also removed from the pocket and returned to the board in the centre circle
Note: here the chance of the player will be skipped due to foul
- The turn whenever the striker is pocketed is considered invalid. All the coins pocketed in such turns will return to the table (Centre) and the turn will shift to the opponent's side.
- Pocketing the Queen must be followed by pocketing a puck as its cover. It will be a foul if the player pots:
- The striker
- The Queen, before pocketing any other puck
- The board's last puck, before pocketing the Queen
Glossary of Carrom Board Game Terms:
- White men: Movable white men, displaced when hit by a striker, disappears from the board when reach the pocket
- Black men: Movable black men, displaced when hit by a striker, disappears from the board when reach the pocket
- Striker: Smooth and round movable object used to target and strike the men into the pocket, striker trail animation
- Queen: Movable pink men, displaced when hit by a striker, disappears only when the player covers White/Black men, otherwise respawn at the centre of the board.
- Pocket: These are four round-shaped corners of the Carrom board, where the men are supposed to be sunk by the player using the striker.
- Striker direction pointer: Indication for the player to provide the amount of power for striking the striker
- Striker Positioner: Swipe-able button used to position the striker when the turn comes, this can only be dragged within the sliding area
