Carrom board online

What is carrom

Carrom is a tabletop game from South Asia, often described as billiards without a cue. On a square board with four corner pockets there are nine white and nine black discs and a red queen in the centre. Players flick a striker to drive their own discs into the pockets.

The main subtlety is the queen: pocketing it is not enough — you have to “cover” it by pocketing one of your own discs with the same or the next shot.

The rules in short

• Place the striker on your baseline, then drag across the board in the direction of the shot: the direction sets the aim, the length sets the power. Release to shoot.
• You get 60 seconds per shot. In the first game White breaks; in every next game the loser does.
• Pocket your own disc or the queen and you shoot again. Otherwise the turn passes. A pocketed opponent disc counts for the opponent.
• The queen must be covered with your own disc on the same or the next shot, or it returns to the centre.
• Pocketing the striker is a foul: your discs pocketed with that shot come back to the board together with one you pocketed earlier, an uncovered queen returns too, and the turn passes. Opponent discs pocketed on a foul stay pocketed.
• You win by pocketing all your discs once the queen is pocketed and covered. The winner scores the number of discs the opponent has left, plus 3 if they covered the queen themselves.

A real board in your browser

Shots, rebounds and collisions are calculated on the server, so both players see exactly the same board and the same result. There is no app to install: carrom runs in the browser on a computer or a phone, and on a touch screen you aim with your finger.

Your opponent is visible and audible next to the board — comment on every shot live. The match score is kept between games, spectators can watch and write in the chat, and you can resign at any moment. If a player leaves the table during a game, the opponent gets a technical win.

Tips for your first game

• Start with the discs closest to the pockets: a simple shot is more reliable than a spectacular rebound.
• Before going for the queen, set up one of your discs near a pocket — you will need to cover the queen right away.
• Do not hit too hard at a disc sitting on the edge of a pocket: the striker can follow it in, and that is a foul.
• Watch the opponent’s discs near the pockets: one you pocket by accident counts for them.

How to start

Sign in with email or Telegram, press Create, choose Games and Carrom, then Create and sit down. Invite your opponent with an invitation on the site, in Telegram or with the table link. The game interface is available in English and follows your browser language.