Carom

 Carom

Nice! Carom is a fun tabletop game that’s super popular in South Asia and other places. Here’s a quick overview of carom and its basic rules:

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What is Carom?

Carom is a board game played on a square wooden board with smooth edges and pockets in the corners. Players use a striker disk to flick and hit smaller disks (carrom men) into the pockets.

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Basic Setup

• The board is a square with four pockets, one at each corner.

• There are 9 white and 9 black carrom men (small disks).

• A red piece called the queen is placed at the center.

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Objective

• Pocket all your carrom men (white or black) before your opponent does.

• The queen must be pocketed and then “covered” by pocketing a carrom man in the next shot.

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How to Play

• Players take turns flicking the striker with their fingers to hit the carrom men.

• You can only flick the striker from your baseline (the edge closest to you).

• If you pocket a piece of your color, you continue your turn.

• If you fail or pocket your opponent’s piece, your turn ends.

• To pocket the queen, you must pocket one of your own pieces immediately after, or else the queen is returned to the center.

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Scoring

• Pocketing the queen and covering it gives bonus points.

• The player who pockets all their pieces first wins the board.

• Games are often played in sets with points accumulating over rounds.

Carom

• Carom Rules

  1. The Board and Pieces

  • Carom board is a smooth, square wooden board with four corner pockets.

  • There are 9 white and 9 black carrom men (small disks).

  • One red piece called the queen.

  • One striker (larger disk used to hit carrom men).

  2. Objective

  • Pocket all your carrom men (either white or black) before your opponent does.

  • Pocket the queen and cover it properly to earn bonus points.

  3. Starting the Game

  • The queen is placed at the center circle.

  • Carrom men are arranged in a compact circle around the queen.

  • Players decide who goes first (coin toss or mutual agreement).

  4. Turns

  • Players take turns flicking the striker to hit their carrom men into pockets.

  • The striker must be flicked from within the baseline — the edge closest to the player.

  • You can place the striker anywhere on your baseline before flicking.

  • A player continues their turn as long as they pocket a carrom man of their color or the queen properly.

  5. Pocketing the Queen

  • The queen can be pocketed anytime after the first piece has been pocketed.

  • The queen must be “covered” immediately by pocketing one of your carrom men on the very next shot.

  • If the queen is pocketed but not covered, the queen is returned to the center.

  6. Fouls

  A foul results in the loss of a turn and/or returning a previously pocketed piece to the board. Common fouls include:

  • Pocketing the striker.

  • Pocketing the opponent’s piece.

  • Pocketing the last piece before covering the queen.

  • Striker not touching any piece.

  • Flicking the striker from outside the baseline.

  7. Winning the Board

  • The game ends when a player pockets all their carrom men after covering the queen.

  • The winner scores points based on the number of opponent’s pieces left on the board and queen points.

  8. Scoring (Standard)

  • Winner scores 1 point for each of the opponent’s carrom men still on the board.

  • Pocketing and covering the queen gives an additional 3 points.

  • Usually, the game is played to a certain number of points (e.g., 25 or 29).