CURVEBALL

Swipe from the ball to bend free kicks round the wall, past a diving keeper and into the top corner.

CURVEBALL All games

CURVEBALL

Swipe from the ball to bend free kicks round the wall, past a diving keeper and into the top corner.

A free-kick game in a floodlit 3D stadium, played with one swipe. Swipe up from the ball. The direction picks left or right, the length picks the height, the speed sets the power from 16 to 34 metres per second, and bending the swipe curls the ball the same way. The wall jumps, the keeper dives, and a goal brings confetti, a bulging net and a roar from the crowd. A goal is worth 100, with bonuses on top: rings in the goal, TOP BINS, CURLER, ROCKET, OFF THE POST and UNDER THE WALL.

There are thirty challenges of three to five balls each, with three stars on every one. They start with an empty net, then add a keeper, curl, walls, wide angles, small targets, wind, sliding walls and a dancing keeper, ending with The Final. Sudden Death is endless and one miss ends it. Every goal moves the ball further out and makes the wall and keeper tougher, and goals in a row build a streak multiplier.

What is in it: Football free kicks in a floodlit stadium with cartoon players. Nobody gets hurt: the keeper dives and the wall jumps. A short bright glow appears when the ball is kicked and when it hits the post, keeper, wall or net. Small camera flashes twinkle in the crowd the whole time, and there are many more after a goal. More for parents

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Controls

  • Swipe up from the ballshoot (direction = aim, length = height, speed = power)
  • Bend the swipecurl the ball
  • Tapskip to the next ball
  • Rretry
  • Esc / Ppause
  • Msound on/off
  • Enter / Spacecontinue on the results screen
  • Touchswipe with your thumb
The keeper cannot read curl or wind, so a shot that bends late into the far corner beats even the best keeper in the game.

Tags

How to play

CURVEBALL is a free-kick game in a floodlit 3D stadium. You shoot with one gesture: swipe up from the ball with your finger or the mouse. That one swipe sets everything about the shot.

  • Direction is left or right. Tilting the swipe about 20 degrees off straight up is enough to reach a post.
  • Length is height. A tiny flick rolls along the ground, a swipe of about half the short side of the screen reaches the crossbar, and anything longer is eased toward the top corner, so a wild swipe does not end up in the stands.
  • Speed is power, from 16 to 34 metres per second (about 58 to 122 km/h). A soft flick lifts the ball gently over the wall. A fast one is a rocket.
  • Bend is curl. Bow the swipe out to one side and the ball swings out that way and back in. A straight swipe stays straight.

After the kick you get GOAL, SAVED, BLOCKED, WIDE, OVER, WOODWORK or TOO SOFT. A moment later you can tap to skip to the next ball. Keys: R retries, Esc or P pauses, M mutes, and Enter or Space moves on from the results screen. The note button on the title screen and in the game turns the sound on and off.

Tips and strategy

  • Go over or go round. Against a wall, a slower flick lifts the ball over the heads and dips it under the bar. A curved swipe takes it round the end of the wall instead.
  • Aim away from the keeper's hands. The corners are hardest to save. A goal in the top corner earns TOP BINS for an extra 50.
  • The keeper cannot read curl or wind. A shot that bends late or drifts on the wind can beat even a good keeper.
  • Aim into the wind. From challenge 16 a wind arrow appears in the middle of the HUD. Start the shot off to the other side.
  • Time the moving walls. From challenge 21 some walls slide from side to side. Wait for the gap you want before you swipe.
  • Go under a jumping wall. The wall jumps when you shoot. Drill a low shot underneath it for UNDER THE WALL, worth an extra 100.

What's in it

Thirty challenges, each three to five balls long. They unlock in order, and one star opens the next. Challenges 1 to 5 teach the flick with bonus rings, a weak keeper and curl. Challenges 6 to 10 bring in the wall. Challenges 11 to 15 move the ball out wide and shrink the targets. Challenges 16 to 20 add wind. Challenges 21 to 25 have sliding walls and a keeper who dances on his line. Challenges 26 to 30 are the finals, ending with The Final, which has a six-man moving wall, the best keeper, wind and five balls.

Each challenge has three stars for reaching set scores, ninety stars in all. The first star is always 100 points, so one goal passes any challenge. Scoring: a goal is 100. A ring in the goal adds 150, 200 or 250. TOP BINS adds 50, CURLER (at least 1.8 metres of bend) adds 50, ROCKET (30 metres per second or faster) adds 25, OFF THE POST adds 50 and UNDER THE WALL adds 100.

Sudden Death is endless, and one miss ends it. Every goal moves the next ball further out and wider, up to 32 metres. The wall grows and the keeper improves, then wind and moving walls arrive. Each kick has one bonus ring. Goals in a row build a multiplier: x2 from the fourth, x3 from the seventh, and it keeps climbing every three goals.

Questions

Why does my shot keep hitting the wall?

It is too low or too fast. Swipe longer and slower so the ball lifts and dips, or curve it round the end.

How do I curl the ball?

Draw a bow instead of a straight line. Bulge the swipe out to the right and the ball swings right and comes back in. The speed readout after the kick shows how many metres of curl you got.

Can I play on a phone?

Yes. Swipe with your thumb, in portrait or landscape.

Does it save?

Yes, in your own browser: your stars and best score on every challenge, your best Sudden Death score and whether the sound is on. Clearing your browser's site data clears the save.

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