Hogline

Hogline borrows the scoring of curling and turns a single end into a physics puzzle. Red obstacle stones are already scattered up the sheet, some sitting in the house, and you get a handful of yellow stones — six on Easy and Normal, five on Hard — to slide up the ice with a chosen power and an angle of up to 22 degrees either side. Stones lose speed to friction, bounce off the side walls, and knock into each other with proper momentum, and roughly a third of the red stones are heavier guards that barely budge when struck. The scoring is the real curling count: whichever colour sits nearest the button controls the house, and if that is red you score nothing at all, however many yellows are lying nearby. Get the closest stone and every yellow inside the nearest red counts one, two or three points by ring. That makes the score live and fragile — one clumsy throw can knock your own stone out of the house, and anything that stops short of the hog line is simply removed. Each board sets its own target, higher when there are fewer obstacles, and once your house count already clears it you can bank early for a bonus on every unused stone — the bonus adds to your score but never counts toward the target. Daily mode shares one layout with everyone and tracks a streak.