Sweeping is supposed to make the rock go further and straighter, but it seems like in this game it just makes it go further, not straighter.

It could just be the amount of spin and/or how much weight is on it that determines if sweeping will make it go straight, and then start curving when you stop sweeping. I guess I'll just have to experiment.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

I know how to aim, I am trying to figure out how to "curl" the rock accurately. I know you need to aim to the left or right of where you want the rock to end up, and then "spin" it in the opposite direction, but it seems to react differently depending on how much weight you have on it, etc.

Really what I am trying to figure out is how to make it go straight down the ice until it gets to a certain point, and then have it start curling to the left or right. It seems like it starts moving to the left or right almost as soon as it hits the ice, I want to delay this. This is what I see them do in real curling matches.

Space (#57) and anyone else that hasn't figured it out.
To aim the rock where you want it, when it is your turn, you will notice that there is a guy standing there by the thrown rocks, use your cursor to point to where you want to aim the rock, and click on the spot. That is how you aim!!

couldnt get past the "activating", many attempts finally activated 2 minutes too late, sheeeeesh

Refer to this Wikipedia page for Curling Rules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling

cool game thanks but im soooooooo dying for a first person shooter or something.......oh and keep putting up big games cuz those small 20mb games are boring.

The stones age game rules!

looks fun!

7 minute download :). Now, I'm not a fan of curling for sure. But this looks good and I'm always a fan of bigger games from this site. I empathize with those who cant download the big'uns. But the bigger the game, the better the game and longer I'll end up playing it. Thanks GOTD.

Excellent. Non-violent and suitable for younger children without being childish i.e. a good family game. Thanks.

Another great game from what is turning out to be a quality company. Keep it up, GOTD.

A few suggestions, though, in decreasing order of importance. I hope someone from Merscom is reading this, because, as one of my writing professors was fond of saying, “I wouldn’t have all these critiques if there wasn’t anything here that was worth improving!” And this game is worth improving, as the base is all there. The rocks move and feel like they have real weight, the interface is pretty much perfect, and the graphics – and even sounds! -- are very good. Just a few tweaks here and there and you could have a really good game on your hands. Curling, as a sport, is just entering the mainstream – in 2006, curling clubs had a real surge of attention, and an increase in attendance, following the Torrino games, in the same way that Karate Kid spurred enrollment in dojos and Top Gun was responsible for a bump in Navy and Air Force enlistment. I think all it will take will be another Winter Olympics to put curling front and center in people’s minds as a real possibility for gaming. This is a great opportunity for you, Merscom. Take it and run!

So, on to the critiques:

1) A tutorial! Not everybody knows the ins and outs of curling, or when to do what, or even how to do it. For instance, where do you hit a rock in order to "roll," and how do you control the curl afterwards? I certainly don't know, and the "training" section offered in this program doesn't tell you how to do it, just that you need to. And even then, it doesn't tell you when you’ve succeeded and when you’ve failed, and there is no penalty or reward for any specific score, anyway. You’re better off just jumping into a game and doing your best, but good luck (especially on the strategy) if you've never watched a game before.

2) These players get tired far too easily. They’re world-class curlers -- they shouldn't be exhausted after every round! Moreover, cleaning isn't that tough and really shouldn't tire them out very much at all.

3) The ability to sweep in front of rocks other than the one that's been thrown is a key to the strategy of the game, particularly on tricky shots like raises and takeouts. There should be an easy way to do that in this program, too -- perhaps right clicking or scrolling the mouse wheel to switch between any currently moving rocks? Likewise, the ability to have one person sweep instead of both, to enhance the curl, would be nice (although not being a curler myself, I don’t know if this is ever done, or if it would be effective if it were). Also, while we’re on the topic of sweeping, does sweeping at the start have a different effect on the curl trajectory than sweeping later in the throw? I feel like it should, just like English in pool affects the balls differently at different stages of their path, but I’m not sure I see that reflected in this game.

4) Even on easy, the AI opponent almost never makes an actual mistake, although it might fail to fully exploit an opportunity. The real possibility of an actual, honest-to-God error would add a great deal of tension back into the game, and make it much more true to life. Likewise, different AI strategies and priorities, to match different styles of play (aggressive, highly tactical, sweeper-heavy, guard-happy, whatever), would add a touch of much-needed variety and depth.

5) The map showing final rock placement is too accurate and, like the similarly over-accurate AI, takes away from the fun and tension of the game. A more general "likely final area," perhaps decreasing in size as the rock slows, would be much more interesting and require greater attention on the part of the player. In particular, this would instill the possibility of losing in the “shootout” at the beginning of matches; as it is, what should be an important part of the game is all but a joke and a waste of time.

6) Announcers would add a lot to this game, as would a coach (the latter, especially, would be helpful in the above-mentioned training). Selected cinematic replays, chattering strategic analysis, and even diagrams with circles and arrows would help elevate this game from a decent indie into a real, viable, commercial product that accurately captures the depth of the sport.

7) The players, and teams, are all pretty much interchangeable and faceless. If you can’t use real people because of licensing, that’s fine, but showing the statistics of the team members rather than an aggregate score (which seems to mean nothing, anyway), letting people create their own players, and helping them improve (or watching them decline) over time would help make this game much more immersive.

As I said, the real issues are at the top, and then they get a bit niggling, as well as harder to implement, towards the bottom. But you do have three years to come up with a sequel. In the meantime, keep sending us these great games.

Judging from the overflowing throngs of rowdy fans in the screenshots, this sport must be a non-stop thrillfest.

Since something inane as curling is getting such a positive response from so many comments, I thought I would suggest some other "exciting" games that the developers could market to you. How about these?

Ironing: a highly competitive race to be the first to press your trousers, fold them and put them in a drawer. It's so exciting you just my pee the trousers you're wearing.
Spit: try to outspit the computer and have the farthest shot with your watermelon seed. An educational game that teaches measuring skills with optional units of measure.
Cricket: no, not the familiar British outdoor game, but actually count cricket chirps to see if you can predict the weather. Guaranteed to bring hours of hilarious fun as you try to eliminate the extra crickets that add chirps to your count.

Who else has any good games to add?

For those who are having trouble with the software, you should at least have a Geforce 4 /Radeon 9250 or higher. Integrated chipsets from Intel or Sis, will not work sufficiently and cause the game to crash due to the lack of vertex and pixel shading. If this is Geforce 4 MX/ MX 4000 and you still cannot get it to run, its probably the pixel and vertex limitations of these cards because they do not have these features.

#68: I was getting a texture that said "Default" on it instead of white ice on the playing surface. I solved this problem by using the lowest setting for "textures" in the options for the game. I set all other options to their highest setting.

same comments as #61, #45, #32....not a good piece of software. I downloaded and installed it several times, but got no farther than the introductory screens before it froze and I couldn't get it to end without turning off my computer.

#32, #33 etc. I had the same problem but found that it hangs because it's looking for an internet connection. Apparently you can't play the game unless connected all the time.
My Zone Alarm request permission box was behind the game window so not viewable. Before starting the game, manually add Curling to your firewall's permissions list and it'll start ok.
However... I found it very boring. Sure, many people enjoy the sport, but on the PC there's just very little for the player to do.
Still, much appreciated, as always GOTD.

Easily the best game from GGOTD yet. At high res and maxed out this game looks and plays lovely.

For those of you having trouble (like #32) ... this worked for me:
Disable Data Execution Protection for the curling program (I think it works for Biathlon, too). Goto Control Panel and double click on System. Click on the Advanced tab then click on the Settings button under Performance. Click on the Data Execution Protection tab. Select the option "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:" Then click on the ADD button and browse to the Culring2006.exe file. Hope that helps.

first to all those that put curling down, if you have never played it, SHUT UP! I grant it's boring as hell to watch unless you are a true fan, but it is one of the hardest games to play.

Now, onto the download
1 - if you don't have a download manager, don't waste your time, the links work, but there REALLY slow.

2 - Tech - The game looks good, and it installs easily, however I did run into some issues. first it runs well, but the video is screwy on my system (celeron@1.3GhZ, rage 128 video card 500MB RAM). The Gamma level is very very high and when I try to adjust it, it reverts right back to the default setting. Every second time I run it I get big ugly green billboards that say in really ugly red letters "default" where the controls ought to be. I have to leave then come back to get that to work. the menus are washed out due to the high gamma levels, and I can't get the training videos to work at all.

3 - Gameplay - Very dissapointing. It is basically a point and shoot game. You have no option of throwing the rocks yourself, all you are able to do is place the broom, set the weight and control the sweepers. Sweeping is easy enough, there are three options that you can control "Q"=clean, "W"=Sweep, "E"=Hard. The only issue I have here is that the sweepers seem to get tired way to easily, and if they run out of energy they simply stop sweeping. This would be ok, but the energy levels don't replenish with each rock. So by the third rock, if you do a lot of sweeping, you sweepers are basically useless since they won't hqave any energy left. Team selection is ok, and you have a lot of teams to choose from. You can even record your own voice and have it in the game. (I liked that).

Over all, I would NOT reccomend buying this game. If you enjoy curling then I would suggest Take out weight 2. Not as graphically pleasing, but far more accurate in terms of game play. 4/10

To uninstall all Merscom games you delete the shortcut on the desktop and go into C:\Games and delete the folder. I personally find this approach very elegant and reminiscent of the DOS games in the past.

Not as boring as Cricket for sure.

Being im a canuck, I absolutely love this game. Ive played it before in real life and must say this game could not get any more accurate then that. The controls are well thought out, and the graphics are simply amazing. The sound effects add to the pure realism that this game already offers enough of as it is.... For those who have not played the sport before, now is the perfect time to see what this strategic game is all about.

In response to the people complaining that 56k users get singled out, I am sorry to hear your complaints. All I can say is that the future is now here and its time to upgrade to a faster connection. Or if you are on a laptop, go to a internet cafe with free wifi and download it through this method. Or have a friend you know with broadband internet access download and burn the installer file to a cdrw for you. All you need to do then is activate it, which can even work on an archaic 28.8 modem.

Eh.. 212MB takes about 5 minutes to download.. And what is 212MB when you got 2TB..

Curling ? Boring game. And not worth 200 mb, this small flash game is boring enough to reproduce real curling : http://www.freeflashonlinegames.com/play-now/virtual-curling.html

You just gotta love the ignorant comments that come from people who know nothing about curling! It happens to be an excellent sport which challenges both body and mind in ways that many more mainstream sports don't. It's only "boring" if you don't take the time to understand the strategy involved in each shot. When you play the game you get a full body workout that rivals almost anything else you can do. What's best, though, is that the camaraderie between players is genuine, and whether you win the game or not you leave feeling good!

I hope this computer version proves to be faithful the the actual game. I'm looking forward to getting it up and running!

Thanks, GGOTD!!

This is an unfortunate piece of software. Once installed, it would not run for me although my system exceeds the stated requirements. The intro video would play...and play...and play...and in the end just give me a white screen.

For some reason, the game installs in C:\Games\... and there is no uninstall option, nor does it show up in "Add or remove programs" in Control Panel.

I can't recommend it, and I would like to know if there is a graceful way to remove it, or should I just go with brute force?

@46 My words exactly....

@34

Im from Scotland and I hate curling oh and golf.

Thanks GGOTD keep up the great work :)

Like #32, above, I think it looks like an interesting game. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to actually start a game. I go into Single Player, Single Match, and can adjust various settings. But there's no way I can find to actually start a game.

No documentation means this game is some pretty pictures and no way to play.

Anyone have an instruction manual for this game?

One thing I found out is if you hold down the space bar while the stone is sliding down the ice, it will go in to fast-forward mode.

I am still trying to figure out how to control this game so that I can get the stone to go where I want it to go. Anyone have any pointers?

It looks like this game was only released in German speaking countries, so there may not be an English manual available.

Like some of the other people I have spent some time watching the Olympic version of Curling and it does seem like an interesting idea for a game...at least not another FPS. As for the game it works fine on my computer although like most other games does get old after a while...Thanks GGOTD for posting this game FREE you will never hear a complaint from me....

...and I thought a fishing simulation would be a boring game...

I have the same problem as #45,any software should have an UNINSTALLER please tell us how we can rid ourselves of this game.

The only problem I had with the download was that I couldn't "open" the download in a temp folder, I had to save it to my hard drive and delete it later.

I tried out the game and after a little learning curve, found it enjoyable. I guess you have to like curling to like this game, but the graphics are great, controls are decent, and action is very realistic.

I give it a 9!

Looks Like An Awsome Game Ill try It Out Thxx:D

Had same problem as #32.

Can't get to game just start up video.

Any suggestions?

Neither link seems to be working. This has really been a problem more and more as of late.
It seems as when GGOTD offers a big download is ware the problem lies for some odd reason.
I have a very fast cable connection, so thats not the issue for me. I think it's one the server side.
I am on the East coast in New York state, and like I said, everytime their is a download of 100 MB. or more seems to cause issues with both sites timing out.
I would love to be able to download some of these games to offer up a comment.
I have never had any issues with downloading games until the file sizes got pretty big.
Again, I am on a fast cable connection, so thats not my issue. I even as foolish as it may be, disabled my firewall, and still can't get either site to work.
Could you please fix the server issue, so that us people on cable can download these games ? Thanks.

I wish comments would be kept to how the games works or not works. Quit your sarchasmim. People of the GGOTD are giving these games for a try and its FREE. Keep up the good work GGOTD - I personally don't like Curling, so won't try it but will keep checking your site.

BTW everyone who has a Dial up connection I sympathize with you, but why not take a flash drive and go to the library of Univ or somewhere there's high speed Internet and download the game onto the flash device.

That should solve your problem.

I know some places don't offer high speed Internet (except high price satellite service).

Awesome game GOATD!!! Keep up the great games. I've been throughly enjoying them. Also, I would love to see Ingenious and Glyph up here too, especially Ingenious.

I have always been intrigued by curling. I have watched it on TV before but never understood it. Now, I have a change to figure it out and decide if I like it or not.

Those of you that want to moan and groan because of the size, get over it. You are the same people that moan and groan about the small games being lame. Grow up and get a life for crying out loud.

I installed the game, it is alright, but not my thing. The problem I am having I cannot find a way to uninstall the thing. Any help would be appreciated.
Gerald

Not every 'sport' requires that some of the players be left battered and bruised at the end of the game, not every 'sport' requires that you whack or pound something with a piece of wood or metal, some sports require a good eye, a delicate touch and the ability to make judgement calls as much on what is not seen as in what is patently obvious. I'd have to say that it takes a special sort of very intelligent person to enjoy and appreciate a game like that, don't you agree all you curling fans in here???? (LOL)
I'm on dial-up, not by choice, I live in the country where high-speed or cable is not available, I just hope I have enough time to complete the large download before the time runs out.

Golf is the most boring sport to watch. This one will be good.

I searched a curling game like this for free long time ago. Now I'm happy to find it here. Big games are welcome for me, because the smaller are everywere free on the web or via peer2peer.

To everyone who has been complaining about GGOTD and the lame games they was offering I personally think they have stepped up and now are offering some pretty decent games.Just because they are bigger in size just means better graphics and sounds,you all whined and they have listened and doing something about it,give them a break not everyone is going to like the games they offer,simple solution DON'T DOWNLOAD them...Keep up the great work GGOTD 2 thumbs up from me....

i cant vote...it's a good game i think but it's curling...:(

LOL

A curling game... :-)

Well, I'll bet there's a market for it (and according to some reactions here, there probably is).

I find these type of games/sports only interesting or entertaining as a mini-game within a bigger game. I can't imagine playing this often or for long periods in time, as I would do with other type of games that are more to my personal liking. So, I'll pass on this one, if you don't mind. ;-)

No thumbs up or down.

Thanks anyway for the offer, Merscom LLC en GGOTD!