Primo Bocce
New FREE Version!
Play on your own, against a “robot,” or with a friend nearby.
First played in Ancient Times, bocce has been enjoyed by famous people throughout the Ages. Galileo, George Washington, Queen Elizabeth, and Grandma at The Villages.
So pick your favorite color and let’s begin.
Set Your Preferences:
Tap the Settings icon in the upper right of the screen to set your preferences.
Red Robot – Have a robot throw the red balls.
Green Robot – Have a robot throw the green balls.
Allow Move Balls – Enables dragging the balls around the screen. This can be useful for practice or instruction of new players.
Allow Undo/Redo – Enables undo (and redo) of each throw.
Sound Effects – Plays sounds when balls strike each other or hit the walls.
Throwing Errors – Provide a more realistic playing experience by adding some random error to each throw.
The Rules:
The rules of “Open-style” bocce are simple:
One player begins the game by throwing the target (yellow) ball, or *pallino* onto the court. The pallino must travel beyond the midpoint of the court and may not hit the back wall. If the pallino doesn’t travel past the midpoint or hits the back wall, then the second player attempts to throw the pallino. If neither throw is successful, the pallino is placed at the three-quarter mark and play begins.
Each player throws four balls. Whichever player has the ball that is the closest to the pallino is said to be “inside” and that player is awarded points. The other player throws their balls attempting to get closer to the target and thereby become the inside player.
If a ball is thrown and strikes the back wall without hitting any other ball, then that thrown ball is disqualified and moved off the court.
When all eight balls have been thrown, the inside player wins as many points as they have balls that are closer than the best ball of the outside player. This app displays a circle that indicates the critical distance defined by the position of the outside player’s closest ball. A match is played as a sequence of games until one player has achieved fifteen points.
