Free throwing games

What makes a good throwing game

A throwing game is about the moment you let go. You judge the angle and the power, sometimes the wind or a moving target, and then you release and watch the arc. A good throw feels earned, and a bad one shows you exactly what to change next time. Most of the games here help you read the shot, with a dotted arc, a power meter or a timing bar, and then leave the release to you.

The games on this page come from the sports, physics, shooting and casual categories. You throw darts, basketballs, paper balls, snowballs, beanbags and frisbees. Some are real sports with real scoring, some are physics puzzles with forty levels and three stars each, and one, Snowball Arena, belongs to the Christmas category and appears only while it is in season.

Throwing games to start with

For sport, Bullseye Darts uses a real board with singles, doubles, trebles and both bulls: hold to steady the wobble, time the release on the bar and play 501, cricket, around the clock or thirty darts for a high score. Rooftop Hoops is a sixty-second basketball shootout in which you hold to swing the power meter and let go in the pink band, and three in a row sets the ball on fire.

The physics games are puzzles. Paper Toss has you flick a crumpled paper ball into the bin across four cartoon offices while a desk fan blows it sideways and trolleys wheel the bin away. Catapult Cans pulls back the arm of a wooden catapult to send beanbags, bowling balls and marbles into pyramids of tin cans at a fairground. Slingshot Siege fires soft balls at wobbly towers of crates and glass so the robot dummies on top tumble into a padded pit.

Snowball Fight has you crouched behind a snow wall, lobbing snowballs over the forts at grinning snowmen and ducking when they throw back. Frisbee Forever 2 starts with a flick: you launch the disc, then steer it along rollercoaster tracks through six worlds, collecting stars and coins. In the Christmas season, Snowball Arena adds a top-down snowball fight against three elf rivals.

Aiming and releasing on any device

Most of these games throw with a drag and a release. With the mouse you pull back from the catapult or slingshot, drag the paper ball toward the bin, or click and pull back in Snowball Fight. Bullseye Darts and Rooftop Hoops use a hold instead: hold the mouse button or Space, then let go at the right moment. On the keyboard the arrow keys fine-tune the angle and power in Paper Toss, Catapult Cans and Slingshot Siege, Space throws, and R retries.

All eight work on phones and tablets, and a finger is natural for them: drag anywhere to aim and lift to throw, or flick upwards to launch the disc in Frisbee Forever 2. Tips that follow from the games: in Paper Toss read the ribbon and the number on the fan before you aim, in Rooftop Hoops and Bullseye Darts release inside the coloured band, and in the physics puzzles use undo with U to try a different shot.

Frequently asked questions