Happy Life GamesBowling Strike Guide: Spares, Hooks, Posts and Black Pins
Bowling Strike isn't a full ten-frame game. It's a series of bowling puzzles. Most levels show you a few pins left standing, sometimes with round posts on the lane or black pins you mustn't touch, and give you one or two rolls to clear them. Each one is really a question: where does the ball need to start, which way does it need to travel, and should it curve?
The controls
There are two gestures, and the game tells them apart by the direction you move:
- Drag sideways to position the ball. Slide your finger left or right and the ball moves across the foul line. It has a limited range, so it can't start right at the edge of the lane.
- Swipe up to roll. A quick upward swipe sends the ball down the lane. The angle of your swipe sets the ball's direction. Swipes are toned down a lot, so even a strongly slanted swipe only angles the ball slightly.
Curve the swipe for hook spin. If your finger traces an arc instead of a straight line, the ball gets spin and bends sideways partway down the lane. A straight swipe rolls straight. While your finger is still on the screen, a dotted guide on the lane shows the path your current swipe would produce, curve and all. Use that guide rather than guessing which way the hook goes.
The bar at the top shows the goal (either "CLEAR 3 PINS" style or a score such as "4 / 6"), your remaining rolls on the left, and a small map of the rack on the right. Standing pins are white with a red dot. Black pins are drawn dark with a yellow ring.
Rules that matter
- Clear levels: knock down every white pin within the rolls you have. Pins that fall stay down between rolls.
- Score levels: the first two levels and level 6 ask you to knock down a total number of pins. The full rack resets after it's cleared or after two rolls on it.
- Black pins void the roll. If a black pin goes down, you see "BLACK PIN!" and "ROLL WASTED." The white pins you knocked over stand back up, and the roll is still used.
- Posts are solid. Round posts on the lane deflect the ball, and fallen pins bounce off them too.
- Gutters and bumpers. On the early levels, bumpers line the lane and the ball bounces back in. On most later levels there are no bumpers, and a ball that drifts too far to the side drops into the gutter.
Win and you get one to three stars, based on how few rolls you used. They're just a rating. Run out of rolls and the level ends with a message like "2 pins still standing!"
Beginner strategy
Start by sliding the ball, not by angling it. Because swipe angles are small, the biggest change you can make is where the ball starts. To hit a pin on the right, move the ball right and roll nearly straight.
Next, think about pin-on-pin action. A pin knocked by the ball flies off and can topple others it hits firmly. Standing pins never knock each other over on their own, so every pin you clear is either hit by the ball or hit by another falling pin. When several pins are left, aim for the one whose fall will carry into the others. In a cluster, that's usually the front pin, struck slightly to one side so it slides into its neighbors.
Watch the rack map after each roll. It tells you at a glance which pins are left and how they're arranged, which is easier to read than the lane in perspective.
Advanced techniques
Splits: send one pin into the other
A split leaves pins far apart, like the two back corners. The ball can't reach both. The answer is to hit one of them on its inside edge so it flies sideways across the deck into the other. Position the ball so it just clips the near side of the first pin. A full hit drives the pin straight back instead of across.
Hooking around a blocker
On hook levels, posts sit dead center on the lane so no straight line can get through. Start the ball to one side, then curve your swipe so it bends back in after passing the posts. The hook only kicks in after the ball has traveled a short way down the lane, so the early part of the path is nearly straight. Hold your finger on the screen and adjust the arc until the guide threads past the posts.
Threading gaps and post walls
Gap levels put two posts close together with just enough room for the ball. Post walls scatter several posts across the lane. Here the guide line is your best friend. Find a lane through first, then worry about which pin it hits.
Banking off bumpers
Bank levels bring the bumpers back and block the direct path with posts. Angle the ball into a bumper so it rebounds behind the posts toward the pins. A bumper bounce takes away some of the ball's sideways speed, so the rebound angle is shallower than the incoming one.
Working around black pins
Black pins are placed where the obvious ball would go, usually in front of or between the white pins. Approach from the side so the ball reaches the white pins without passing near a black one. Remember that a falling white pin can also knock a black one down, so think about where each pin will fly.
Common mistakes
- Over-angling. Big diagonal swipes still produce small angles. Reposition the ball instead.
- Hitting a split pin head-on. A full hit sends it backward into the pit, not across to the other pin.
- Forgetting the hook delay. The curve starts partway down the lane. Plan for a straight start.
- Clipping a black pin with a flying white one. Even if the ball misses the black pin, a falling pin can still hit it and waste the roll.
How the levels progress
Level 1 ("ROLL IT!") and level 2 ("AIM IT") are score targets on a full rack with bumpers. After that, each level shows its idea under the goal, marked "NEW!" when it's being introduced: spare pick-ups at level 3, a single post at 4, a gap at 5, black pins at 7, a bank shot at 9. Level 10 is the first BOSS level. Bumpers disappear from level 11, returning only on bank-shot levels. Hook spin arrives at level 13, splits at 16, post walls at 19 and black guards at 22. After that, levels mix ideas, and every tenth one is a boss.
The guide line also shrinks as you go. On the first ten levels it runs the full length of the lane while you swipe. It gets shorter after level 10, again after level 30 and again after level 60. Most levels give two rolls. Past level 30, many levels give a single roll, so the first shot has to count.
FAQ
What does the hint show?
A dashed ghost ball where you should position, the path in yellow, and a hand tracing the swipe to make, including the curve.
Can I bowl a regular ten-frame game?
No. Every level is a self-contained puzzle with its own goal.
Is there undo?
No, but skip lets you move on. For more aiming puzzles, try Carrom Master or Mini Golf, or read getting unstuck in puzzle games.