Battle Bowl is my first game: a cartoony roguelike about lawn bowls. You bowl head to head against the club's characters, the vicar who only ever draws and the colonel who drives at everything, and between matches you build a bag of daft special woods and collect cards and charms that bend the rules.
Every end is scored chips times mult, so one good bowl can turn a match. It plays free in the browser on PC and phone, with a party mode for two to four players round one screen. Steam is next.
Watch
Sandbourne Pier, in seven shots
A day out at the seaside green, filmed inside the game itself.
How it plays
A run, end to end
1
Line it up
Step on the mat and pick your line. The guide shows you the line, never the weight.
2
Let it go
Weather and wind have their say, and nothing allows for them but you.
3
Count the head
Nearest the jack holds shot. Chips times mult, three ends a match.
4
Hit the Tuck Shop
Spend your winnings on new woods, cards and charms for the bag.
5
Beat the club
Green by green, character by character, until the season's yours.
The bag
Your bag is your deck
Win daft woods, then bowl them. These are the real thing, rendered straight out of the game. Pick one.
Drag to turn it
Uncommon
The Space Hopper
Super bouncy. It skims the rough and springs off the banks, and it's only out if it stops out: bounce it back in and it plays on.
Space Hopper
Bomb
Horseshoe Magnet
Black Hole
Old Boot
Russian Doll
Golden Wood
Portal
Alien
Ice Ball
Sniper
Spare Jack
Money Box
Airstrike
Boxer
Ghost Wood
Lightning Rod
Banger
Snowball
Sheepdog
Club Cat
Homing Pigeon
Sticky Toffee
Big Bertha
Rewind
Holy Water
Hot Water Bottle
Builder's Brew
Brass Bell
Conker
Taxman
Decoy Duck
The season
Green by green
Each green is a whole little world to play through, from the village up to the stately home.
1
Hollowmere Village Green
Where every season starts: the clubhouse, the flower beds and the little railway.
2
The Crown & Anchor
A riverside pub green, with the lock, the mill and the narrowboats.
3
Sandbourne Pier
A seaside town: the bay, the harbour and gulls gliding overhead.
4
Haversham Hall
A stately home on a hill, with a fountain and peacocks.
5Clough MillA Pennine mill town: the viaduct, a brass band and racing pigeons.Being built
6The Indoor RinkComing
7The Cathedral CloseComing
What's different
The house rules
Party mode
The Grudge Match for two. Fete Day for three or four: heats, a final for the Cup, and your name on the Honours Board.
No microtransactions
Seasons will come with a pass you earn, not one you buy.
“You actually get rewarded for the level you progress and the skill and the effort you put in.”
Made, not generated
There's no AI art in the game. Every model is built in code in Blender, or comes from hand-made packs.
Proper physics
Under the cartoon there's a real bowls simulation, so every wood runs true.
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