Ollie Arena

Flicking

Everyone has a base in a corner of the screen. Put your finger on the ollie in your corner, slide it towards where you want it to go, and let go. The longer the slide, the harder the flick. The arrow shows direction and power. Move only a tiny bit and let go to cancel. Prefer a catapult? Switch to Slingshot in Settings and pull back instead.

The table

Ollies that leave the table never score. You can make the table spin slowly in any game, carrying the ollies round with it.

Ring Rally

A round oak board with brass rings: 50 in the middle, then 25, then 10. In the very centre is a small hole, about one and a half ollies across, that scores nothing. Take turns, one flick each, 10 ollies each. When all are flicked, each ollie scores the ring it rests in. Knock rivals' ollies into the hole or off the board.

Knockout

A raised baize table with open edges: no walls, no rings, no hole. Take turns flicking your 10 ollies on; each stays where it stops. Once an ollie's middle passes the edge it drops off and is out. The slate keeps a chalk tally of the rivals each player has knocked off.

Knock a rival's ollie off: +1. Knock 2 or more off in one flick: +1 bonus for each extra one. Knock one of your own off: −1 (never below 0). An ollie that just rolls off without hitting anything scores for nobody.

Highest score after everyone's 10 flicks wins. Level? Most ollies left on the table wins. Still level? One sudden-death flick each.

Ollie Muncher

In the middle is a brass-rimmed pot. Round it a ring turns slowly, with one slot in it. Ollies can only drop into the pot through the slot; the solid part of the ring bounces them away. Everyone flicks at once from their corner for 60 seconds.

Each ollie that drops in scores 1 for the player whose colour it is. That counts even when someone else's ollie knocked it in, so knocking a rival's ollie in gives them the point. Ollies resting by the ring get gently nudged clear by it, and a firm second flick can knock them in. The slate shows a chalk tally, in fives. Most in when time is up wins.

Players

1 to 4 people share one iPad or iPhone, taking turns, or all at once in the timed game. Computer players can fill empty corners, on Easy, Normal or Hard. Playing on your own? Leave the other corners empty for practice.

About and honest small print

Ollie Arena is free, has no ads, no accounts and no tracking. Everything stays on this device.

iPhone and iPad can clear a web app's saved data if you don't open it for a while or storage runs low. Use Settings, Export backup now and again to keep your names and stats safe.

It doesn't run in the background: if you switch apps, the game simply waits. Vibration isn't supported in iPhone Safari, so the game never relies on it. Sound starts after your first tap.

"Ollies" is Scouse for marbles. All art and sounds are made for this game. The look is a nod to pub table games; it uses no real pub, brewery or club names or logos. The name is a working title and may change.

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