How to Play Ten-Pin Bowling

Ten-pin bowling is simple to learn: roll the ball down the lane and knock down as many of the ten pins as you can. A game is ten frames, and the highest score wins.

Frames and balls

• Each frame you get up to two balls to knock down all ten pins.
• Knock them all down with the first ball and the frame is over: that's a strike (X).
• Knock the rest down with the second ball and it's a spare (/).
• Pins left after two balls make an open frame: you score just the pins you knocked down.

With two bowlers, you take turns a frame at a time.

Scoring

That's why a strike or a spare shows no total at first: its score waits for the bonus balls. Three strikes in a row (a "turkey") make the first one worth 30.

The tenth frame

The last frame has no "next frame" for bonus balls, so you bowl them right away:

• Strike with the first ball: two more balls.
• Spare with two balls: one more ball.
• Open frame: the game is over.

So the tenth frame has two or three balls. The bonus balls only count toward the tenth frame.

A perfect game

Twelve strikes in a row (nine frames plus three in the tenth) is 300, the highest possible score. Most casual bowlers score between 100 and 150; a good league bowler averages around 200.

How a roll works on kawu

You set four things, then press Roll:

• Stance: where the ball starts across the lane.
• Aim: where the ball would reach the pins if it didn't hook.
• Hook: how much the ball curves at the end, left or right.
• Speed: faster balls hook less and hit harder.

The dashed line shows your line, but the release is a little off every time, the same for everyone, so no two rolls are quite the same. Leave the lane and it's a gutter ball: no pins. Play solo, against the computer or with a friend, and check any score with our bowling score calculator.

Last updated 2026-10-18