How to play Curve Kick
Curve Kick is a free kick drawing game. You are the set-piece specialist: the ball sits on the grass, a defensive wall stands 9.15 metres away and a goalkeeper waits on the line. Instead of fiddly power bars, you simply draw the flight of the ball with your finger or mouse. Bend it round the wall, aim for the corner and see if the keeper can reach it.
- Pick a difficulty: Easy, Normal or Hard.
- Press on the ball and draw a line that curls around the wall and finishes inside the goal.
- Let go to shoot. Draw quickly for a powerful shot, or more slowly for extra bend.
- Goal, save, post or blocked by the wall: every kick counts. After ten kicks the match is over.
- Try to beat your best score on each difficulty.
Free kick tips
- Start wide, finish inside. The first part of your line sets the direction the ball leaves your boot. Start the line outside the end of the wall and let the curl bring it back towards goal.
- Aim for the corners. The goalkeeper starts near the middle and needs time to move. Shots just inside the post are the hardest to save, but too close and you hit the woodwork.
- Power versus curl. A whipped, fast shot gives the keeper little time but bends less. From close range a softer, curling shot is often the better choice; from far out, extra pace helps.
- Watch for the red line. If your line turns red after the shot you asked for more spin than a football can produce. Next time start the line in a direction closer to the goal.
- The keeper reads the shot. After a short reaction time the goalkeeper moves towards where the ball will cross the line. Faster shots and shots to the far corner leave the least time to get there.
Why does a football curve?
When a player strikes the ball off-centre it spins. A spinning ball drags the air around it, so the air flows faster on one side than the other, and the pressure difference pushes the ball sideways. This is called the Magnus effect, and it is the same physics that makes a tennis topspin dip or a baseball curveball break. The faster the ball spins compared with how fast it travels, the more it bends. That is why Curve Kick limits how much a fast shot can curve: a real striker has to choose between power and bend, and so do you.
Every match has ten different free kicks. The first ones are fairly central and close to the box, then the positions move further out and wider, and the wall grows from three players to five. On Hard there is always an extra defender in the wall and a quicker goalkeeper, so a perfect ten is a real achievement.
Reading the goalkeeper
The keeper always starts on the side of the goal that the wall does not cover, because the wall protects the near post. That gives you two classic options. You can bend the ball over the end of the wall into the near corner, where the keeper has the furthest to travel, or you can whip a fast shot towards the far post and beat the keeper with pace. Watch where the keeper dives after each kick: if a save was close, a slightly wider aim or a quicker stroke usually turns it into a goal on the next attempt.
More drawing games to play
Enjoy drawing the perfect path? Plan routes for a whole car park in Parking Path or guide planes to their runways in Airport Control. For a pure test of a steady hand, try Draw a Perfect Circle.
Curve Kick FAQ
How do you take a free kick in Curve Kick?
Press on the ball and draw the path you want it to take into the goal, then let go. The direction you start the line in sets the ball’s initial direction, and where the line ends sets how much it bends. The ball flies along a realistic curve as soon as you lift your finger.
Why does the ball not follow my line exactly?
A real football can only curve so much. Curve Kick uses a simple spin model: the harder the shot, the less it can bend. If you ask for more curl than is physically possible, your line turns red and the ball bends as much as it can, which is usually less than you drew.
How do I shoot harder?
Draw faster. A quick, confident flick produces a powerful shot that gives the goalkeeper less time to react, but a powerful shot also curves less. A slower stroke gives a softer shot with more bend.
What are the difficulty levels?
Easy, Normal and Hard change the goalkeeper’s speed, reaction time and diving reach. Hard also adds an extra player to the wall. Your best score is saved separately for each difficulty.
Can I play on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Curve Kick works with touch, mouse and pen. On a phone the pitch is shown upright with the goal at the top; on a wide screen the goal is on the right.
Is Curve Kick free?
Yes, completely free in your browser with no download and no account. Your best results are stored only on your own device.