How to Get a Strike in Pogo Bowling

Online gaming is flaming hot. Long gone are the days of sitting at your computer playing solitaire or minesweeper. With the advances in no-download flash games, you have instant access to a never ending stream of arcade goodness any time you are online. Of all the places to play games online, Pogo is certainly among the top destinations, if not "the" top destination. And of all the games available on the Pogo web site, few are as popular as Pogo Bowl, the internet equivalent of having your very own bowling alley. Here is how to get a strike while playing Pogo Bowl.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   Visit the Pogo website and click on the Sign In link at the top of the page to log into your account. If you do not yet have an account, you will need to click the link that says Register. Although there are paid account options that offer more games and prizes, all that is needed to bowl on Pogo is a basic, free account.

2. 
    

   Look in the "Find a Game" section for the "Arcade and Sports" category. Click that link to open the Arcade and Sports games category. You will see Pogo Bowl listed under this section. Click on the link for Pogo bowl, select a bowling room and wait for the game to begin.

3. 
    

   Know that when it is time to bowl, your ball will be centered in the lane. If you look at the lane, there are planks of boards, with dots spaced in regular intervals to help you line up your shot. Look for the second dot from the left. Count over two planks to the right of the dot. This is the spot where you want to place your ball to line up your shot. All you have to do is move your mouse over that spot and the ball will follow.

4. 
    

   Line up your shot. To do this, click-hold on the ball and drag your mouse towards the bowling pin you want to aim at. You will see a long arrow mark the path of your ball. The longer you drag out the arrow (that is, the closer to the bowling pins), the slower your ball will roll down the lane. When you have it where you want it, release the click on your mouse and the ball will bowl down the lane. The trick here is to send the ball to the ideal position, from the starting point you selected in Step 3. If you look at the bowling pins as if they are seven bowling pins in a line rather than a pyramid, you want to aim for the space between the 3rd and 4th bowling pin.

5. 
    

   Right click your mouse to give your bowling ball a slight nudge to the right just before the ball reaches the bowling pins. This will cause your ball to hit the lead bowling pin almost straight on, but with a slight sideways momentum. This is a critical step that requires practice on the timing. The ball needs to be as close to the pins as possible, just before the view switches to the closeup view of the bowling pins. If you do not succeed at first, just keep practicing until you get the timing down, and you'll soon be able to bowl a strike on nearly every frame.

Tips & Warnings

• It helps to bowl a slow ball instead of fast. If the ball travels too fast it will just crash through a small number of pins without allowing them to interact with other pins.

Resources

• Pogo

[mcccmu]

on 5/24/2008 Good, solid tips. My preferences vary between the right and left side of the head pin.