Ten frames each. Finish your frame before passing the turn. Everyone finishes the tenth before you call the winner.
One frame at a time
In the first nine frames, you get up to two balls. If you knock down all ten on the first, that’s a strike and your turn is done. Otherwise, your second ball goes at the pins still standing.
Clear those pins and you’ve made a spare. Leave any standing and it’s an open frame. The tenth can give you extra balls; see bowling scoring for how that works.
Count each ball
Write down how many pins fell on each ball. A frame total alone won’t tell you what to add for strike and spare bonuses.
Gutter balls score zero. A foul scores zero too, and pins knocked down on the foul have to be put back under the playing rules. If your entry doesn’t match the lane’s display, sort it out before the next turn.
Finish the game
Being ahead after nine doesn’t settle it. Everyone bowls the tenth, including any extra balls they earned.
A perfect game is 300. That takes twelve strikes: nine in the first nine frames, then three in the tenth.
What if you tie?
Decide before the game. In Jesters Sports, players tied for first bowl one ball each at a fresh rack. Most pins wins. If they’re still tied, the tied players go again.
The roll-off doesn’t change anyone’s ten-frame score. It’s the app’s way of picking a winner; your league or event may use a different rule.
Playing with Jesters Sports
We’re building it for two or more individual bowlers playing scratch ten-pin. It doesn’t add a handicap or handle no-tap, teams, solo practice, or a series yet. See the bowling app page.
Scoring reference: USBC keeping score.
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