Curling Stars 2026

🥌 CONTROLS

CLICK TO ENABLE SOUND · MOUSE TO AIM · HOLD TO THROW · HOLD TO SWEEP

🎮 CONTROLLER · LEFT STICK TO AIM · HOLD ✕ TO THROW · R2 TO SWEEP

🖱️ AimMove the mouse to set the skip's broom — that's your target line.

🎛️ Handle sliderThe HANDLE slider under the power bar sets your spin: Low Spin = the rock turns slowly and curls a lot; Spinner = fast rotation that runs nearly straight; middle is a normal handle. Drag it before you throw.

⇄ TurnWhich way it curls is set by which side of centre you aim. Press R or tap FLIP to reverse the in/out turn.

💪 WeightHold the left mouse button; the meter sweeps up and down — release in the zone you want (GUARD / DRAW / HACK / TAKEOUT). Esc cancels.

🧹 SweepWhile the stone runs, hold the mouse or SPACE — sweeping carries it farther and holds the line.

👁 Skip ModeWASD walk · C crouch · left-click to sweep from the skip's-eye view.

⌨️ KEYBOARD KEYS

␣ SpaceSweep with both sweepers while the stone runs (same as holding the mouse).

RFlip the handle — reverse the in-turn ↔ out-turn before you throw.

← →Fine-nudge your aim left / right (like moving the mouse a touch).

JToggle first-person sweeper view — you become the left sweeper and the broom head follows your mouse, side to side or up and down: long strokes sweep long, short strokes short, and it stops when you stop.

HToggle the ice map — blue = cold, comes up short · orange = warm, runs long (your skip's read).

MSend the skip running in to help sweep (toggle, while the stone is running).

EscCancel the throw while the power meter is charging.

🖱️ Right / MiddleRight-click sweeps the right brush only (shape the line); middle-click = hard sweep.

F · LF shows the FPS readout · L locks the top graphics tier for smoother play.

✕ CrossTap on the prep beat to start aiming · hold to charge the weight meter and release in the zone you want · hold while the stone runs to sweep with both brushes.

○ CircleCancel the throw while the meter is charging · Back in menus.

□ SquareFLIP the handle — reverse the in-turn ↔ out-turn before you throw.

△ TriangleSkip View before the throw · while the stone runs, send the skip running in to sweep.

🕹 Left stickAim — moves the skip's broom; letting go keeps the line. Hold L1 for fine aim. In Skip View it walks.

🕹 Right stickUp / down sets the HANDLE (spin) before you throw · scrolls long menus.

✛ D-pad ◀ ▶Fine-nudge the aim (same as ← →) · change a setting's value.

✛ D-pad ▲ ▼▲ toggles the ice map · ▼ opens the Ice Report · in Skip View they shout the calls.

R2Sweep — squeeze to brush with both sweepers while the stone runs · all the way in = HARD sweep (+25%, burns energy faster) · presses the pad in sweeper view (either stick moves it).

L1 / R1While the stone runs: sweep with one brush to steer it toward the left / right of your screen · in menus, the previous / next tab.

L3 / R3L3 first-person sweeper view while your stone runs (crouch in Skip View) · R3 cycles the broadcast camera.

☰ OptionsQuick menu — camera, Skip View, sweeper view, ice map, Ice Report, Settings, Controls, Quit.

⧉ CreateOpens this Controls card.

▭ TouchpadToggles the ice map.

🎮 MENUS

✛ / 🕹 MoveThe D-pad or left stick moves the gold highlight · ✕ selects · ○ goes back · L1 / R1 switch tabs · the right stick scrolls.

🖱️ MouseMove the mouse and it takes over again — the pad wakes up on its next button press.

📊 PLAYER STATS — what the numbers mean

OVROverall — the big number on the card: a curler's core skills rolled into one rating.

ACCAccuracy — how close their throws land to the broom and the called weight. Low ACC drifts off line and misses weight.

POWPower — throwing muscle. High POW reaches heavy takeout weight easily; low POW strains on the big hits.

CLUClutch — nerves under pressure. Keeps the accuracy up on last rocks and tight scores.

SWPSweeping — brushing effectiveness: how much extra distance and line-hold their sweeping gives a running stone.

FITFitness — strength & stamina. Burns ENERGY slower while sweeping and keeps their footing (fewer stumbles and falls).

ICEIce reading — how truthfully the H ice map shows cold (comes up short) and warm (runs long) ice. Weak readers get a blurry, shifted map.

IQStrategy IQ — how well this player calls the game when they skip. Each player also has a strategy style: Balanced, Hitter, Draw game, Guard lover, Wildcard or Trick shooter, and a Hit ↔ Draw lean that tilts the calls toward takeouts or draws.

LCKLuck — the close calls: rubs, picks and measurements break their way a little more often.

ETQEtiquette — sportsmanship and composure; keeps the team's happiness from draining away. Low-etiquette curlers fidget, chat and heckle from the sideline while the other team throws (in Simulation style a heckle can shake the thrower's focus a little).

⚡ EnergyDrains while sweeping; a tired curler brushes weaker until they get a rest between shots.

✚ InjuryKnocks and falls hurt (the stick figure shows where). An injured curler underperforms until it heals.

♥ BPMLive heart rate — it climbs with effort and pressure; a red-lined heart means shakier throws.

SHOOTING PCTRunning shot-quality percentage this game, with Hits and Draws counted beside it.

⚙ Settings

Ends of play 🥌Default length of a Quick Game

Time per end ⏱No clock — play at your own pace. Pick a time to run a game clock.

No-tick rule 🚫Off — the five-rock rule alone: a centre guard can be ticked to the wing

Pressure indicator ♥Live heart-rate / pressure readout on the player card (BPM + zone)

CPU runs the game flow 🤖In 📺 CPU vs CPU games the computer presses the between-end buttons itself — 5s on a continue, 20s on the end-of-end score screen

Player voicesCurlers & commentator talking out loud

🎙 HD Voices (neural, ~90MB download)Top-quality on-device neural speech (Kokoro) — one-time ~90 MB download, needs internet. Standard voices carry on while it loads or if it can't

System check 🩺Not run on this device yetTimes this machine's graphics card and processor, reads its memory, and recommends the settings that keep the frame rate high

ResolutionHigh-DPI sharpness — higher = crisper, heavier

Brightness ☀️100% — stock

Saturation 🎨100% — stock colour

New interface look ✨Glass panels with crimson + cyan accents across the menus and the match HUD. Off = the classic gold-and-navy colours.

Thought bubbles 💭Sweepers' weight reads and the waiting team's inner monologue, floating over their heads. Off by default.

Sweep pressure 📊Live 0–100 effort figure over each sweeper's head. Off by default — turn it on to see exactly how hard the crew is working.

Sweep sheen 🧹A faint warmed-ice smear where the brooms work, just ahead of the running stone. Off = perfectly clean ice.

Broom wear 🧹Season: your rink's broom heads wear down with every event's sweeping (worn out after about 4-5 events) and brush weaker as they go. Fresh heads are in the Pro Shop. Off = they never wear

Drag-to-set power 🎯Alternate control: drag the little indicator up and down the power bar to set your weight by hand, then click to throw. Off = the classic timed meter.

Mouse-brush sweeping 🧹Alternate control: hold the left button and SCRUB the mouse to sweep — stop moving and the brushes stop. Middle button still sweeps hard; SPACE still works. Off = classic hold-to-sweep.

Ice speed 🧊4.0 s to the tee line — stock club ice

Feet of curl ↩4 ft — stock. How far a stone swings across on its way down.

Air temperature 🌡Auto (venue ambient) — drag to override. Cold: curlers shiver & frown. Hot: they sweat & wilt; the ice melts.

Game styleARCADE = everyone at 100%, perfect ice reads, quiet coach — pure fun. SIMULATION = real ratings, real reads, full chatter. Individual settings below stay adjustable.

Ice reading 100%Read the pebble perfectly for everyone — overrides the skip's ice-reading skill (off = respects ability)

All attributes 100% 🕹Arcade mode — every curler plays at max rating: no fatigue, no injuries, no stat differences. Pure shot-making.

Shot scoring (out of 4)Grade every delivery 0–4 and show the D/H/O shooting bars on the end report (off = names only, stats still tracked)

Full player models 💪Auto — this device decides (phones and slow graphics get simpler players)Always = realistic curlers, Turkey and full face + hair detail here, even if this device looks too slow. Can lower the frame rateRealistic players: checking…

Realistic players 👤Hi-fi curler figures — detailed faces, bodies and cloth. Desktop only; heavier on the GPU. Takes effect next shot

New curler models 🧍The new Blender-built curlers — real bodies, faces and hands. Off = the original curlers. Needs Realistic players; desktop only. Takes effect next shot

New Turkey model 🐕Turkey rebuilt in Blender — real fur coat and shape. Off = the original Turkey. Switches right away

Hair & head detail 💇Auto — follows Realistic players and the machine check

Facial features detail 🙂Auto — follows Realistic players and the machine check

Ice reflections ✨Real mirror reflections on the ice — players, rocks and arena lights mirrored in the sheet. Desktop only, off by default⚠ Heavy: mirrors the whole arena every frame and can halve your frame rate. Leave it off unless you have a strong graphics card

Player panel & viewport 🪪The left-side card with the shooter's attributes, energy, heart rate and the ON THE ICE camera window

Frame-rate counter 📈Live FPS in the top-right corner, with the worst dip and the quality tier the game has settled on

Energy bars above players ❤️The floating energy / heart-rate readouts that hover over each curler on the ice

Player close-up 📺The picture-in-picture window on the left showing a close-up of the curler who is shooting

TV mode 🎥Broadcast close-ups: the thrower up close sliding out of the hack, and their reaction after a good or a bad shot. Any click, tap or key hands the camera straight back

Bloom ✨A soft camera glow around the arena lights, LED boards, ice glints, sparks and fireworks (High graphics). Off = the classic picture

Rock path trails 🟥🟦Each stone leaves a line on the ice tracing the path it travelled, coloured by team (red / blue)

Projected ending spot ⭐While a stone is running, draw a star where it's projected to stop. Updates live as you sweep or if the rock picks

Curl preview line 🟢While aiming, a bright green dashed ribbon on the ice traces how the selected handle will curl

Show the waiting team 🧍🧍Draw the other rink's players standing on the hog line. Turn OFF for smoother performance on slower machines (fewer 3-D figures)

Text chat log 💬Bottom-left terminal logging what both teams say & think (sweeper weight reads) — off by default

🥽 VR detailSeparate from the settings above — a headset is phone-class next to a desktop. Applies when you enter VR

🥽 VR deliveryHow you throw in VR

CPU difficultyHow sharp the computer plays

CPU play speed ⏩1× — real time (the CPU plays at the pace you do)

Game speed 🐢100% — real time

Directional sweepHow hard corner-sweeping steers the rock — adds curl / holds the line

Skip chatter 🗣How much the skip yells line/sweep calls (0 = silent)

Sweeper chatter 🗣How much your front-end/sweepers pipe up (pep, nerves, reactions)

Debris picks 🪨How often running over debris (dirt, corn chaff, ash…) picks the stone off line — 100 = every time, 0 = never

Coach chatter 🗣How much the bench coach speaks up (the dog barks instead)

Reporter chatter 🗣How often Joanne the broadcaster chimes in

Opponent chatter 🗣How much the waiting rink chats, laughs and heckles from the sideline, and their skip behind the house (0 = silent)

Sound effects 🔊Volume of gunfire, jets, sweeping, rock hits & crowd (music & voices have their own sliders)

Stone roar 🥌The rumble of a running stone on pebbled ice: Arena (broadcast), Club rink (close and crunchy), Cinematic (big and deep), or Off (silent stones)

Outdoor snow ❄Snow on outdoor rinks (Calabogie) — it piles on the ice, sweep it off

Fine snow ❄Falling snowflakes tiny and faint (on), or the big flakes (off). Looks only: the snow on the ice is the same

Detail / polygons 🔻High poly — full detail

Spectators 👥People in the stands and the club lounge — Off saves the most frame rate

Falling leaves 🍂Autumn leaves drifting over the title screen (Sep 15 – Nov 30)

Wind 💨Sideways gust that drifts the rock — 0 km/h

Rain 🌧Misting → downpour — wets the ice; the stone runs a little heavy (up to ~20% slower glide)

Thunderstorm ⛈Outdoor venues — one random storm per game (≥5 min in): clouds → rain → thunder → peak → passes; high levels knock curlers down

Account 🔒Account session — sign out to return to the login screen

Controller 🎮PS5 DualSense or any standard gamepad — press a button on the pad and it takes over; move the mouse and the mouse is back

Button icons 🎮Which button labels the prompts show — Auto reads the pad's name

Vibration 📳Rumble on the release, on stone hits and while you sweep

Stick aim speed 🎯1.0× — how fast the left stick moves the skip's broom

Stick deadzone 🕹0.18 — stick travel ignored around the centre (raise it if the aim drifts on its own)

Hard sweep on full R2 💪Pull the trigger all the way for a HARD sweep — +25% strength, burns energy faster

Settings are saved on this device.

STORY MODE

COACHING

SEASON DESIGNER

TEAM 1

TEAM 2

HOW TO PLAY

🥌 CONTROLS

🗺 THE ICE MAP

⚙ Settings

🧥 JACKET DESIGNER

🤝 TEAM SPONSORS

👖 PANTS DESIGNER

🎵 EVENT MANAGER