After that, there’s also a solo practice mode to nail your boule throw.

The speed of your flick changes how far the boule will travel, and where you let go of the mouse/touchscreen determines the height of the throw.īefore you jump into competitive modes, the Google Doodle gives you a quick rundown of the rules of pétanque and a practice round against an AI opponent. The direction of your movement, as you’d expect, affects whether the boule will veer left or right. The trick is that every aspect of your touch/mouse movement is taken into account for the pétanque throw. The gameplay is deceptively simple, as you only need to essentially flick or drag-and-release the boule to toss it toward the jack. Today’s Google Doodle game offers a chance to try a version of pétanque online with either your phone or computer. Over the course of the last century, pétanque has steadily grown in popularity in numerous countries, particularly across Europe and Asia. Pétanque was first played in the early 1900s in the Provence region of France, and it was said to be created as a way to help a friend who could no longer run but still wanted to play a boules game. Pétanque instead requires players toss their boule while keeping their feet planted at the starting position. Historically, games played with boules usually allowed competitors to get a running start before tossing their boule. The name pétanque comes from a phrase that means to keep your feet planted.

In some ways, the sport is a lot like lawn bowling, but it is typically played on dirt or gravel instead of grass and usually involves more throwing than rolling. The latest Google Doodle game shows you how to play the French sport of pétanque, then lets you compete against friends and others online.Īs you’ll quickly learn from playing today’s Google Doodle game, pétanque is a game of tossing spherical stones - called boules - to try to be as close as possible to the target ball - referred to as the c ochonnet or “jack” - which can also be moved when struck by a boule.

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