Carrom is most easily described as "finger pool". On a 29" x 29" wooden board, players flick a large weighted disc (the striker) at smaller wooden discs (the carrom-men). The goal is to sink your 9 carrom-men (black or white), as well as the red Queen, in the four corner pockets. The first player or team to accomplish this collects points for the round (commonly called a "board"). A standard game of Carrom continues until one player has 25 points or 8 boards have been completed.
Carrom is typically played with powder, and some variations of the game use cues. The most widely played form of 'proper' Carrom is supported by a world wide set of rules known as The Laws of Carrom, and are available from the International Carrom Federation.
Carrom bears similarities to Pool and Crokinole, but is a fascinating game in its own right with varied strategies and techniques. No one knows exactly where the game originated. It could have come from Bangladesh, Burma, Egypt, or Ethiopia, but most believe it originated in India.
- Pichenottes & Carrom, 2 in 1 Wooden Board Game on a Rotating Base. High Quality Deluxe Board Made by Rustik Classic Games.
- Pichenotte is a French Canadian tabletop game with game pieces and rules similar to carrom. It is a tabletop game played with small wooden pieces that are flicked using the thumb & index finger, sharing a similarity with pocket billiards and shuffleboard
- In Quebec, the flicking action used in the game is called a "pichenotte" (standard French "pichenette"), from which the name is derived. Pichenotte originated from the Indian game carom. Many Americans call it Pitchnut or Pitch Nut.
- The game is played on a wooden board, 28 inches square (71 cm). The edges of the board are bounded by raised wooden sides. The object of the game is to strike a wooden disc such that it contacts lighter discs and propels them into 1 of 4 corner pockets
- The aim of the game is to sink one's eleven pieces before the opponent sinks theirs. However before sinking one's final piece, the queen must be pocketed and "covered" by pocketing one of one's own pieces on the same or a subsequent shot.