No other mobile curling game lets you tune the ice. Curling Ice runs a real friction simulation — and every parameter is exposed. You can dial in championship-speed keen ice, reproduce the sticky slog of a late-night club game, or break physics entirely for something that has never existed on or off a rink.
This page explains what each parameter does, how the formula works, and gives you named presets for eight distinct ice conditions — from real-world to fictional.
Where to find it
Open any Practice or Match game, then tap the Settings icon in the top corner. Scroll to the Ice Physics section. You'll find sliders for all eight parameters, plus a Reset to Default button. Physics settings are local to your session and don't affect other players.
Under the hood
Each stone's deceleration at any moment depends on its current velocity. The simulation computes a friction coefficient μ(v) and applies it at every physics substep. The formula has three terms that each govern a different speed regime:
Velocity v is in m/s. Draw weight delivery is roughly 3.75–4.1 m/s; peel weight is around 3.0 m/s or faster. The μ_inv term is what makes the simulation feel like real ice — friction is not constant, it climbs as the stone slows, which produces the characteristic late-travel curl intensification that every curler recognizes.
Parameter reference
All eight parameters are adjustable in the Settings panel. Defaults match standard competitive club ice.
Global pace multiplier. The fastest single knob to turn. Think of it as "how keen is the ice today."
The floor friction — always present regardless of speed. Raising it shortens every stone's travel uniformly. The lowest-level "how grippy is the ice" dial.
Controls end-of-travel behavior. High values cause stones to brake sharply near the house and curl aggressively. Low values produce a gradual, predictable slowdown.
Governs how quickly a hard throw scrubs down to draw weight. Raising it means peel shots brake harder before reaching the rings — useful if you want heavy shots to behave less violently.
The power-law shape of the high-speed drag curve. At 1.0, drag grows linearly with speed. Higher values make the fast-drag kick in much more sharply above delivery speed.
The velocity ceiling for the fast-drag term (m/s). Stones above this speed are in the "planing regime." Raising it stretches the fast-drag effect across a wider speed window.
Maximum fractional reduction in friction when sweeping at full intensity. At 50%, all-out sweeping halves the effective μ. Lower values make sweeping less physically impactful.
Maximum fractional reduction in curl rate under full sweep. At 65%, hard sweeping straightens the path by 65%. Raise this to make directional sweeping (straightening vs. letting it run) dramatically more consequential.
Ice condition presets
These are hand-tuned presets covering the full range from elite competitive ice to conditions that have never existed. Enter the values into the Settings sliders to load a preset. The "Default" button in the panel resets to Standard Club Ice.
Well-maintained competitive club ice. Draw weight puts a stone reliably in the four-foot. Sweeping adds meaningful distance. This is what the game ships with.
Noticeably faster than average club ice. Draw weight sits a touch past the button unless you call the weight lighter. Sweeping adds a bit more than usual.
Olympic and Trials-caliber ice. Stones travel far. A misread stone runs well past the house. Every gram of sweep pressure translates into metres. Adjust your weight calls significantly.
Below-average ice that pulls up shorter than expected. You'll throw heavier than usual for the same shot. Guards die short of the house. Sweeping is less decisive.
End-of-session ice at a busy club. Heavy, inconsistent, with lots of debris. Every stone dies earlier than it should. Sweeping barely moves the needle. Strategy shifts toward heavier weight calls throughout.
Natural lake or pond ice: rough surface, variable texture, very high friction. Nothing behaves the way it does inside. Sweeping is mostly ceremonial. A crash course in why indoor ice was invented.
This ice does not exist. Stones travel absurdly far. Board weight might bounce off the back wall if there were one. Good luck placing a draw — anything that reaches the T-line will run clean through. Peel weight becomes an absolute projectile.
High μ_inv cranks the low-speed friction so sharply that stones curl in a wide arc near the house. Come-arounds become trivial. Straight hits are a nightmare. Sweeping barely suppresses the curl — you're mostly along for the ride once the stone slows down.
Practical tips
Start with iceSpeedFactor. It's the fastest single adjustment. Move it by 0.05 at a time until the ice pace feels right before touching the other parameters.
Use Reset to recalibrate. The "Default" button in the panel restores the Standard Club Ice preset instantly. If your values feel broken, reset and adjust from the default outward.
μ_inv drives curl feel. If you want ice that feels like it curls too much or too little without changing overall speed, adjust physMuInv in isolation — it's the most direct curl-feel dial.
Tune sweep settings for team practice. Raising sweepMaxEffect above 55% makes sweeping dramatically more important — great for practicing communication about when to go and when to stop. Lowering it below 35% simulates outdoor or pond conditions where sweeping is mostly futile.
Fiction modes are for fun. The Frictionless and Banana presets aren't meant to build real-ice intuition — but they're useful for stress-testing your shot selection logic and understanding how the physics terms interact in extreme ranges.