Darts Pro — Play Free Online

Darts Pro is a 501 darts game that runs in the browser. You stand at the oche, throw three darts a turn, and try to take your score from 501 down to exactly zero before you run out of throws. It is a quiet, precise change of pace from the bouncing and climbing that most of this site is built around.

If you came for Doodle Jump, the connection is timing. Doodle Jump rewards small, steady corrections, and Darts Pro does the same thing from a standing start: you are judging a moment, not reacting to a hazard. A match is slow enough to play over a coffee break, and there is no fall to lose a run.

How to play

The menu offers a single-player mode, a match against the CPU, and a two-player mode where you pass the device or keyboard between turns. Single-player and CPU play use a level screen with eight levels. The computer's accuracy drops as you climb, so the early levels are forgiving.

Aiming has two stages. On a phone, tap the screen to stop the dart where you want it to land. The in-game help describes the throw as pressing and holding to set power and direction, then releasing to throw. Both are touch and mouse actions, and the game's own help text does not rely on the arrow keys.

The rules are standard 501 darts. Each turn is three darts. Segments score their printed number, the double and triple rings multiply it, and the centre is worth 25 with 50 for the bull's-eye. The last dart has to land in a double or the bull's-eye. Finish on a plain segment, or go past zero, and the game does not give you the win. The game shows a hint to that effect: you must hit a double to win the match.

Tips

• Do not start by chasing the treble 20. A miss there lands on 1 or 5, so a steady aim at the large part of the 20 slice gives a better average.
• Plan the finish early. Once you are near 40 or below, aim for a score you can finish with a double, rather than leaving yourself an awkward odd number.
• Do not let the clock decide the throw. The game has a "too slow" warning, so settle on your aim quickly, but do not hurry it.
• Play the first few CPU levels to learn the dart's timing before you try the harder ones.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

For another game that rewards a steady hand, try Bouncy Basketball, which is also a sports game but runs on physics and quick reactions. Helix Jump asks for precise timing of a different kind, and Fireboy and Watergirl suits two players who want to cooperate rather than compete, as the two-player mode here does not.

It suits short sessions, a match against a friend on one screen, and players who prefer a game they can think through. It loads in the browser with nothing to install.