So, 2006 Torino is the year for USA Curling. With CNBC showing hours of Olympic curling through out the day, more Americans have been exposed to this isolated ice country sport than in previous years. And, I have to say, it’s a great game.

Curling integrates a healthy balance of strategic decision and physical execution. It requires geometric extrapolation, physical dexterity and thinking 2 or 3 shots ahead. As a result, I like to describe it as billiards on ice.

But, curling is so much more than billiards. The strategic element of curling makes it worthy of exemplification, replication (in a PC or PDA game) and further examination. Here are some of the lessons that I learned from curling that I believe should inform future game design:

1. The more shot rocks you try to obtain, the more susceptible you become to having them all knocked away by a takeout. (the more greedy you get for points, the less secure you are in keeping any)
2. No matter how many rocks you are currently scoring, the other team can still win the round if the hammer lands closer to the middle than any of your rocks. (points are not secure until the very last play)
3. The more guards that you place to protect a rock, the more angles you leave your opponent to use for a run back. (over protection only leaves you more vulnerable from a different direction)
4. Each time a rock is neutralized, the neutralizing rock gets farther away from the T-Line. (even counters cannot prevent the state of the game from being unstable)

Perhaps, in another four years from now, when curling returns to media coverage, I’ll have an opportunity to add to this list. Or, maybe I’ll have the opportunity to actually try to play this game before then. Can anyone say business expense?