Pottery Studio

Pottery Studio is a free pottery game you can play online in your browser, with no download or sign-up. A lump of clay spins on a pottery wheel in front of you. Open it, pull the walls up and shape a cup, bowl, vase or jar, then glaze it and fire it in the kiln. Finished pieces go on your shelf, and sixteen customer orders test how closely you can throw a pot to a target shape.

How to play

• Open the clay. Drag down from the top of the spinning lump to press a hollow into the center. A solid lump cannot hold anything, and its walls cannot be pulled.
• Pull the walls up. Drag up on the side of the pot to make it taller. The clay has to come from somewhere, so the walls get thinner as the pot grows. Drag down on the rim to press an opened pot lower and thicker again.
• Shape the profile. Drag the side of the pot outward to swell it at that height, or inward to narrow it into a waist or a neck.
• Keep the clay wet, but not too wet. Strokes use water and the clay slowly dries as the wheel turns. Below 20 on the Water meter, each stroke cracks the clay, so tap Sponge. Soak it too much, or pull the walls too thin, and the pot wobbles as a warning, then collapses. Undo takes back the last stroke.
• Glaze and decorate. Press Done, choose one of ten glaze colors and a pattern: band, dots, stripes, zigzag or rings. Dip all coats the whole pot, and dragging up or down on the pot paints your pattern over that stretch. Trim foot cuts a neat foot ring at the base.
• Fire it. Press Fire kiln. The glaze comes out glossy and bright, and the piece goes on your shelf.

Customer orders

Orders mode has sixteen jobs, from a coffee cup and a cereal bowl to a plant pot, a dinner plate, a flower vase, a dino-egg pot and a grand urn. The target shows as a dashed outline on the wheel, and the Match meter shows how close you are. The fired piece is scored on its shape: a 72% match earns one star, 84% earns two and 92% earns three. Each crack costs 3%. From the sixth order on, the customer also asks for a glaze color, and a pot that is not dipped in that color earns one star at most. A star unlocks the next order.

Free studio has no target, so you can make anything. The shelf keeps your last twelve fired pieces. Your stars and shelf are saved in your browser.

Tips for better pots

• Get the height right first. Pulling up narrows the whole pot a little, so match the height before you fine-tune the curves.
• Watch the Wall meter. Tall vases and wide bowls thin the walls. If it gets low, press the rim down a little or push the sides in to thicken them.
• Sponge early. Wet the clay when the Water meter gets near 30, not after it cracks. One or two dabs at a time is plenty.

A little real pottery

Real potters work the same basic way: they open the spinning clay, pull up the walls and shape them with wet hands. A wall that is too thin or too wet can sag or fall in. After a pot has dried to a firm, leather-hard state, potters often trim a foot ring into the base. A kiln then fires the clay at very high temperatures, often more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, which hardens it for good. Glaze is a coating that melts in the kiln into a glassy layer. Many glazes look dull and chalky before firing, which is why the colors brighten once the pot comes out.

FAQ

Is this pottery game free?

Yes. It is completely free, runs in your browser and needs no account or download.

Why did my pot collapse?

Either the walls got too thin or the clay got too wet. Both make the pot wobble first, so stop pulling or sponging when you see it shake. Press Undo to go back one stroke, or start again with new clay.

Is every order possible with three stars?

Yes, including the tall urn and the thin-necked bud vase. They just take more careful strokes.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Drag with your finger to shape the clay. Dragging on the wheel never scrolls the page.

Can I play with a keyboard?

Yes. Up pulls, Down opens or presses, Left and Right push in or out, W sponges, Z undoes and Enter moves on. P or Esc pauses.

Like making things by hand? Layer colored sand in a bottle in our sand art game, or bake and frost a layer cake in the cake game.