---
title: Bowling
---

# Bowling

```{figure} ../../_static/videos/atari/bowling.gif
:width: 120px
:name: Bowling
```

This environment is part of the <a href='..'>Atari environments</a>. Please read that page first for general information.

## Description

Your goal is to score as many points as possible in the game of Bowling. A game consists of 10 frames and you have two tries per frame. Knocking down all pins on the first try is called a "strike". Knocking down all pins on the second roll is called a "spar". Otherwise, the frame is called "open".

For a more detailed documentation, see [the AtariAge page](https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=879)

## Actions

Bowling has the action space `Discrete(6)` with the table below lists the meaning of each action's meanings.
As Bowling uses a reduced set of actions for `v0`, `v4` and `v5` versions of the environment.
To enable all 18 possible actions that can be performed on an Atari 2600, specify `full_action_space=True` during
initialization or by passing `full_action_space=True` to `gymnasium.make`.

| Value   | Meaning    |
|---------|------------|
| `0`     | `NOOP`     |
| `1`     | `FIRE`     |
| `2`     | `UP`       |
| `3`     | `DOWN`     |
| `4`     | `UPFIRE`   |
| `5`     | `DOWNFIRE` |

## Observations

Atari environment have two possible observation types, the observation space is listed below.
See variants section for the type of observation used by each environment id.

- `obs_type="rgb" -> observation_space=Box(0, 255, (210, 160, 3), np.uint8)`
- `obs_type="ram" -> observation_space=Box(0, 255, (128,), np.uint8)`

Additionally, `obs_type="grayscale"` cause the environment return a grayscale version of the rgb array for observations with the observation space being `Box(0, 255, (210, 160), np.uint8)`
### Rewards

You receive points for knocking down pins. The exact score depends on whether you manage a "strike", "spare" or "open"
frame. Moreover, the points you score for one frame may depend on following frames.
You can score up to 300 points in one game (if you manage to do 12 strikes).
For a more detailed documentation, see [the AtariAge page](https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=879).

## Variants

Bowling has the following variants of the environment id which have the following differences in observation,
the number of frame-skips and the repeat action probability.

| Env-id                      | obs_type=   | frameskip=   | repeat_action_probability=   |
|-----------------------------|-------------|--------------|------------------------------|
| Bowling-v0                  | `"rgb"`     | `(2, 5)`     | `0.25`                       |
| Bowling-ram-v0              | `"ram"`     | `(2, 5)`     | `0.25`                       |
| Bowling-ramDeterministic-v0 | `"ram"`     | `4`          | `0.25`                       |
| Bowling-ramNoFrameskip-v0   | `"ram"`     | `1`          | `0.25`                       |
| BowlingDeterministic-v0     | `"rgb"`     | `4`          | `0.25`                       |
| BowlingNoFrameskip-v0       | `"rgb"`     | `1`          | `0.25`                       |
| Bowling-v4                  | `"rgb"`     | `(2, 5)`     | `0.0`                        |
| Bowling-ram-v4              | `"ram"`     | `(2, 5)`     | `0.0`                        |
| Bowling-ramDeterministic-v4 | `"ram"`     | `4`          | `0.0`                        |
| Bowling-ramNoFrameskip-v4   | `"ram"`     | `1`          | `0.0`                        |
| BowlingDeterministic-v4     | `"rgb"`     | `4`          | `0.0`                        |
| BowlingNoFrameskip-v4       | `"rgb"`     | `1`          | `0.0`                        |
| ALE/Bowling-v5              | `"rgb"`     | `4`          | `0.25`                       |
| ALE/Bowling-ram-v5          | `"ram"`     | `4`          | `0.25`                       |

## Difficulty and modes

It is possible to specify various flavors of the environment via the keyword arguments `difficulty` and `mode`.
A flavor is a combination of a game mode and a difficulty setting. The table below lists the possible difficulty and mode values
along with the default values.

| Available Modes   | Default Mode   | Available Difficulties   | Default Difficulty   |
|-------------------|----------------|--------------------------|----------------------|
| `[0, 2, 4]`       | `0`            | `[0, 1]`                 | `0`                  |

## Version History

A thorough discussion of the intricate differences between the versions and configurations can be found in the general article on Atari environments.

* v5: Stickiness was added back and stochastic frameskipping was removed. The environments are now in the "ALE" namespace.
* v4: Stickiness of actions was removed
* v0: Initial versions release