Air Hockey

The rules, in full

Air hockey is played on a smooth table that breathes out a film of air, so the puck glides with almost no friction. Here the table is seen from above: your mallet is the red one, at the bottom on a phone and on the left on a wide screen, and your goal is the one behind you.

• You score by sending the puck into the slot of the other goal. It counts when the puck crosses the goal line.
• After a goal the puck goes to the player who conceded, at rest in their half: it is their turn to start again.
• Your mallet stays in your half: it cannot cross the red centre line.
• Seven seconds: keeping the puck in your own half for more than seven seconds hands it to your opponent. It is a tournament rule, and it stops anyone from holding a match still.
• The first to 7 goals wins.

The puck bounces off the rails and off the goal posts. A bank shot, off the side of the table, reaches the goal from an angle your opponent does not expect.

Two ways to play

• 1 player: you against the computer, at three levels.
• 2 players: on the same phone or tablet. Each player drags their mallet in their own half of the table, both at once; red plays from one end and blue from the other. On a tablet laid flat on a table it is the closest thing to an arcade.

Against the computer: three levels

• Easy reacts late, moves slowly and often misses its aim. It does not see a bounce off a rail coming.
• Normal is quicker and more accurate, and follows the puck off the rails.
• Hard reacts almost at once, aims precisely and also plays bank shots.

The computer has no tricks: it sees the puck as you do, and it loses for the same reasons a person does, which are reaction, speed and aim.

Strategy that actually helps

Guard the goal, not the puck. When the puck is coming, stand between it and the middle of your goal. Chasing it all over the table leaves the goal open.

Strike through the puck. A hard shot comes from a firm stroke that goes through the puck, not from a push. Start a little behind it and speed up.

Use the rails. A straight shot is easy to stop. A bank shot changes direction halfway and arrives from the side.

Do not keep the puck too long. After seven seconds in your half it goes to your opponent, and you find it at the other end.

Controls

• Touch: drag your mallet. With two players each uses their own half.
• Mouse: the mallet follows the pointer, no click needed.
• Keyboard: the arrows move the red mallet, W A S D the blue one with two players. N starts again, M switches between one and two players, L changes the level.

A little history

Air hockey was born in the United States at the end of the 1960s, from the idea of a table with a cushion of air on which a puck could glide as it does on ice. Since the 1970s it has been one of the best-loved arcade games, with tournaments and official rules of its own, which is where this game's seven goals and seven seconds come from. If you like games about aiming, try Darts or Pool too.

Common questions

Is it free? Yes. It runs in your browser, with no signup and nothing to download.

Can two people play? Yes, on the same phone or tablet: each uses their own half of the table. On a computer the second player uses W A S D.

Can I play against the computer? Yes, at three levels.

How many goals win? Seven, as in tournaments.

Can my mallet cross the centre line? No: it stays in your half, as at a real table.

What is the seven-second rule? If you keep the puck in your half for more than seven seconds, it goes to your opponent.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. Held upright the table stands up, held sideways it lies on its side.