The air table near the counter hums all afternoon. Your mallet follows your finger; hit the puck while you are moving and it flies.
How to play
Each player guards a goal at one end of the rink. Hit the puck into the far goal and keep it out of yours. Your mallet stays in your own half, and a puck that sits idle on one side for four seconds goes over to the other side. Games are played to 7 or to 5 goals.
Controls
Guard the centre. While the puck is on the far side, park your mallet on the line between puck and goal, just ahead of the goal mouth; both corners are then a short reach away.
Strategy
Defend from the middle. When the puck is in the other half, sit between it and your goal, a little in front of the goal line. From there you can reach shots to both corners without lunging.
Hit through the puck. A shot from behind the puck, moving in the direction you want it to go, is fast and straight. Hitting it from the side sends it spinning off into the walls.
Use the side walls. A bank shot off the wall comes into the goal at an angle the other mallet has to turn for. Against Hard and Expert, straight shots get blocked; banks are how you score.
Do not chase. If the puck is moving away from your goal, let it go and get back in position. Most goals against come from a mallet stranded high up the table.
Take your time with a slow puck. If the puck is crawling in your half, it is yours: get behind it, line up and strike. You have four seconds before it is handed over.
The computer at four levels
The computer watches the puck, predicts its bounces and moves its mallet with a reaction delay and a speed limit. Easy is slow to react and slow to move; Expert reacts in a few hundredths of a second, guards its line and plays bank shots of its own.
FAQ
Why can’t I move my mallet further up the table?
Each mallet stays in its own half. You can strike anywhere up to the centre line, but not cross it.
Can two people play on one phone?
Yes. Choose Two players and hold the phone flat between you: each player moves their mallet with one finger on their half, at the same time.
Is there undo in air hockey?
No. It is played in real time, so there is nothing to step back to. Every other game here has undo.
What is the daily air hockey challenge?
Today’s date picks a rival level and who serves first. The match is first to 5, and the score that counts is your goal difference.
The puck stopped right by the centre line — whose is it?
A puck idle on one side for four seconds goes to the other side, so a stuck puck never ends a game.