Table hockey

Goal

Each player defends a goal at their end of the table. Hit the puck with your mallet to send it into your opponent’s goal. The first to reach the chosen number of goals (7 by default) wins the game.

How it works

• Your mallet stays in your half of the table; it cannot cross the centre line.
• The puck glides on a cushion of air: it barely slows down and bounces off the rounded rails and the posts.
• After a goal, the puck is given to the player who conceded it.
• A puck that enters your goal counts for your opponent, even if you were the one who pushed it in.

Controls

• Mouse: the mallet follows the pointer, no clicking needed.
• Touch: drag your finger; in two-player mode, each player controls their half of the screen (several fingers at once).
• Keyboard: arrow keys or WASD; in two-player mode, WASD for player 1 and the arrow keys for player 2. P or Esc: pause.

About the AI

The table is simulated with a fixed time step (480 steps per second): speeds, damped bounces, posts and rounded corners. The AI sees the puck with a reaction time specific to its level, then simulates its future path taking bounces into account (from zero bounces at Beginner level to five at Master level). It evaluates dozens of possible strikes (timing, impact angle, swing), estimates the path of the returned puck, including off the rails, and picks the most dangerous shot given the position of your mallet. With no playable shot, it intercepts or moves back between the puck and its goal. Mallet speed, accuracy and sharpness increase with the level.