Air Hockey
Flick the puck into their goal. First to 7.
Air Hockey is a two-player arcade game where each player drags a mallet around their own half of the table to hit a puck into the other player's goal. The first to reach the target score, 7 by default, wins.
Put the phone flat between you, put a finger down and your mallet glides to it. Hit the puck into the other player's goal. Nothing else needs learning.
Also known as Air hockey 2 player, Table air hockey.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 7
- Length
- About 1 to 2 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Air Hockey: quick rules
About 1 to 2 minutes at first to 7. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Drag on your half of the table and your mallet follows.
- 2Hit the puck into the other player's goal to score.
- 3You can't cross the middle line.
- 4First to 7 wins.
Play Air Hockey here
Two of you on this screen, or you against the bot. The full game is in the app.
Air Hockey rules
Setup and serve
- Red plays the bottom half and Blue the top half, with Blue's half turned to face the top player.
- The first server is picked at random, and a small puck marker shows who it is during the first countdown.
- The puck stays still through the countdown and goes live on GO. A finger already down when GO appears doesn't count: lift and touch again.
- After every goal, the player who conceded serves, from their own half.
Play and goals
- Your mallet stays in your half. It can never cross the middle line or go into a goal mouth.
- A goal counts when the centre of the puck crosses the goal line inside the mouth. The posts beside the mouth bounce the puck back.
- Own goals count: a puck that goes into your goal is a point for the other player, whoever touched it last.
- The puck has a top speed, so a frantic swipe can't send it faster than a clean hit.
Stalls
- If the puck goes about eight seconds without crossing the middle line (six on the Mini table), or sits almost still for a couple of seconds, it gets a soft nudge toward the middle. Neither player gains or loses anything.
- If a point runs very long, the nudge applies; if it still isn't settled, the point is replayed with the same server.
Winning
- First to the target wins: 5, 7 or 10 points. There is no draw, no win-by-two and no sudden death.
- On a rematch, the player who lost serves first.
Tables
- Classic
- The baseline table, and the default.
- Ice
- A faster puck that barely slows down and bounces livelier off the walls, for long, slippery rallies.
- Mini
- A shorter table with narrower goals and smaller mallets, and a quicker stall nudge, for tight, frantic points.
Tips to win at Air Hockey
- 1Keep your mallet between the puck and your goal when the puck is in their half; it's easier to block from a set spot than to chase.
- 2Wait for the puck to slow down in your half, then strike it cleanly. A frantic swipe is no faster, because the puck has a top speed.
- 3Bank shots off the side walls are harder to read than straight shots, and a hard shot along a wall beats even a careful defender.
- 4After you hit, pull your mallet straight back toward your goal so a quick return doesn't find it open.
Where Air Hockey comes from
Air hockey was developed in the early 1970s by a group of engineers at Brunswick Billiards in the United States, using a table that floats the puck on a cushion of air. It soon became an arcade favourite and is still played competitively today.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Touch anywhere in your half and drag. The mallet moves toward your finger at its top speed; it never jumps.
- Lift your finger and the mallet stays where it is.
- One finger per player. A second finger in your half is ignored, and so is a palm resting on the screen.
- Drag past the middle line and the mallet stops there, then follows again when your finger comes back.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Points to win | 57 (default)10 | The score that wins the match. |
| Table | Classic (default)IceMini | Changes how the puck moves and the size of the table. |
Play Air Hockey against the bot
The bot plays Blue with the same physics and the same mallet speed limit as a person. It never teleports, never moves before GO and never reads your finger before your mallet moves. It guards a line in front of its goal and strikes when the puck slows in its half.
Easy
Doesn't predict bounces, aims wide, sometimes chases the puck and leaves its goal open, and is slow to get back.
Normal
Reads one bounce ahead and gets back quickly, but now and then mistimes a fast puck.
Hard
Reads two bounces and is rarely out of position. A shot hit very hard along a wall can still beat it, and its small aim error lets fast shots miss the corners.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyAir Hockey is real-time physics. A few tenths of a second of internet delay would decide every hit, so it stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always first to 7 on the Classic table, whatever your saved options.
- Hints
- No hints here: it's all about your own reactions.
How it feels
- A hard plastic tock on every hit, rising in pitch the harder you strike.
- A trail behind the puck that grows with its speed, and a small shake only on the hardest wall hits.
- A goal light in the scorer's colour at the conceding end, and a short freeze before the next serve.
- Haptics follow your phone's settings and the in-app vibration switch.
Accessibility
- Colour is never the only cue: Red's mallet has a round knob with a ring and Blue's has a cross-notch, and each goal mouth has a chevron pattern.
- One finger each is enough; there is no multi-touch move.
- With Reduce flashing on, there is no shake and no trail, and the goal light is a steady tint.
- Score changes are announced to a screen reader, but the match itself can't be played with one.
Air Hockey questions
No. The first player to reach the target score, 5, 7 or 10, wins, and there is no win-by-two or sudden death.
Yes. A puck that goes into your goal is a point for the other player, whoever touched it last.
Defend from a set spot in front of your goal, strike when the puck slows in your half, and use the side walls for bank shots that are hard to read.
Yes. Air Hockey in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Yes. The bot plays Blue with the same physics and the same mallet speed limit as a person. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
No. Air Hockey is real-time physics. A few tenths of a second of internet delay would decide every hit, so it stays on one phone.
Play Air Hockey on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
