Air hockey

Players and equipment

Two players, one each end of an air hockey table; on a big table, two pairs. A puck and a mallet each. The table blows air up through hundreds of small holes, so the puck floats and slides almost without friction, and the mallet is a flat disc with a knob on top, sometimes called a striker or a paddle. A full-size table is about eight feet long; a home table is shorter and slower.

SquareScores keeps the score: a row is a game, a column is a player, and the line is seven goals unless the host moves it.

The deal

Toss for the first puck. After a goal, the player who conceded puts the puck in play. To put it in play, set it down on your own half and strike it; there is no special serving stroke. On a strict table you have seven seconds to hit the puck across the centre line once it has come to your half, and holding it longer hands it to your opponent.

Play

Strike the puck with the mallet only. Never hold it under the mallet, lift the mallet over the puck or reach across the centre line. The puck may be hit from anywhere on your own half. A puck that stops on the centre line is anyone's; one that stops in your half is yours. You may stand anywhere at your own end and move the mallet as you like, so long as it stays on the table and on your side.

Fouls

Topping

Puck to the other player

Pressing the mallet down on the puck

Reaching across

Puck to the other player

Any part of the mallet over the centre line

Goalie catch

A goal to the other player, on a strict table

Stopping a shot with a hand or the body

A puck that flies off the table goes to the player who did not hit it off, to put in play from their own half. A puck struck while any part of it touches the centre line is fairly struck.

Scoring

Goal

1

The puck drops into the slot at your opponent's end

Rebound

No goal, on most tables

A puck that goes in and bounces back out

Game

The match

First to seven

Enter each goal as it comes, one to whoever scored, or the final score when the game ends: the sheet shows who is nearer the line. There is no two-clear rule in air hockey; seven is seven.

A worked game

Alice and Ben play to seven. Alice wins the toss and puts the first puck in play.

Goal 1

0–1

Alice strikes from her half; Ben blocks it in front of his goal and scores straight back down the middle

Goal 2

1–1

Alice conceded, so she puts the puck in play. She banks it off the right-hand wall into the far corner

Goal 3

2–1

Ben serves. Alice stops his shot on her goal line, lets the rebound drift towards the middle and strikes it late, past his mallet

Goal 4

3–1

Ben serves, then presses his mallet down on the puck to trap it: topping. The puck goes to Alice, who scores from the restart

Goals 5 to 8

4–4

Ben settles. He scores twice from the centre and once off the left wall; Alice gets one

Goal 9

4–5

Alice's shot drops into Ben's goal and bounces back out onto the table: no goal, play on. Ben clears it the length of the table

Goals 10 to 12

7–5

Alice hits the puck off the table and Ben takes it. He shoots wide; she scores three, the last a bank shot

Alice wins 7–5. On the sheet the game is entered as 7 against 5, or goal by goal as they come, and End match banks it. They swap ends and play a set of three.

Game 1

Alice

7–5

Game 2

Ben

4–7

Game 3

Alice

7–6

Alice takes the set two games to one, and the leaderboard counts games won: Alice 2, Ben 1.

Ending

The first player to seven wins the game. Tap End match to bank it, and the leaderboard counts games won. Play a set of three or five and end the session when it is done.

Defence first

Most goals at a home table are given away, not earned. Keep the mallet a hand's width in front of your goal and roughly centred, and move it in a small triangle: across the goal mouth to block a shot at either post, and forward to the point of the triangle to meet a straight shot early. Watch the puck, not your opponent's mallet, and do not chase it out wide, because the gap you leave behind you is the one they are aiming at. A blocked shot that stays in front of you is your puck; take a breath before you play it.

The bank shot

A puck coming off the side wall leaves it at the angle it went in, so a shot aimed at the wall level with the centre line comes off towards the far corner of the goal. Your opponent's mallet has to move across to meet it, and if they are guarding the straight shot it gets there first. Learn one bank off each wall until it is automatic, then start alternating it with the straight shot, so they cannot tell from the first movement which is coming.

The drift

A puck sitting still in front of you is easy to read: the moment you move, they know a shot is coming. Instead give it a gentle push so that it drifts slowly across your half, and strike it while it is moving, at a moment of your choosing. The shot comes off a moving puck faster, and your opponent cannot tell from watching the puck when it will leave. Keep the drift slow and inside your half; a puck drifting over the line is anybody's.

Where to hold the mallet

Hold it lightly, with your fingertips on the top edge rather than clamped round the knob: a loose grip moves faster and the wrist does the work. Keep the mallet flat on the table so it cannot lift over the puck, and strike with the edge, not the top. Stand a little to one side so your strong hand has room to swing across the goal, and let the mallet return to its place in front of the goal after every shot without thinking about it.

Patience

The first shot you can take is rarely the best. A puck struck hurriedly from the first touch goes where it was already going, and your opponent has seen it coming since it left their mallet. Bring it under control, let them settle in front of their goal, and then move them with a fake or a drift before you shoot. Seven seconds is longer than it feels.

Timed games

Arcade tables run a clock, and the most goals when the time runs out wins. The table agrees beforehand how a tie is settled, usually one more goal. On the sheet the line is a caption and not a rule: End match banks whatever the score stands at when the buzzer goes.

Best of three

A set is three games, first to win two, or five games, first to three. Each game is its own match on the sheet, so the leaderboard shows the games won and the set is read off it. Swap ends between games if the table has a slope or a draught.

Doubles

On a big table two pairs play, partners side by side at their own end, a mallet each. Either partner may play the puck and the fouls are the same; the pair that conceded puts the puck in play. It is a louder game and a shorter one.

A longer game

To ten, or to fifteen for a long game between two good players. The host moves the line when launching, and the caption on the sheet follows.

Tournament rules

The rules the American associations play by: first to seven, a match the best of seven games, seven seconds to strike the puck once it is on your half, the puck to your opponent if you hit it off the table, and a goal awarded against anybody who stops a puck bound for their goal with anything other than the mallet.

Can you touch the puck with your hand in air hockey?

No. The puck is played with the mallet only, and touching it with a hand or any part of the body while it is in play gives it to your opponent. On a strict table a hand or a body that stops a puck heading into the goal concedes the goal outright. The one time a hand is fine is when the puck has already left the table.

What happens if the puck leaves the table?

It goes to the player who did not hit it off. They put it in play from their own half, and there is no penalty beyond losing possession. Most pucks leave the table off a lifted mallet, which is one reason to keep the mallet flat.

Is a topped puck a goal?

No. Topping is pressing the mallet down on the puck to trap or drag it, and it is a foul the moment it happens: the goal does not stand and the puck goes to the other player. The puck is struck, never carried.

How many points is a game of air hockey?

Seven, and there is no two-clear rule: the first to seven has won. Some tables play to ten or fifteen, and arcade tables often run on a clock instead, where the most goals when the time runs out wins.

Does a puck that bounces out of the goal count?

Not on most tables. The puck has to drop into the slot and stay there; one that hits the back of the goal and comes back onto the table is still in play. Some home tables count it, so agree it before you start.

Who serves after a goal in air hockey?

The player who conceded. They set the puck down on their own half and strike it, and play carries on from there. There is no serving stroke and no rule about where it must land, though on a strict table it must cross the centre line within seven seconds.

Can you block the goal with your mallet?

Yes. Defending with the mallet in front of the goal is the game, and the only limit is that the mallet must stay on your own side and never go over the puck. Some tables add a house rule that the mallet may not sit inside the goal mouth itself; agree it before you start.