How to play Air Hockey

Air Hockey is a free arcade game. Slide your mallet along the bottom of the rink, smack the puck past the bot, and race to 7 goals across three difficulty levels.

How to play

  1. Pick a difficulty

    Choose Easy, Medium, or Hard from the menu. Harder bots react faster, track the puck better, and make fewer mistakes.

  2. Move your mallet

    On mobile, drag your finger anywhere on the rink to slide the red mallet. On desktop, the mallet follows your cursor. No clicking needed.

  3. Return the puck

    Block the puck before it passes your mallet. Where the puck strikes your mallet changes the return angle. Edges send it wide, center sends it straight.

  4. Hit with speed

    A fast-moving mallet transfers extra speed to the puck and can produce a flaming critical hit that the bot struggles to stop.

  5. Score 7 goals

    You score when the puck gets past the bot's mallet; the bot scores when it gets past yours. First to 7 goals wins the match.

Tips

  • Strike with the edge of your mallet to create sharp angles the bot can't reach.
  • A fast swipe at the moment of contact adds power. Great for firing the puck past the bot.
  • The rails are your friend: bank the puck off a wall to stretch the bot's tracking.
  • On Hard, vary your returns. The bot punishes predictable straight shots.

About Air Hockey

Air Hockey on 100 Daily Games is a fast, arcade-style table game played on a vertical rink. You control the red mallet at the bottom of the screen, a bot controls the blue mallet at the top, and the first player to reach 7 goals takes the match. Every rally is quick, readable, and physics-driven: the puck speeds up with each return, banks off the side rails, and flies faster when struck with a quick mallet.

Three difficulty levels change how the bot behaves rather than just how fast the puck moves. On Easy the bot reacts slowly and misjudges returns often, making it a relaxed introduction. Medium tightens its tracking and reaction time for a balanced rally. Hard produces a sharp opponent that reads angles early, recovers quickly, and rarely whiffs. Beating it takes deliberate power and placement.

The controls are designed for one finger or a mouse. There are no buttons to press during play: your mallet simply follows your finger on mobile or your cursor on desktop, with smooth easing that keeps movement responsive without feeling twitchy. Because aim is controlled by where and how fast your mallet meets the puck, every return is a small decision. Block safely down the middle, or swing for the corner with speed and risk the miss.

Like every game on 100 Daily Games, Air Hockey is free to play in your browser with no app download or sign-up required. It works in portrait on phones and scales cleanly to desktop, making it an easy pick for a quick match on a break or a longer best-of session against the Hard bot.

Frequently asked questions

How do I win at Air Hockey?

Score 7 goals before the bot does. You earn a goal whenever the puck travels past the bot's mallet at the top of the rink.

How do I hit the puck harder?

Move your mallet quickly into the puck. A fast swipe at contact adds extra puck speed and can trigger a flaming critical hit.

What changes between Easy, Medium, and Hard?

Difficulty adjusts the bot's tracking speed, reaction delay, mistake rate, and return accuracy, plus how fast rallies get. Hard bots read your shots early and rarely miss.

Do I need a keyboard?

No. The mallet follows your finger on touch screens and your cursor on desktop. No clicks or key presses required during play.

Is Air Hockey free?

Yes. Air Hockey is free to play in your browser on 100 Daily Games, with no download required.