Line the puck up, flick it down the table and stop it as far as you dare. Knock the other colour off, guard your leader and keep the last puck for yourself.
How a round is scored
Each side slides four pucks per round, taking turns. When all eight have been played, only the side with the puck farthest down the table scores — one score for every puck of that colour that lies beyond the other side's best puck. A puck in the first zone is worth 1, in the second 2, in the third 3, and a puck hanging over the far edge is worth 4. Pucks that fall off the table or stop short of the first line are taken off before counting.
The side that scores throws first in the next round, which hands the last puck — the hammer — to the other side. If nobody scores, the order stays the same. The first to 15, or to 21 in the longer variant, wins the match.
Controls
Drag the puck sideways at the throwing end to choose its line, then flick forward: the faster the flick, the farther it travels. The table is long, so a map of the scoring end sits beside it and shows every puck and every zone line. With a keyboard you can move the puck with the arrow keys and slide with Space.
Tactics that pay
The hammer is the biggest advantage in the game. With the last puck you can always answer: knock the leading puck off, or slide past it into a higher zone. Without the hammer, a puck in the 3 zone is a target rather than a lead — the other side gets a free shot at it with their final puck. Throwing first, it is often wiser to stop in the 2 zone just off centre, where a knock-off is harder and your next pucks can protect it.
A guard is a puck left short of the scoring zones, straight in front of your leader. It cannot score by itself but it blocks the straight line, so the other side has to cut the shot at an angle, which is much harder to land. When your leader is well guarded, the best reply is often a draw shot that stops beside it rather than a knock-off.
Knock-offs need pace rather than precision on the stopping point. Aim at the centre of the puck: a full hit sends it off the end and leaves yours sitting near the spot. A thin hit only nudges it, and might push it deeper. Near the side edges, remember that pucks fall off the sides as well as the end.
The computer opponent
The computer considers draws to every zone at several lines, straight and angled knock-offs and promotions of its own pucks; Expert also plays guards. Each idea is slid through the same physics and judged by the score it leaves, then thrown with an error that shrinks from Easy to Expert.
Questions and answers
Why did my puck in the 3 zone score nothing?
Only the side with the farthest puck scores. If the other colour has a puck beyond yours, all of yours count zero in that round.
What does the hanging 4 mean?
A puck that stops partly over the far edge without falling is worth 4 — the hardest stop on the table.
Who throws first in the next round?
The side that scored. The other side gets the last puck of the round.
What is the daily set-up?
Three pucks of the other colour are placed by the date. You throw four and try to finish with as many points as possible beyond them.