How to start
- Open bigboard.games on every device and tap Start a table on one of them.
- The others join by themselves on the same Wi-Fi; elsewhere, scan the QR code or type the four-letter code.
- Lay the devices edge to edge, screens up, as the drawing shows, and pick the game.
Four screens, one rink
Four devices lie in a line, end to end, in a 2 × 2 square, or in a cross: a facing pair with the other two across its ends. Each player defends a goal at their own edge, and the puck crosses every seam where two screens meet, phones and tablets mixed.
You don't need four devices for four players. Two people can share one device, each with a mallet and a goal at their own edge, as long as the device has a free outer edge for each of them; a device holds up to four that way, and a table up to twelve. Most of the other 4 player games here seat twelve the same way.
Free-for-all or two teams
In free-for-all everyone starts with five lives and loses one for every goal let in. At zero, that goal is walled off and its player is out; the last one standing wins. It is loud, quick and a little chaotic, with shots coming from three directions; 3 player air hockey plays the same way with one goal fewer.
Teams take a line or a square, never a cross: the four devices split into two sides of two that play to 5, 7 or 11 goals. A lone player on a device defends the edge that faces away from the other team; in a line, the two middle players have no goal of their own and play out in front.
When a phone drops out
A device that loses its connection pauses the match on every screen while it comes back. In free-for-all, if it doesn't, its goal is walled off and the other three play on; if it sat in the middle of a line, the rink closes up so its neighbours meet across one seam.
Teams don't shrink: a team match that loses a device ends. Short a fourth player? Put a bot on the fourth device as you arrange the table, and it defends that device's goal for its team.
4 players: questions and answers
Can four play on four phones?
Yes, laid in a line, a square or a cross, one player at each device.
Can two share one device?
Yes, each gets a mallet and a goal at their own edge of it.
Does a dropped phone end free-for-all?
No, its goal is walled off and the rest play on.
Can we play in teams?
Yes, with the four devices in a line or a square: pick teams before the match and play to 5, 7 or 11 goals.