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.
Two sides, one score
A team match of air hockey puts two players on each side and keeps one score per team: every goal your side scores counts for both of you, and the first team to the target wins. Pick 5, 7 or 11 goals in the lobby; comeback goals narrow the trailing team's goals unless you turn them off.
Teams split by device. On four devices, two belong to each side; on two tablets, the two people sharing each tablet are a team, each with a mallet and a goal at their own edge of the screen. All five arenas play in teams too, from Classic to Mines.
Who defends what
A player alone on a device defends the edge that faces away from the other team. Lay four devices in a line, two per side, and the end players guard the goals while the two in the middle have no goal at all: they play out in front and take the shots.
On two shared tablets, every player has an edge and a goal of their own, both teammates on one screen. Either way the puck crosses every seam, so a pass to your teammate can slide onto their screen. For every player on their own, 4 player air hockey plays free-for-all with five lives each.
Three players and a bot
Only three of you? Put a bot on the fourth device as you arrange the table: it holds that end for its team like anyone else. Wherever a bot sits on the rink's edge, it plays for the team whose device it sits at, since teams split the devices.
A team match doesn't shrink when someone leaves: if a device drops out and doesn't come back, the match ends rather than leaving a side a player short. Checkers 2v2 is the other team game here, two partners moving one army.
Teams: questions and answers
Do we need four devices?
No, two tablets with two players each make two teams of two.
Does each player defend their own goal?
Yes, at their own edge, except the two middle players in a line of four, who have none.
Does a team score as one?
Yes, a goal by either teammate counts for the side.
Can a bot fill a team?
Yes, put it on the fourth device as you arrange the table.