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 court
Four devices lie in a cross, a facing pair with the other two across its ends, or in a line, end to end; a 2 × 2 square works too. Every player guards a goal line on the court's outer edge where they sit, every line the same length, and the ball crosses every seam where two screens meet, phones and tablets mixed.
You don't need four devices for four players. Several people can share a device, each with a line and a paddle of their own at their own edge, and each moving it from their own zone of the screen; a device holds up to four that way, a table up to twelve. The other 4 player games here seat a table the same way.
Free-for-all or two teams
In free-for-all everyone starts with 3, 5 or 7 lives and loses one for every ball let in. At zero that line turns to rail and its player is out; the last one standing wins. Balls come from three directions at once, and a Multi-ball sends three of them; 3 player paddle tennis plays the same way with one line fewer.
Teams take a line or a square, never a cross: the four devices split into two sides, each half of a line, or each column of a square. Every teammate keeps a line and a paddle, a ball into any of a side's lines is a point to the other, and the first team to 5, 7 or 11 wins.
When a device drops out
A device that loses its connection pauses the match on every screen and ends the rally with no point. In free-for-all, if it doesn't come back, Play on turns its lines to wall, its players are out, and the court plays on over its screen.
A team match doesn't shrink: it ends. Short a fourth player? Add a bot as you arrange the table: it takes a seat on the edge of the court and defends that line for its side.
4 players: questions and answers
Can four play on four phones?
Yes, laid in a cross or a line, one player at each device.
Can several people share one device?
Yes, up to four, each with a line and a paddle at their own edge of it.
Does a dropped phone end free-for-all?
No, its lines turn to wall and the rest play on.
Can we play in teams?
Yes, with the four devices in a line or a 2 × 2 square: pick teams before the match and play to 5, 7 or 11 points.