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.
A duel across the seam
Lay the two phones facing each other, or a phone facing a tablet, and each player gets a field of pockets on their own screen. Moles rise on both. Bop one on yours and it doesn't just vanish: it pops up at once on your friend's field, ringed in your colour, and their reaction time starts counting from that moment. Unlike the puck in air hockey on two phones, nothing flies across: the race is the reaction.
Along the seam between the screens runs a tug-of-war bar. Every bop pulls it your way, further for a quick one, and a mole that gets away from you hands your friend a big piece. Everything moves the bar harder as the match goes on, up to three times as hard after two minutes, so no lead is safe. Push your friend down to an eighth of the bar and you win. One phone for both? 2 player whack a mole splits a single screen.
Why slapping the screen loses
Misses count. A touch that bops nothing gives 3 % of the bar to the other player and stuns that spot for 300 milliseconds, so a frantic finger loses ground instead of gaining it. Four or more fingers landing together are one miss that can't bop anything.
A fair touch is never punished: a second finger on a mole you just bopped, a tap a few millimetres beside a mole, or a hand resting on the rail to steady the phone. A bop at a typical reaction moves the bar about as far as one miss does, so aim beats speed alone.
Pace, Cooperative and a friend far away
More moles join at 20, 50 and 90 seconds, and each one stays up for less time as the match goes on, from 1.4 seconds at the start to 0.6 later. Each phone draws its field at its own scale, so a phone against a tablet still gives both players pockets sized for their fingers. With a third player, every bopped mole goes to the leader instead: see 3 player whack a mole.
Rather not compete? Pick Cooperative in the lobby and the two screens become one field you defend together. And if your friend is somewhere else, they can join with the table's link or code: their own screen becomes their whole field, every mole you bop still pops up there, and the bar shows you both how the race is going.
2 players: questions and answers
Does a bopped mole pop up on my friend's screen?
Yes, at once, ringed in your colour, and their reaction time starts from that moment.
Do misses cost anything?
Yes, a miss hands 3 % of the bar to your friend and stuns that spot for 300 ms.
Can we play as a team instead?
Yes, pick Cooperative and both screens become one field with five shared lives.
Can a friend play from another place?
Yes, they join with the table's link or code and play on their own screen; every mole you bop still lands there.