Rink Rattle

Three on three

Three skaters a side and a goalie each. You skate one player at a time, and the computer plays everyone else, both goalies too.

A game is one four-minute period, and a tie stands, except in the playoffs of a season, where it goes to sudden-death overtime. Nobody tires, so there are no line changes to manage: you just play.

3skaters a side, plus a goalie
4:00one period, then overtime in the playoffs
0line changes: nobody tires

Big hits

Skate at speed toward an opposing skater close by and Shoot turns into Check.

Land it and he usually goes down, and a carrier who goes down loses the puck. He doesn't need to have the puck, but when two players are in reach, the check leans toward the carrier.

You can't check while your own team has the puck: Shoot is for one-timers then. The computer's players hit too, and sometimes go looking for the man they're marking.

In the game: the blue skater who threw the check stays up while the orange carrier slides on his side beside the loose puck. — A check that landed. The carrier is down and the puck is loose.

Faceoffs you can win

The puck drops after a pause, and Shoot reads Draw.

The first centre to tap as it lands wins it. Tap before it lands and you lose it. The game tells you which: Won it, Lost it or Too early.

In the game: two centres wait at the centre-ice dot as the puck falls between them, with their wingers alongside. — Centre ice, the puck half way down.

The light goes on

A red light on top of the net flashes when a goal goes in.

So a goal at the far end of the rink is plain to see, even on a phone.

Then the scorers lift their sticks, the crowd jumps (and roars, when the goal is yours), and the goal plays again, slowed down, from high behind the net. Tap to skip it.

In the game: the puck flies in high behind the goalie, and the red light on top of the net is lit. — A goal from a computer-played game, caught as it went in.

A season you carry forward

Name your team and play ten games against five invented rivals, each of them twice.

The other teams play each week too, so the table moves around you, and some rivals are tougher than others. A win is worth two points and a tie one. Finish in the top four for the playoffs: first plays fourth, second plays third, and the winners meet in the final.

Every game earns points for your three skaters, win or lose, and a big hit or two earns more. Spend them on each skater's skating, shot or hitting. The game saves your season after every game, so you can stop and pick it up later. Season on the title opens it.

The season screen: the Rink Rattlers second in the table after six games, next up the Copper Foxes, and points to spend on its skaters. — Week 7 of 10. The dashed line is the playoff cut.

How to play

On a touchscreen

Skate: The stick on the left.
With the puck: Tap Pass to pass toward a teammate in the direction you're pushing. Hold Shoot to wind up, and let go to shoot.
A teammate has it: Pass reads Call, to ask for it.
Without the puck: Pass reads Switch, to take another skater. Shoot reads Poke to reach for the puck, or Check when you're skating at someone with speed.
Faceoffs: Shoot reads Draw.

With a keyboard

Skate: ← ↑ → ↓ or W A S D
Pass: J Z or E
Shoot: Hold K X or Space
Sound: M

Before you start

On the title, Left or Right beside Shoots picks which way your centre shoots. The game remembers it. Skating off from the title plays a single game; Season, at its top left, starts your season or carries it on, and the button beside it switches the game to Czech.

The game on a phone held upright: the rink from above, the stick at the bottom left and two buttons at the bottom right.

The game on a phone held sideways: most of the rink in view, the stick on the left and the buttons on the right. — Upright or sideways, as you like.

What it leaves out

Shootouts. A tied playoff game is settled by sudden-death overtime instead, three on three.
Penalties. Nothing is ever called on a hit.

What's new

Build 27

Česky! The whole game is now in Czech as well as English, chosen by your browser or by the button on the title.

Build 26

Every goal gets a slow-motion replay from behind the net, a celebration on the ice and a roar from the crowd.

Build 25

Seasons are here: name your team and play ten games against five invented rivals while the rest of the league plays around you. The top four make the playoffs, where a tie goes to sudden-death overtime. Every game earns points to make your three skaters faster, harder shooting or harder hitting.

Rink Rattle's build notes on launchwaygames.com

Good to know

Where it plays

Play opens the game on launchwaygames.com, the home of Launchway's games. It keeps your sound setting, your centre's shot, your language and your season there. The app keeps its own, so set them once in each, and a season begun in one carries on in that one.

The app

Add Rink Rattle to your home screen and it opens in its own window, without the browser around it. In the app, the game keeps working without a connection once you've played it.

Free, and nothing else

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