How to play Puffer Polo

Puffer Polo is underwater polo for two octopuses. The ball is a pufferfish who would rather be left alone. Knock him into the other octopus's cave more times than they knock him into yours.

The basics

A match lasts two minutes. Coral defends the cave on the left and Violet defends the cave on the right. Every time the puffer goes all the way into a cave, the other side scores and play restarts from the middle. If the score is level when the clock runs out, the match goes to overtime and the next goal wins.

The puffer drifts back toward the middle of the pool by himself, so he never gets stuck on the sand. That also means a slow shot aimed high or low will curve back toward cave height.

Controls

• One player or online: swim with W A S D or the arrow keys, and dash with Space or Shift.
• Two players on one keyboard: Coral uses W A S D and Space. Violet uses the arrow keys and Enter or /.
• Phone or tablet: drag the joystick to swim and tap the Dash button.
• P pauses a match against the computer or on a shared keyboard.

Dashing

Swimming into the puffer only nudges him. A dash is your real shot: it launches him at about twice the speed of a nudge, in the direction from your octopus through the puffer. Line the three of you up, octopus, puffer, cave, and then dash.

You hold three dashes, shown as dots under your octopus. Each one takes about a second and a half to come back, so three dashes in a row leaves you slow for a while. Keep one in reserve for defending.

Dashing into the other octopus when they are not dashing stuns them for half a second and knocks them away. It is the quickest way to clear a defender out of a cave mouth.

Power-up bubbles

Every so often a bubble rises from the sand. Touch it to use it straight away. If nobody takes it, it pops at the surface.

• Plus sign, Giant: you grow for seven seconds. You are heavier, harder to push, and your dash shots are faster.
• Chevrons, Turbo: six seconds of faster swimming and dashes that never run out.
• Bolt, Zap: the other octopus is stunned for a second and a half. Take the shot while they cannot move.

Tips

• Get behind the puffer first. Hitting him from the side sends him into a wall. Swim round to your own side of him before you dash.
• Use the corners. The pool's slanted corners bounce the puffer back toward the middle, so a missed shot often comes straight back out.
• Shoot past the defender. A defender sitting in the middle of a cave blocks a straight shot. Aim for the top or bottom of the cave mouth, or stun them first.
• Do not chase every bubble. Leaving your cave to grab one gives the other side an open goal. Go only when the puffer is far from your cave.
• Defend with your body. Staying between the puffer and your cave beats dashing at him and missing.

Playing online with a friend

Choose Online on the menu and press Create game. You get a four-letter code. Send it to your friend, or press Copy invite link and send the link. They choose Online, type the code and press Join, and the match starts for both of you. The player who created the game is Coral and the player who joined is Violet.

The two browsers connect directly to each other, so there is nothing to install and no account to make. If the player who created the game closes or hides their tab, the match stops for both players.

Playing against the computer

There are three levels. Rookie swims slowly and rarely dashes. Pro lines up its shots and goes for bubbles. All-Star is as fast as you are, dashes often and aims well, so you will need stuns and power-ups to beat it.