How to play
Two big-headed players, one ball and two hoops. Orange shoots at the hoop on the right, Violet at the hoop on the left. Score more points than your rival before the clock runs out. A match lasts 60 seconds, and you can pick 90 or 120 on the menu.
- Orange runs with A and D, jumps with W and shoots with Space.
- Violet runs with the left and right arrows, jumps with ↑ and shoots with Enter.
- Gamepads work too: the stick runs, up jumps and A shoots. The first pad is Orange, the second is Violet.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Drag on your half of the screen to run and jump, and hold the ball button to aim.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard.
- P or Esc pauses.
Catching and stealing
A loose ball that drops gently onto your head sticks: you catch it and carry it above your head. A fast ball just bounces off. While your rival carries the ball, touch it with your head (usually with a jump) to knock it loose. The player who loses the ball cannot catch it again for a moment. You may only hold the ball for six seconds. When the shot clock runs out the ball drops from your hands.
The shot meter
Hold the shoot button and a meter appears above the ball. It sweeps from empty to full and back in about a second. Let go while the needle is in the green zone and the ball flies on a clean arc to the middle of the rim. Let go early and the shot falls short; let go late and it flies long, perhaps off the backboard. The meter is the same from every distance, so practice the timing once and it works everywhere.
A shot released from behind the three-point line (the wide arc on the floor) is worth three points. Every other basket is worth two, and a ball that goes into your own hoop counts for your rival.
Dunks
Carry the ball close to the rim, jump, and press the shoot button once while you are in the air with the ball near rim height. You slam the ball through the hoop for two points. On the ground the same button starts the meter instead, so a dunk always starts with a jump.
Hot spot
With Hot spot switched on, a glowing circle burns somewhere on the floor. A shot released while you stand inside it is worth one extra point: three from mid-range, four from behind the line. After every basket the hot spot moves to a new place.
Strategy
Shoot from a standstill. The meter does not care where you are, but your rival does: a shot from right in front of them gets blocked. Find space first.
Block with your head. When your rival starts charging, jump in front of them. A ball that hits your head is no longer their shot.
Watch the shot clock. A ring flashes around the ball in the last second and a half. Shoot before it drops.
Hunt the hot spot. One extra point on every basket adds up quickly in a sixty-second game.
The same characters play football in Bobble Kick. For something sillier with only one button each, try Flop Wrestle, and for a team-up instead of a duel, play Pop Split together.
If you enjoy Bobble Hoops, try Bobble Kick or Bobble Volley next.
