How to play Arcade Hoops

Arcade basketball: swipe up to shoot, sink as many baskets as you can in 60 seconds, catch fire for double points, and take the daily shootout.

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Arcade Hoops is a sixty-second basketball shootout. You shoot from a spot on the floor facing the hoop, and a new ball arrives a moment after each shot is over.

Shooting

Swipe up from the ball and let go. The length of your swipe sets how hard you shoot: a longer swipe throws the ball further. The angle of your swipe aims it left or right. Every shot leaves your hands at the same upward angle, so power and aim are all you control. On a keyboard, the arrow keys set your aim and holding the space bar fills a power meter that rises and falls; let go to shoot.

Scoring

A ball that drops down through the hoop is a basket worth 2 points. If it touches neither the rim nor the backboard on the way, it is a swish worth 3. A ball going up through the hoop from below does not count. Make three baskets in a row and you are on fire: each basket after that is worth double, 4 for a basket and 6 for a swish, until you miss.

Spots

The first shot is straight on, like a free throw. After every basket you move to a new spot; the spots drift further from the hoop and further to the side as you score. After a miss you shoot again from the same spot.

The clock

You have sixty seconds. With thirty seconds left the hoop begins to slide from side to side, and you must aim where it will be when the ball arrives. When time runs out no new shot can be taken, but a ball already in the air still counts if it goes in.

Physics

The ball flies, spins and bounces with simple real physics. It can bounce off the backboard, roll on the rim and fall in or out, and bounce on the floor. The game runs its physics at a fixed rate, so a shot flies the same on every screen.

Fair spots

Every spot used in the shootout has been checked with the game's own physics: it can be scored, a swish is possible, and the range of power that scores is never narrower than 7% of the full power range, including while the hoop moves.

Daily Shootout and Free Play

The Daily Shootout gives everyone the same spots and the same moving hoop for the day. Your best score of the day is kept and a finished shootout on consecutive days builds a streak. Free Play has new spots every game, and sharing a Free Play score sends a link to the exact same spots.

Controls

Swipe up from the ball and let go to shoot. A longer swipe shoots further, and the angle aims.

With a mouse, drag up and release.
Keyboard: Left and Right aim, hold Space to fill the power meter and release it to shoot.

Strategy tips

Swipe at the same speed every time. Only the length of the swipe matters, so a steady hand helps.
If a shot falls short, swipe a little longer from the same spot; you get the same spot back after a miss.
Watch where a miss lands: short means a longer swipe, long means a shorter one, wide means change the angle.
Once you are on fire, take an extra moment over each shot. A miss costs you the double points.
When the hoop starts moving, aim where it will be in about a second, not where it is now.
A swish is worth 3, but a basket off the rim still counts. Do not slow down chasing swishes.