Arclight: Air Hockey Duel

Swirl the puck under your thumb, then let it go. It bends in the air and kicks off the walls at a new angle.

Arclight is a live 1v1 duel between two phones. Grab the puck, bank it through the nodes and curve it into your rival's wall before the fuse runs out. Think air hockey, except you get to hold the puck first.

Every rally draws one of four pucks, and each one flies its own way. Ice glides far and rebounds hard. Volt is light and leaves your hand fast. Fire is heavy: it hits hardest, comes off the walls soft and bends less than the rest. Standard is the one you'll learn by heart.

Then make it look like yours. 9 trails and 8 arena floors: a spiral that twists around the puck's path, hollow afterimages left in its wake, heat rising toward the goal, rings spreading across the floor. Every trail burns toward white as your multiplier climbs. None of it changes a number.

HOW A RALLY GOES
• The puck comes at you. Grab it before it hits your wall.
• Drag it through the nodes in order. Every node you bank makes the hit bigger.
• Bank the whole route and the puck is charged. That's the one that hurts.
• Flick it up. If it reaches their back wall untouched, they lose HP.
• Hold it too long and the fuse burns you instead. Throw it with nothing banked and you take recoil.

Both players start every round on 100 HP. Win three rounds and the match is yours.

SPIN
Draw a circle with your thumb while you hold the puck and it starts to turn. It keeps that spin while you work the route, so you can set up the curve before you bank a single node. Let go and the shot bends. Clip a side wall and the spin kicks it off at a new angle instead of a clean bounce. Three high-spin throws unlock the Spiral trail.

YOUR ROUTE GROWS WITH YOU
You start every round on a two-node route. Bank all of it and your next route is one node longer, up to five. Miss one and the same route comes back, so you can learn it. Whoever keeps finishing their route hits harder.

Every second node you bank buys you another second on the fuse. Later rounds pay more for the same route and shrink the nodes. In round three a charged route can take 60 HP in one throw.

THE FOUR PUCKS
You both play the same puck each rally.
• Standard. Two-second fuse. No tricks.
• Ice. Wide nodes. Rush the drag and the combo breaks.
• Volt. The shortest fuse, the smallest nodes, and you only see the next one. Lighter hit.
• Fire. The longest fuse. Hold on each node for a beat and keep moving between them. Heaviest hit.

WAYS TO PLAY
• Online. Tap PLAY and the game finds you a rival.
• Friend. Send a challenge link. Play one match through it and you're friends.
• Local. Two phones on the same Wi-Fi. One hosts, one joins.
• Practice. Warm up against a bot set to Easy, Normal or Fast.
• Learn. A short guided match that teaches the game in four moves.

FRIENDS AND THE LADDER
Online wins move your rating, and the ladder shows who is on top. Friends get a green dot when their game is open. Tap one to see your record against them: wins, losses, streak. When a match ends it's REMATCH or NEW RIVAL. You can report or block any player from the results screen, the ladder or your friends list.

SKINS
Some you earn with perfect routes, high spin, comebacks and long rallies. Right now all of them are open to wear.

WHAT YOU WON'T FIND
No ads. Nothing to buy. No energy timer. No loot boxes. No sign-up form: you get a random player name the first time you play online.

Settings has switches for sound, vibration, reduced motion and fewer flashes.

Lost the match? Skill issue. Hit REMATCH.

Questions or bugs: nodeboundgame@gmail.com

Recent changes:
First public release.
• Online 1v1: tap PLAY and the game finds you a rival.
• Challenge a friend with a link, or play on the same Wi-Fi.
• Swirl the puck while you hold it and your throw bends.
• Four pucks that fly differently: Standard, Ice, Volt and Fire.
• Practice bot on Easy, Normal or Fast, plus a short LEARN match.
• Ladder, friends, 9 trails and 8 arena floors.
Tell us what breaks: nodeboundgame@gmail.com