More about Puck Duel
Puck Duel is a short air hockey match built around angles and speed. The puck keeps most of its speed off the walls, so the best attackers think in banks and rebounds rather than straight shots. It trains quick positioning: staying between the puck and your goal while still being close enough to counter.
Matches against the Rival AI are quick, so you have to attack within seconds. The computer makes different mistakes at each difficulty, such as misjudging where a shot will land or leaving a corner open. A green boost ring also lights up from time to time on the center line and gives the puck a burst of speed when it passes through. If the clock ends level, overtime starts and the next goal wins.
Scoring and progress
A solo match ends when someone reaches 7 goals or the 45-second clock runs out, and the higher goal count wins. Your match score is the goal difference, and your grade follows it: S for a margin of five or more, A for three or more, B for any win, C for a draw and D for a loss. The results also count shots, power shots and saves. Each difficulty keeps a best score. Two-player matches are not ranked.
Common questions
What is a power shot?
A power shot happens when you strike the puck with a fast swing. The match results count your power shots, shots on goal and saves.
How does the Rival AI change with difficulty?
Rookie on Easy is slow and misses its blocks, Pro on Medium reacts in about 220 milliseconds, and Ace on Hard reacts in about 80 milliseconds with very sharp aim.
What happens if the match is tied when the clock ends?
The match goes into a 20-second overtime where the next goal wins. If nobody scores, the match ends level and counts as a draw.