Hoops Havoc.

How to play Hoops Havoc

1. Start with the Warm-up if you are new. Short drills teach you to run behind the arc, make a jump shot, release at the top for a perfect swish, hit a three, pump fake, use a dribble move, lay it up and dunk.
2. Move with A and D or the arrow keys and jump with W, Up or Space. On a touch screen, use the arrow buttons, Jump, Move and Shoot below the court. Reverse at speed to plant and cut.
3. With the ball, hold F, J, K or the Shoot button to rise into a jump shot, and let go at the top of the jump, on the bright line. Check the meter label: 3PT means a three, CONTESTED means a hand is in your face, ON THE RUN and WIND mean the window is tighter.
4. Drive at the rim and tap Shoot for a layup off the glass. Jump first and tap Shoot near the rim to dunk. A quick tap while standing is a pump fake: wait for the defender to leave the floor, then go.
5. Press S or Down (Move) with the ball to cross over, to spin past a defender at speed, or, holding away from the rim, to step back. Without the ball, Move is a defensive slide.
6. On defence, stay between your rival and your basket. Tap Shoot to poke at a low dribble, or jump and tap as a shot rises to block it, but never touch a shot on its way down above the rim. Chase rebounds: the first player to reach a loose ball takes it.
7. In 2 players, player one uses A, D, W, F and S and attacks right. Player two uses Left, Right, Up, slash (/) and Down and attacks left. On a tablet each player has their own buttons, and two gamepads also work.

Make your move

About Hoops Havoc

Hoops Havoc is an original one-on-one basketball game drawn entirely in code. You play Milo, in the colours you pick in the Locker, attacking the basket on the right while your rival attacks the one on the left. Every match opens with a jump ball at centre court. Buckets inside the arc are worth two, shots from behind it three, and layups and dunks two. Most matches are first to eleven on a ninety-second clock. If the clock runs out, the higher score wins, and a shot already in the air at the buzzer still counts. A tie goes to sudden basket, which starts from a new jump ball.

The ball flies on real physics. It has drag, backspin and, on outdoor courts, a gusting wind, and the rim it meets is a real ring with a front and back iron. A clean release swishes and snaps the net. A shot a touch long hits the back iron, and because a good release carries backspin it softens there and often drops. A flat or rushed shot can roll around the rim and spin back out. Shots off the glass bank in, misses come off the rim the way they should, and long misses make long rebounds. Nothing is scripted: what the ball does after the release is decided by the iron, the glass and the net.

Shooting is a jump shot. Hold the shoot button and your player dips, rises and lets go when you release. The best release is at the very top of the jump, marked by the bright line on the meter. The green window around it gets narrower from long range, with a defender's hand in your face (more if they are in the air), when you shoot on the run, and in a strong outdoor wind. It gets wider on the hot hand, three makes in a row, and wider still when you are on fire after five. A very quick tap is a pump fake. Driving into the lane and tapping Shoot lays the ball up off the glass. Jumping first and tapping Shoot near the rim is a dunk: a two-hand slam, a tomahawk off a long run-up, a windmill when you are on fire, a reverse from under the rim, or a putback when you grab a miss in the air.

Players move with momentum. They speed up, slide to a stop, and plant hard to cut back, with a squeak and a quick first step. The Move button turns that footwork into dribble moves. A crossover jabs one way and explodes the other, and if the defender is leaning the wrong way at speed it breaks their ankles. But a crossover in front of a waiting hand can be poked away. A spin at full speed rolls past a planted defender with the ball held on your body. Holding away from the rim makes a stepback, which gives you a little space and halves the contest on your next shot. Without the ball, Move is a quick defensive slide.

Defence is about reading the ball handler. A poke at a low dribble knocks the ball loose for a scramble, and the steal is yours only if you recover it. A jump timed with the shooter's rise can block a jumper or reject a dunk at the rim, but touching a shot on its way down above the rim is goaltending and the basket counts. Computer rivals use exactly the same controls, speed, jump and meter as you. Rookie, Pro, All-Star and Legend differ in reaction time, timing and decisions. Each rival also learns within a match: they sag off a player who keeps driving, close out on a shooter, stop biting on repeated fakes and crossovers, and protect the ball against a pickpocket.

The courts change while you play. The rooftop, the seaside club, the winter park and the after-hours court move from afternoon through sunset to night over a match, and their lamps flicker on as the sky darkens. A wind you can see in the pennants, clouds, palms and snow pushes the ball in flight. Passers-by gather along the fence as an outdoor game gets close. In Maple Street Gym the window light fades and the wall scoreboard keeps the score live. In Lantern Hall the jumbotron shows the score and calls out runs, comebacks and fires, the lights dim for clutch time, and spotlights follow the ball handler. The crowd stands, waves signs and chants as the game heats up.

The Club Ladder is the main path: six stages of four matches from Rooftop Social to Lantern Hall, each against a rival with a style you can read before tip-off and three stars to earn for the win and two goals. Stars unlock kits, headwear, balls, courts and trick-shot sets. Quick Match lets you pick any court you have reached, a beaten rival, a level and a target, and Havoc adds a new twist after every basket, such as moon gravity, a beach ball, a tiny hoop or spring shoes. The Shootout gives you fifty seconds and five racks with money balls. Trick Shots has eighteen three-ball levels with moving rims, cardboard defenders, beams and a bank-shot challenge. The Daily Match gives everyone the same rival, court and twists each day.

A little help for your next high score

• Let go at the top of the jump, not as you leave the floor. A perfect release swishes. One a little late hits the back iron, where backspin usually lets it drop, while one released early comes up short off the front rim.
• Watch the CONTESTED label. If a defender is tight, step back with Move, pump fake, or drive past them instead of shooting into their hands.
• Cross over when the defender is leaning: if they are sliding the wrong way at speed, they go down. Do not cross over right in front of a waiting hand.
• Read the pennants outdoors. In a strong wind, take closer shots or wait for the gust to drop before shooting from deep.
• Jump late to block. Leaving the floor as the shooter starts to dip lands you too early. And never swat a shot that is already coming down at the rim.
• Chase your own misses. Grab one in the air near the rim and tap Shoot for a putback dunk.

Good questions