Hockey Kids

Sticks, a puck and low boards all the way around, so the puck never goes out. Quick passes, slap shots and a crease nobody can score from.

Play it free Put your kid in Hockey Kids

How we made it

At a glance

Format: 4 v 4 on a blacktop rink, small goals, no goalies
Players: One player against the computer
Levels: Easy, Medium and Hard
Plays on: iPads, Chromebooks, phones and laptops, right in the browser
Rink: Rounded boards all around, a crease in front of each goal

What it teaches

Moving the puck with passes instead of carrying it alone
The crease: nobody can play the puck in front of the net
Snapping off a quick shot near the goal, and winding up from farther out
Spreading out, with one defender staying home

What this game means

Hockey Kids is gym-class floor hockey: no skates, no goalie, just a stick, a puck and the blacktop at the park. It's fast, it's loud, and it teaches the one rule every floor hockey kid learns the hard way, which is that you stay out of the crease.

It also answered a question for the studio: how much of a game carries over to a new sport? Nearly all of it. The park, the eight kids, the controls, the computer levels and the camera came straight from Soccer Kids, so the work went into the sport itself.

Tap or slap

Tap Shoot for a quick shot. Hold it and the kid draws the stick back for a slap shot, with a little hop on the puck when it lands.

Sticks on every kid

Both hands stay on the stick through a swing. Away from the puck, a kid carries it in one hand and pumps the other arm, the way kids really run with a stick.

Never out of bounds

The boards go all the way around, so there are no throw-ins or corners. Play only stops for goals, and a faceoff at center starts it again.

Made for small screens

The blacktop is light gray so the black puck is easy to see on a phone, and control jumps to the kid nearest the puck before you have to think about it.

Screens from the game

Hockey Kids, side camera: Kai chases the loose puck as Maya, Noor, Priya and Leo converge on the light gray blacktop

Hockey Kids: Leo's hard shot a tenth of a second after he lets it go, the puck streaking toward goal with Amara alongside

Hockey Kids from the overhead camera: five kids crowd Red's crease with the puck loose

Hockey Kids on a phone held sideways: Ziggy charges a shot at Red's crease, with the Pass and Shoot buttons on screen

On the field

Every kid is drawn by the same code as the game, in their team uniform. With a Player Edition, your kid joins them.

Ziggy

Hardest shot
Maya

Fastest
Kai

Best passer
Amara

Tough defender
Leo

Hardest shot
Priya

Fastest
Mateo

Best passer
Noor

Tough defender

Put your kid in Hockey Kids

How to play

On a tablet or phone: Drag on the left side of the screen to run. Pass and Shoot buttons sit on the right; hold Shoot for a slap shot.
On a keyboard: Run with WASD or the arrows. J or Z passes to the kid you aim at. Space or K shoots: tap it for a quick shot, hold it for a slap shot. C switches the camera.