SplatStick

A fighter has two bars, and they work differently. Health simply runs out. Damage piles up and decides how far the next hit sends you. There are two ways to kill — finish them off, or throw them off the edge — and late in a round the second one is usually faster.

The fighting

Attack, heavy attack on hold, grab and throw, shield, roll. Shield at the last moment to parry. In the air: double jump, dash on a double tap of a direction, push off a wall. Miss the ledge and you can hang on and climb back — but while you hang, everyone can see you.

The arena gets in everyone's way equally

Low gravity, meteor shower, earthquake, item rain. Every event is announced by a banner a few seconds ahead: enough time to run, not enough to finish someone off.

Item crates drop on their own. Inside there might be a medkit or a speed boost — or a shotgun, bazooka, laser, mine, knife, boomerang, grenade launcher, anvil or black hole.

Nine modes

• Deathmatch — lives and rounds. Run out of lives and you are out.
  
• Siege — two towers. While your tower stands, your team respawns. When it falls, that's it.
  
• King of the Hill — hold the zone alone. With two inside, nobody scores.
  
• Football — score the most in three minutes. A knockout does not remove you, so beating each other up still pays off.
  
• Basketball — the ball has to drop through the hoop from above. Two points a basket.
  
• Rugby — the ball is carried in your hands, and hits knock it loose.
  
• Capture the Flag — bring the enemy flag back to your base. A dropped flag returns on its own.
  
• Hot Potato — the bomb goes from hand to hand, passed by touch and by hit. If the fuse burns out in your hands, they score.
  
• Waves — everyone against the bots. The only mode that needs no live opponent.

Eight arenas

The Square, The Well, the fortress of The Siege, The Canyon with a chasm across the middle, The Skyway — a fight above the void, The Foundry where every platform under your feet is on the move. Plus The Pitch and The Court for the ball modes. Every mode has its own map pool: where you have to run the length of the field, cramped arenas never come up.

Two at one computer

Two players share one keyboard, or pick up gamepads.

Online for up to six: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3. The host picks the mode and the map, bots fill the empty seats — the match starts even if your friend is running late.