Haxball varies-with-devices

A mix of football and air hockey

Haxball is a free soccer game from developer Mario Carbajal. This real-time multiplayer sports game offers a mix of football and air hockey that fans of both sports will find interesting. Matches can be fought between pairs, trios, or even 4v4. It’s named after Haxe, the programming language used to create it.

Haxball is nothing like sports games such as NBA 2K23 and FIFA 22. It’s a browser game that features 2D graphics and barebones mechanics. Instead of flashy graphics and layers upon layers of features, the game offers well-polished gameplay that is easy to learn but hard to master.

Presentation, gameplay, and community

Scoring in Haxball is done the same way in soccer: get the ball into the opponent’s goal. But what makes it air hockey? Its presentation. You’ll be playing the game from a top-down perspective, making it look like a match of air hockey. The players are represented by blue and red circles while the ball is a smaller white circle. There are a handful of field designs to choose from.

Players only have two actions in Haxball: moving and kicking. Teams will need to rely on positioning and coordination to score, which isn’t that hard to do given how simple the game’s mechanics are. Still, the game requires a lot of practice to master, which you are encouraged to do if you’re interested in dabbling in the community’s tournaments and leagues.

Haxball was released in 2013 and enjoyed a sizeable audience. However, it has been losing players for years. While its servers remain online, those who intend to play online publicly will no longer find the same active community that it had before. Fortunately, it’s still a great game for casual players who just want to have fun with their friends.

Old and niche

Haxball is a dated game that reached its peak a long time ago. Unless the developer updates the mechanics, it risks fading away into obscurity. It’s no longer supported by the same passionate community it once had. There’s still a good amount of people playing it, and those who want to play it casually wouldn’t have trouble finding a quick match.