Soccer air hockey game: Air Futbol
Air hockey on a small football pitch. Drag your striker, knock the puck into the other goal, and play alone against a line of opponents or against a friend on the same phone.
Soccer is called football in most of the world. This game is part of Futbol Island, a free football learning game for kids aged 7 to 12.
What is Air Futbol?
Air Futbol is the air hockey table that stands in the Futbol Island arcade, made playable. The table is drawn as a small football (soccer) pitch, the puck is a flat football, and each player has one round striker and one goal to defend.
The puck rebounds off the boards, so every shot is a question of angles. Playing alone, you meet a line of named opponents: beat one and the next walks on, a little quicker and smarter. With a friend, you take one end of the table each.
How to play Air Futbol
On a phone or tablet
- Hold the phone upright and put a finger on your striker at the bottom of the table. It follows your finger anywhere in your own half.
- Two players: lay the phone flat between you. Player 1 has the bottom half and player 2 the top half, one finger each; a striker only listens to the finger that started in its own half.
- A phone held sideways works too: the table turns on its side.
On a computer
- Move the mouse to drive your striker; no button is needed. The arrow keys work as well.
- Two players on a computer: one uses the mouse or the arrow keys, the other uses W, A, S and D.
The rules
- A goal counts when the whole puck is over the line. The puck is then served from the centre toward the side that conceded, once a finger is on the table.
- Your striker cannot cross the halfway line.
- Playing alone, a match is first to five goals. Win and the next opponent walks on; your points carry over.
- You have three lives. Losing a match costs one and you meet the same opponent again; every third win gives a life back.
- Points: 100 for a goal, 75 more off the side boards, 50 more within four seconds of the serve or just after a save, 300 for a match won without conceding, and a bonus for each win.
- Two players play first to seven. That match never goes on the high-score board; the results card keeps today’s tally between the two of you.
What it teaches
Angles and rebounds. The puck leaves a board at the angle it arrived, the way a pass off a wall comes back.
The goalkeeper’s rule: stay between the ball and the goal, and cover the near post first. The results card ends with one coaching line about how the goals went in.
The counter-attack. The best moment to score is just after a save, before the other player is back in position, and the game pays a bonus for it.
Read and practise the same idea
Tips to score higher
- After every shot, bring your striker straight back in front of your goal.
- When the puck is on one side, slide to that side: guard the near post first.
- If the keeper is in the way, aim at the side board about halfway to the goal.
- A short, quick push sends the puck faster than a long slow one.
How the difficulty grows
- The first opponent, Sandy, is slow, stands in the middle of the goal and rarely attacks.
- Each one after that reacts sooner, moves faster, shoots harder and reads rebounds more often; from the fourth they use the boards themselves.
- There are twelve named opponents. After the twelfth the strongest plays on, so the run only ends when your lives do.
For parents and coaches
- Free, with no ads, no account and no open chat. The high-score board takes a few arcade-style letters, never a full name or a message.
- Skill: angles, positioning in front of goal and quick recovery after a shot.
- Two-player mode is local only: both children use the same device and no score is posted. A match takes one to three minutes.
Questions about Air Futbol
Is Air Futbol free?
Yes. There is nothing to buy, no advert and no account to create. Every play is free, like every game in the arcade. Playing earns island coins: they are earned by playing and learning on Futbol Island and are never sold for real money.
Does Air Futbol work on a phone or a school Chromebook?
It runs in a web browser with nothing to install, and it is built for phones first. It also works on tablets and on computers, so a Chromebook is fine as long as the school’s filter allows futbolisland.app.
Can two people play Air Futbol on one phone?
Yes. Choose 2 players on the start card. One player takes the bottom half of the screen and the other the top half, each with one finger. The first to seven goals wins, and a rematch is one tap.
How do you play Air Futbol?
Drag your round striker with a finger (or the mouse) to hit the puck into the goal at the far end, and keep it out of your own. Shots can rebound off the side boards.
What age is Air Futbol for?
Futbol Island is made for children aged 7 to 12. One finger is all it takes, and the first opponent is gentle, so it is one of the easiest arcade games to start.
More free soccer games
- Kit Rush: soccer swipe gameSwipe your team’s kit, leave theirs, dodge the whistle
- Squad Snake: soccer snake gameSnake with a squad: collect eleven players and build a formation
- Breakaway Run: soccer runner gameEndless dribbling runner: beat the tackle, find the goal
- Futbol Tennis: soccer tennis gameFootball tennis: first touch and shot choice over a net
- Futbol Pinball: soccer pinballA pinball table that is a pitch: rebounds, wall passes, timing
- Pass Puzzles: soccer passing puzzle gameDraw the pass through the defence: space, lanes and offside
- All seven free soccer gamesSeven free browser games, each teaching one football idea
Futbol Island is a free football (soccer) learning game for kids aged 7 to 12. The arcade is one room of the island; the lessons, quizzes and the museum teach the rest of the game.