HaxBall, reviewed

Our take

HaxBall looks like almost nothing: a green pitch, two goals, coloured circles for players and a white circle for the ball. Then you play a match and realise how much the physics carries. Passing, blocking and a well-timed shot all feel right, and three against three is chaos in the best way.

You need no account, only a nickname. Anyone can create a room, give it a password, hide it from the public list and copy a link for friends. The host sets the time and score limits, so a match ends when it says it will.

It has been around since 2010 and moved from Flash to modern browsers, made by one developer. There are adverts beside the game, and it is free.

A first sitting

Create a room, untick 'Show in room list', set a password, and send the room link to two or three friends on a call. Play to three goals.

Where to stop

Each match ends at the host's time or score limit. Agree on a number of matches before you start, best of five for example.

Worth knowing

Public rooms have text chat with strangers, and the site has no stated age policy, so we suggest private rooms with people you know.