A paddle game for one or two players
Wing Duel is a free two-paddle game for your browser, in the spirit of Pong: the angels on the left against the demons on the right, first side to seven points wins. Play against the computer demon, or share a keyboard with a friend.
Matches are short and nothing needs installing. The ball starts slowly after every serve and picks up speed as a rally goes on, so the first returns are easy and the long ones are not.
How to play Wing Duel
- Wait for READY. The first ball is served after about a second. After each point the ball goes toward the side that just lost it.
- Move your paddle, the gold angel on the left, to meet the ball and send it back.
- Return with the end of the paddle to send the ball out at a steep angle. The middle returns it flat.
- Get the ball past the demon paddle to score. At seven points ANGELS WIN or DEMONS WIN appears, and Enter starts a new match.
- Press M at any time to switch between playing the computer and two players. It also resets the score to 0-0.
Controls
- One player: W S or ↑ ↓ move the angel paddle on the left.
- Two players: W S move the angels on the left and ↑ ↓ move the demons on the right.
- Mouse or touch: move the pointer or drag on the left half of the board to place your paddle. In two-player mode the right half steers the demons.
- P pauses, R restarts the match, Enter starts a new one when a match ends, Esc goes back to the game list. On a phone use the Restart match and switch buttons under the board.
Scoring and rules
Every ball that gets past the other paddle is one point, and the first side to seven wins. There is no high score table: each match is a fresh duel.
The ball starts each serve at a steady pace and gains 4.5 percent speed with every paddle hit, up to a cap, then goes back to the starting speed on the next serve. Where the ball meets the paddle decides the angle, up to about 58 degrees. The computer demon moves at a fixed speed and aims with a small random error. Its skill does not change during the match.
Tips to score higher
- Use the end of the paddle. A hit near the tip sends the ball out at a steep angle, and a steep ball is the hardest one for the computer to chase.
- Let the rally build. The ball is slow right after a serve and speeds up with each hit. From around the fifth hit of a rally, a steep return outruns the demon paddle.
- Aim for angles. The computer reacts to where the ball is now and does not plan for bounces off the top and bottom walls.
- Read the serve. After you lose a point the next ball comes to you at a shallow angle, so it is an easy one to return.
- On a touch screen or with a mouse, drag directly. The paddle jumps to your pointer, while the keyboard paddle has a top speed.
Questions
- Can two people play Wing Duel on one device?
- Yes. Press M to switch to two players. One uses W and S, the other uses the up and down arrow keys.
- Is Wing Duel Pong?
- It is a Pong-style paddle game in spirit. The characters, art, sounds and rules (first to seven, speed that builds inside a rally) are our own.
- Does Wing Duel save my score?
- It only remembers whether you last chose one or two players. There is no high score, because a match ends at seven points.