Basket & Ball — Play Free Online

Despite the sports label, Basket & Ball is less a basketball sim than a physics puzzle. There are no opponents and no clock-driven matches: you have a ball, a hoop somewhere else on the screen, and a scattering of obstacles in between. Each level asks you to work out how to get one to the other, ideally picking up stars on the way.

It suits a short break. A level is a small problem you can read at a glance, try, fail, adjust and try again, which makes it a calmer pick than the fast jumpers around Doodle Jump. If you like the bounce-and-timing feel of that game but want something where you stop and think between attempts, this is a good change of pace. The cartoon look is bright and clean, and the whole thing runs in the browser with nothing to install.

How to play

On a computer, move with the arrow keys or WASD and use the mouse to aim and to pick menu options. On a phone or tablet you tap and swipe instead. The goal in each level is to bounce the ball around the obstacles and land it in the basket, collecting stars as you go.

Because the ball follows physics rather than a fixed path, the same input from a slightly different position can end up somewhere quite different. Treat the first attempt on a new level as a probe: watch how the ball bounces off the first surface it meets, then plan the rest of the route from there.

Tips

1. Take the basket first, stars second. Once you know a route that scores, go back and bend it to pick up the stars you skipped.
2. Change one thing per attempt. If you alter both your aim and your timing you will not know which fixed the problem.
3. Look at the obstacles before you move. Their position usually hints at the intended bounce.
4. If a level stops being fun, step back and rethink the angle rather than repeating the same shot.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

Bouncy Basketball is the closest neighbour in theme, but it is a quick reflex game rather than a puzzle. Helix Jump also centres on a bouncing ball, with the challenge being a falling descent rather than a precise shot. For a different kind of puzzle thinking, Fireboy and Watergirl asks you to solve rooms, and works well with a second player.

Basket & Ball fits players who enjoy figuring a level out more than racing through it, on either keyboard or touch screen.