The game of air hockey is player between two competitors who try to outscore each other by making a puck in their opponents goal
. The game is played on a special table known as the air hockey table.
The table that air hockey is played on is a platform that has a smooth surface and is very large. It has rails that surround it on all sides to prevent the strikers and the puck from exiting the table. The table has a slot at either end which serves as the goal where the players try to make the puck. These slots typically have a puck return below and behind the goals.
Usually the table has a machine that provides the air on the tables surface that produces cushion of air. The puck then is really floating on this air cushion. The cushion of air significantly reduces the friction on the playing surface which makes for a very quick exchange of strikes and pucks that provides one of the primary excitements of the game. This type of action develops hand and eye coordination.
Frequently, as a cost saving measure, the option for the machinery that produces the air is replaced with a very smooth and slick plastic playing surface. While this may come close to the thrill of playing air hockey, it isnt the same as air hockey tables that use air. Since the games are similar they are usually considered air hockey tables.
Each player needs a puck and a striker to play air hockey. The puck is a small plastic disk that is approximately thick and about 2 in diameter and strikers are the flat surfaces that lie on the table that are connected to a handle.
Two players play by standing at the opposite ends of the table and one player serves by hitting the puck to the opposite end such that it goes into the other players goal. This is how the player scores. Whoever lost the point serves next. The first player to score 7 points wins. However, there is frequently a time limit set on the length of the game. The player who has scored the most points when the time runs out wins the game. The gamed is called a draw if both players have scored the same number of points when the time runs out. The players arent to leave the playing area or place their strikers on top of the puck.