Arcade Whale
Basketball Stars is the two-player basketball game from MadPuffers that has been on browser game sites since 2019. Two big-headed players on one court, a short clock, and one rule: score more than the other guy. You can play the computer or a friend on the same keyboard, and a match is over in a couple of minutes, which is why it turns up on so many school laptops.
People who search for games like Basketball Stars want one of two things. Some want more basketball, especially the feeling of a long shot dropping in. Others want another quick one-on-one sports game to play against somebody. This page has our own games for both, and it is upfront about what is missing: we do not have a two-player basketball game yet. Everything here runs in a browser tab with nothing to install, and none of it is the official Basketball Stars.
Before the list, one shot to try.
Try it: shoot over the wall
This is how Swish, the first game below, plays. Press anywhere on the court, drag in the direction you want to shoot and let go. The longer the drag, the harder the shot. The dots show the start of the flight, the rest is up to you.
Get the ball in the hoop
Press on the court, drag toward the hoop and let go.
Shots 0 · Baskets 0 · Swishes 0 · Bank shots 0
A simple model with real gravity and bounces: the ball is about a third as wide as the rim, the walls and backboard are solid, and a basket that never touches the rim counts as a swish. Three swishes in a row set the ball on fire, the same streak that doubles every style bonus in Swish.
Most first shots are fired flat at the rim, and most of them clip the front of it. A flat ball only sees a sliver of the hoop. A ball that comes down from above sees the whole opening, so the same small error in power still drops in. That is why shooters talk about arc, and it is the first thing Swish teaches you.
1. Swish: the shooting half of Basketball Stars
Swish is a one-finger basketball game built around the shot you just tried. Press anywhere, drag to draw the arc as a line of chalk dots and let go. Direction sets where the ball goes and the length of the drag sets how hard. There is no power bar sweeping back and forth, so a shot is decided in your hand and nowhere else.
The walls are what make it its own game. Brick blocks stand on the court, and a basket that banks off one pays a style bonus. From the fourth level on, every level is built around a wall that decides the shot: a high wall to lob over, a low roof to shoot flat under, a wall right at your feet that forces a steep arc, or a window to thread. The rim does not sit still either. It swings like a pendulum, slides along the ceiling or rides up and down like an elevator.
Clean shots are their own reward. A basket that never touches the rim is a swish, and three swishes in a row set the ball on fire: while it burns, every style bonus pays double. Later courts add wind that pushes every ball sideways, wooden spinners that sweep the court and buzzer rounds with fewer balls and double bonuses. There are 72 levels across four courts, from a park at night to a packed arena for the city finals, and you can go back to any level for missing stars.
What it does not have is an opponent on the court. There is no defender to shoot over and no friend on the other side of the keyboard. If Basketball Stars for you is about the long shots dropping in, Swish is the closest thing we make. If it is about beating the person next to you, read on.
2. Penalty Shootout: one-on-one against a real player
Penalty Shootout is soccer, but it has the part of Basketball Stars that Swish lacks: another person. Open the Cup menu, choose Online 1v1, and the game looks for another player for the same head-to-head shootout. You take your kicks, then you go in goal for theirs.
Shooting is a drag and release, like Swish. Drag from the ball toward the corner you want and let go. While you hold, your aim settles as the ring around the target shrinks, and the keeper reads you, so the habit to learn is steady, then shoot. Power is the trade: a hard shot beats a keeper who guessed right but scatters wider. Alone, you play through the Harbour Cup, the Continental Cup and the World Cup, and every keeper behaves differently. One reads your aim, one dives early and leaves the middle open, one covers whichever side you shot last.
3. Spiral Touchdown: the same one-finger feel, as football
Spiral Touchdown is American football played from above with one finger. You are the quarterback: pull back and let go to throw a spiral ahead of your receiver, then tap to juke the defender who dives at your runner. You have four downs to score each game, and a season has 48 games against eight rival teams that each defend differently. It has the short matches of Basketball Stars and the same pleasure of a throw that lands exactly where you meant it. Our guide to games like Retro Bowl has more about it.
In this 37-second clip a 35-yard spiral lands in the end zone, a throw at the safety gets picked off, and the title game ends with 7 jukes on a 75-yard touchdown.
4. Eight Ball: beat the rival in front of you
Eight Ball is pool with real physics, against a ladder of rivals that never ends, from a neon corner bar to a marble grand hall. Every rival plays their own game, and every race you win earns up to three stars. It is a slower game than Basketball Stars, but it scratches the same itch: one opponent, one table, and a shot that either drops or does not.
How they compare
| Game | Sport | Against | Controls | Closest to Basketball Stars because |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swish | Basketball | The level: walls and moving rims | Drag and release | Long shots, swishes and bank shots |
| Penalty Shootout | Soccer | Keepers, or a real player in Online 1v1 | Drag and release | Head-to-head against another person |
| Spiral Touchdown | American football | Eight rival teams | Pull back, tap to juke | Short matches and one-finger throws |
| Eight Ball | Pool | A ladder of rivals | Aim and pull the cue | One opponent and one shot at a time |
How to shoot better
- Shoot higher than feels right. A ball that comes down from above has the whole rim to fall through. A flat shot only has the front edge.
- Change one thing at a time. If a shot falls short, keep the same direction and drag a little longer. Changing both direction and power at once makes it hard to learn anything.
- Use the wall on purpose. In Swish a bank off the brick pays a bonus, so a wall in the way is often the best route to the rim.
- Lead a moving rim. When the rim slides, shoot at where it will be when the ball arrives, the same way a quarterback leads a receiver.
- Protect the streak. Three swishes in a row set the ball on fire. When you are on two, take the clean shot you trust instead of the clever one.
Every sports game we make, from mini golf to pool, is on the Sports page. For something to play against other people, Multiplayer has our online games, and our guide to games like Smash Karts covers the ones you can play with friends.
