Bouncy Basketball — Play Free Online

What is Bouncy Basketball?

Bouncy Basketball is a pixel-art arcade basketball game made by Dreamon Studios, and you can play it free here on retrobowl.me. Instead of dribbling and passing with a dozen buttons, every player on the floor is run by a few jump keys. Your players bounce, swing their arms, grab the ball and fly toward the rim, and the result is a fast, goofy game of 1-on-1, 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 hoops.

The Bouncy Basketball game plays like a real league in miniature. There are 30 city teams with home and road jerseys, four quarters with a game clock and a shot clock, 2-pointers and 3-pointers, buzzer beaters, overtime, and a 16-team Play Off bracket that ends in a final. Matches look like a TV broadcast, with a scoreboard showing the quarter, both scores and the clock, set on outdoor courts in front of places like a big red suspension bridge and a capitol building.

Key features

• Jump-timing controls: Your whole game is when you jump. The red side uses the A, S and D keys and the blue side uses J, K and L, with on-screen buttons for touch screens.
• Team sizes 1, 2 or 3: Play a straight 1-on-1 duel or put up to three players on each side.
• 30 teams: ATL, BOS, BRO, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GOL, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, NYK, OKL, ORL, PHI, PHO, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA and WAS.
• Real game rules: Quarters, a shot clock violation, out of bounds calls, steals, buzzer beaters and overtime.
• Play Off mode: A 16-team bracket split into West and East, from Round 1 to The Final.
• Customize: Change each team's player faces and skill level, then save your changes.
• Four matchups: You vs the computer, you vs a friend on the same keyboard, or computer vs computer to just watch.
• Statistics: The game tracks matches played, most points in a game and most steals in a game.

How to play Bouncy Basketball

1. On the main menu, pick Quick Game for a single match or Play Off for the bracket.
2. In Quick Game, use the arrows to pick a team for each side, and tap the jersey button if you want the road jersey.
3. Use the player button to choose who controls each side: you vs the computer, you vs a friend, or the computer vs the computer.
4. Press Play. The game starts with a tip-off, and the "Get ready... Jump!" prompt tells you when to go.
5. Jump to grab the ball, then get it to the rim. Close shots can turn into slam dunks, and shots from far out count as 3-pointers.
6. On defense, jump into the shooter to knock the ball away. The game shows "Stolen!" when you take it.
7. Between quarters, press Next Quarter. When the last quarter ends, the team with more points wins. A tie goes to overtime.

Controls

Action	Keyboard	Mouse or Touch
Red side jump, grab and shoot	A, S, D	Tap the red button
Blue side jump, grab and shoot	J, K, L	Tap the blue button
Continue past a screen	Spacebar	Click or tap
Pause	-	Pause button under the court

Your keys appear on screen when a match starts. The Control All setting lets you choose whether your button runs all of your players at once, which matters most at team size 2 or 3.

Match settings

The Settings menu changes how long and how hard each game is. These are the options the game offers:

Setting	Options
Quarters	1, 2, 3 or 4
Quarter time	30, 60 or 90
Team size	1, 2 or 3
Difficulty	Easy or Hard
Switch sides	On or Off
Control all	On or Off
Sound / Music	On or Off

A full game is four quarters, with an "End of 1st Quarter" style break after each one. Short settings like 1 quarter at 30 make a quick game between classes. Longer games give the better team more time to pull ahead.

Scoring and Play Off numbers

Event	What happens
2-pointer	2 points for a basket inside the arc
3-pointer	3 points for a basket from long range
Slam dunk	A dunk at the rim, with its own "Slam Dunk!" banner
Buzzer beater	A basket that counts as the clock hits zero
Shot clock violation	Holding the ball too long gives it to the other team
Out of bounds	The ball leaving the court changes possession
Overtime	Extra time when the score is tied at the end

The Play Off bracket has 16 teams, 8 in the West and 8 in the East, and 15 matches in total. You play through four stages:

Stage	Matches
Round 1	8
Conf. Semi-Finals	4
Conf. Finals	2
The Final	1

Before it starts, you can Randomize the teams and choose which teams you control. Matches between two computer teams can be played out or skipped with Sim. The winner gets the trophy screen, and Reset clears your progress so you can start a new bracket.

Tips and strategy

• Don't spam your key: Constant jumping leaves your players in the air when the ball comes down. Wait for the ball to drop, then jump at it.
• Watch the shot clock: If you keep the ball too long you give it away. Shoot before the shot clock runs out, even if the shot isn't perfect.
• Get close for dunks: Shots at the rim are the safest points. Bounce toward the hoop with the ball before you shoot.
• Take threes when you're behind: Long shots are harder to make, but a 3-pointer is the fastest way to catch up late in a game.
• Play the buzzer: A basket still counts as the clock hits zero, so keep shooting at the end of every quarter.
• Start on Easy: Learn the timing on Easy, then switch to Hard once you're winning by a lot.
• Use Customize: Raising a team's skill gives you a stronger side in Play Off, and lowering it makes a fun challenge.

Game modes

Quick Game

One match with the teams, jerseys and players you pick. This is where you play 2 players on one keyboard, or set the computer against itself to watch how it plays.

Play Off

The tournament mode. It saves your progress through the bracket, so you can come back and play the next match later. Win four rounds in a row and your team takes the title.

Bouncy Basketball unblocked on a school Chromebook

Bouncy Basketball runs in the browser with no download, so it works on school Chromebooks as long as your network allows retrobowl.me. Short settings like 1 quarter fit well into a break. Just follow your school's rules about when games are allowed.

Versions and similar games

If you like floppy physics hoops, try Basket Random, where silly physics also decide who scores. Basket Bros is a 1-on-1 game with dunks and unlockable players, and Basketball Stars is another head-to-head basketball game. For a short shooting challenge, play Basket Champs. If you want football instead, the classic Retro Bowl has the same retro pixel look.

Developer and history

Bouncy Basketball was made by Dreamon Studios, the name shown as the game's company and in its links to the Dreamon Studios Facebook, Twitter and Discord pages. The in-game credit lists the music as "Multifaros - The Boss." The browser version runs in full screen with the same pixel art, teams and Play Off bracket.