When you enter the site for the first time, you will receive an automatically generated username, which you can change in the settings. Nothing is being checked and there are no accounts yet (planned for later). The name should only clearly mark the players on the field and of course enable a conversation in the chat.

After registering, you are in the Arena, which will have many playing fields in later expansion stages. At the moment, however, we have to make do with the only available field.

Once you have entered the arena, the main options are:

• A game is already running. Then you have no choice but to watch (which can be quite entertaining).
• A game is being prepared and players are still being sought. In this case, the "+" button can be selected in the team area and you can join one of the two teams. You can leave the team again using the "-" button.
• There is no game yet, so you can open one. You select the "+" button in the "Game Control" area and are therefore the "owner" for this game and can start it.
• As long as there is no game on, everyone can get out on the ice and practise hard!

Like most users, you probably first want to get a feel for the player's controls. In this case, do as described above and start the game with the play button (the one with the triangle, in case that's not obvious). You have the field to yourself and can rush back and forth on the field and shoot the puck to your heart's content.

The goals are shown and counted, but that doesn't have much meaning at this point. When “play time” is over, you stop or simply start again.

When you're ready for a real match, you'll need more players to join the teams. Of course, the chat helps to coordinate. It is up to the teams how many players they bring onto the field. There isn't much experience yet, but six players per team (like in real life) is definitely too much; Three against three is certainly playable. You can easily move your player in any direction using the mouse. Your player follows with some delay; you have to get used to it, especially when moving quickly. However, this effect is entirely intentional: in real ice hockey, a player ultimately needs time to reach his goal. If you look closely, you'll see that the movements start slowly and then speed up.

Your player rotates around his own axis when you turn the mouse wheel (we'll talk about shooting below). Both very fine and more powerful rotations are possible; you will quickly get the feeling.

Of course, the laws of physics apply both when moving across the ice and when turning: If something is in the way (e.g. the edge of the ice surface or a goal), you can't go any further. But that's probably exactly what you expect.

Now comes an important point, namely the shooting technique. If you simply push or turn your player against the puck, he will move very little. This is also intentional (believe it or not), because otherwise it would hardly be possible to carry the puck. If you don't just want to carry the puck into the goal, you can shoot or pass using the keyboard. To do this, use the keys as follows:

• a Shoot with the outside of the stick
• f Shoot with the inside of the stick
• s Pass with the inside of the stick
• d Pass with the outside of the stick

The shooting technique requires some practice, but that makes it all the more attractive. Further options are described in the settings. The main purpose of the very simple knitted chat is for users to come together for a match and form teams. Currently there really isn't much convenience compared to the chats you might otherwise use. It is planned that older entries will be deleted from time to time. And we assume that there won't be too much nonsense.

By clicking on the username (top right) you will be taken to a page where you can make a few settings. You just have to try out the cursor mode to find out what suits you better.

The “Shooting” section is really exciting. The wheel variant (i.e. using the mouse wheel) means that the puck is shot if you hold down the shift key while turning. This type of shooting requires special skill, but can be really fun once you get used to it.