About Pong
Pong is the game that started the arcade business. Atari shipped it in November 1972, built by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise, and it was so profitable that the prototype cabinet in Andy Capp's Tavern jammed — not because it broke, but because the coin box had filled to the top. Everything in it is two white paddles, one square ball, a dashed centre line and a score. There is no story, no power-up and no ending.
This browser version keeps that shape. You control the left paddle, the computer or a second player takes the right, and the ball speeds up the longer a rally lasts. Nothing to install and nothing to sign up for — the game loads in the page above.
How to play
- Move your paddle up and down to keep the ball on your side of the table.
- The ball bounces off the top and bottom walls but not off the left and right edges — those are the goals.
- Where the ball hits your paddle changes the angle it leaves at. Contact near the centre sends it back flat; contact near an edge sends it away steeply.
- A point is scored when the ball passes your opponent's paddle. The original cabinet played to 11.
Controls
- Mouse
- Move the pointer up and down — the paddle follows it.
- Arrow keys / W and S
- Move the left paddle up and down.
- Touch
- Drag your finger along the left side of the screen.
Tips
- Return to the middle of your side after every hit. A paddle parked at the top loses to any low ball.
- Aim with the edge of the paddle. Hitting with a corner sends the ball on a sharp diagonal, which is far harder to read than a flat return.
- Watch the ball, not the opponent's paddle. Its angle after a wall bounce tells you where to be well before it arrives.
- Rallies get faster, not harder. Once the speed climbs, shorten your movements — big swings overshoot.
- Against a second player, alternate flat and angled returns. A predictable rhythm is the easiest thing to beat.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pong free to play here?
Yes. It runs in the browser above with no download, no account and no payment.
Can two people play on one keyboard?
The two-player mode uses opposite sides of the keyboard, so both players can share a single computer.
Who invented Pong?
Allan Alcorn built it at Atari in 1972 on a brief from Nolan Bushnell. It was not the first video tennis game — Ralph Baer's Magnavox Odyssey came first — but it was the one that made arcades an industry.
Why does the ball speed up?
The original hardware increased ball speed as a rally continued, so a long exchange became progressively harder to sustain. This version keeps that behaviour.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Drag your thumb along the left edge of the screen to move the paddle.