IcebergArcade

No. There's no money anywhere in the arcade: you play for points and places.

Classes, from gentle to sharpest: Wobbly Waddlers in Chick, Slick Sliders in Rockhopper and Fearsome Flippers in King. In Practice your class sets how sharp the arcade's penguins slide, and every class is open from the start. In the League (Fish Frenzy) you pick one class a day, and a harder class multiplies your points by more, so the top of the standings needs King.

In Practice, each match shares its points its own way: part by what you pick up (fish, points on the mound, painted ice, slalom flags or knockouts) and part by where you finish; in Belly Bump, by how far you get in the knockout. A fair share is about 100 points. In the League, each run scores from 0 to 100: the share of the arcade's penguins you beat on the same layout. Your three runs are added up and multiplied by your class.

Each League day runs from midnight to midnight UTC, the same moment everywhere. You can enter the League until 23:30 UTC, which leaves time for all 3 runs. A run you start before midnight still counts if you finish it after. Standings are settled just after midnight, then a new day opens.

Practice results stay in this browser, on this device. Your League runs are kept by the arcade and tied to this device: clear your browser data or switch device and you start a new League record.

In Fish Frenzy, Emperor of the Ice, Paint the Ice and Slalom Run you finish last with no points. In Last Penguin Standing and Pass the Puffer you drop out in your current place and keep the points you've already scored. In Belly Bump you lose your current bout and finish where that puts you. Closing the page mid-match counts as leaving. In the League, a run you leave still counts, with what you had scored.

For now, the arcade plays them. A small robot on a penguin's label marks it. Each one is named for how it slides: a Walrus or an Orca shoves hard, a Toboggan or a Torpedo zooms about, a Waddles or a Pebble plays it safe. Read the names and you'll know who to watch.

Yes, and they adapt to you. In each game and class they adjust to your results: finish well and they slide sharper next time, struggle and they ease off. Each class also starts tougher than the one below: Rockhopper penguins never play worse than the standard line-up, and King penguins are sharper still. Under the class picker in every game you can see how strong they are for you, from much weaker to much stronger.

In every match, yes: the better you finish, the bigger your share. Each game's card shows how much skill pays, from two fish up to five. Over time the other penguins adapt to your results, so staying ahead means getting better; the strength line under the class picker shows how far you've come.

On a computer: arrow keys or WASD to slide and steer, Space to belly-dash and shove, or hold the mouse button to steer towards the pointer. On a phone: put a thumb down anywhere and slide it to steer, and tap Dash. Turn the phone sideways for a wider view.