How Skyball works
Three-a-side soccer on a floating pitch. First to three goals, or the leader at 39 seconds, pays 1.9x. Golden goal, tiebreaks and the three Drops.
Skyball is three-a-side soccer on a floating pitch, and its tagline is the rulebook in short: "Three a side. First to 3." You pick a squad, not a single player, and if it wins your pick pays 1.9x, stake included, so 100 comes back as 190.
How a match plays
Each squad has three crew: a keeper and two outfield players. A squad is named for its captain, so the card and the play-by-play call it "Team Orbit". The goals are at the top and bottom of the screen, and a match typically lasts about 36 seconds.
Squads pass their way forward. A carrier looks up and passes, a teammate runs in behind, and most goals come after a few passes, from a through ball, a cross or a first-time finish. Keepers come off their line, dive at shots and claim crosses.
Every restart is a sky drop. The ball falls onto the centre spot and both squads race for it, so neither side gets a kickoff. After a goal, play stops for about 2.4 s while the scorer celebrates in a closeup, then the ball drops again. Which end each squad attacks, who keeps goal and how each player plays are all dealt by the round's seed, so both squads start at 1 in 2.
How the winner is decided
- The first squad to 3 goals wins on the spot.
- Otherwise the squad ahead at 39 seconds wins. Time isn't called while a shot is in the air.
- Level at 39 seconds goes to golden goal, and the card says "Golden goal! Next goal wins". Keepers come up and anything on target goes. It runs until the 45-second cap.
- Still level at the cap, more shots on target wins, then more possession. The result says which, for example "On shots on target, 5–3" or "On possession, 54%".
- An exact tie on all of those is void, and every pick is refunded.
Drops in Skyball
A Drop lands on a squad. Rocket boots and the Freeze ray go to that squad's player nearest the ball. A Drop that lands while a goal is being celebrated waits for the next sky drop.
| Drop | Kind | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Rocket boots | Speed | 1.6x run speed for 4 s. The player takes defenders on, hunts the ball down and shoots harder. |
| Force field | Shield | A dome over the squad's own goal for 3 s. Shots bounce off it, and an attacker who runs into it is thrown back and loses the ball. |
| Freeze ray | Chaos | Frozen in ice for 1.5 s, dropping the ball. |
The server picks which Drop you get and which squad it hits. Prices and limits are on how Drops work.
What the scoreboard shows
The plate at the top has each squad's faces at the ends and the goals in the middle, like "1 – 2". The bar under it shows each squad's chance of winning from the state of play. The play-by-play names squads, like "Team Orbit strikes first", "Saved by Team Valk" or "Team Valk wins it 3–1".
