Classic, Futsal, Real Match or Chaos: Which NextBall Mode Should You Play?

Classic is physics football inside walls. The ball never goes out, so play never stops and every second is a contest for the ball. Curve, lobs, first-time shots and pinches against the wall decide matches. It is the most competitive mode and has the busiest ranked ladder.

Choose Classic when you want short, intense games: a room owner can set the time limit from 1 to 10 minutes and a score limit, so a 1v1 can be over in three minutes.

Futsal uses a smaller, faster yellow ball. Quick one-touch passing works better than long dribbles, and small courts make every mistake costly. For bigger groups, Futsal x7 is a wide court with walls all round for up to 11v11, still without throw-ins or corners.

Futsal and Real Match rooms can choose a small or a big ball, either when the room is created or in the room settings between games. A big ball is easier to control and good for beginners; a small ball rewards precise touches.

Real Match adds offside with a drawn line, throw-ins, corners, goal kicks, goalkeepers who catch, sprint with stamina and a lunge tackle. Positions matter, so it is the mode where a well-organised team beats a team of individual players. Read the full Real Match rules guide.

In Chaos every player receives a random power every 10 seconds and uses it with E. Powers such as Thunderboot (three times the kick power), Frostbite (freezes the ball) and Glitch (reverses an opponent's controls) mean no two matches are the same. Chaos has no rank, which makes it the friendliest place to bring new players.

• 2 to 4 players: Classic 1v1 or 2v2 for competition, Chaos for laughs.
• 6 to 10 players: Real Match 3v3 or 5v5, or Futsal.
• More than 10: Futsal x7 or Real Match 11v11. Fill empty places with bots so nobody waits.

Creating a room takes a few seconds: pick the mode, share the room link and your friends join straight from their browser. The guide to playing with friends has every step.

The same rooms also host Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Ice Hockey, Mini Golf, Sniper, Headball and Pool, each with its own physics. The game modes page lists them all.