Doodle tennis

Doodle00Bun00

Beat Bun!

Bun likes gentle, friendly rallies.

Wins: 0
Aces: 0
Best rally: 0

Paused

You win!

2–1 games · best rally 12

Doodle plays tennis from the side of the court, against Bun the bunny, Kiki the kitten, Bruno the bear or Bolt the robot, or against a friend on the same screen. Drive from the baseline, lob over the net, drop it short, volley at the net and jump to smash a high ball, while an owl on a tall chair calls the score: “Fifteen–love!”, “Deuce!”. Now and then a gift floats over the net on a balloon. Hit it with your shot and you win something silly to play with: a rocket ball, a crow that carries the ball away, a frying pan for a racket, three balls at once or a ball made of jelly. Four rivals are waiting, and Bolt the champion is a real challenge for grown-ups too.

How to play

Hit when it comes.
Tap the picture, or press Space, as the ball reaches Doodle’s racket. Right on time is a perfect hit.
Hit the gift!
Send a shot into the balloon to win a funny thing. Press Z, or tap its button, to use it on your next hit.
Win the points.
Make the ball bounce twice on the other side. Win four points for a game, and enough games for the match.

Controls

Touch: Tap the picture to serve and to hit. The buttons in the corner: Soft (a lob from the back, a drop shot up at the net), Jump (then hit to smash) and Hit. The gift button at the top uses your item. Turn auto-run off to run with the arrows.
Mouse: Click the picture to serve and hit, and click the gift button at the top to use your item.
Keyboard: ← → or A D run, Space serves and hits, ↑ or W jumps, ↓ or S is Soft, Z uses your item, P or Esc pauses. Hold toward the net for a shorter shot, away from it for a deeper one.
Two players: Doodle plays with A D W S, Space and Z; the friend with the arrows, Enter and Shift. On a tablet, each taps their own half.

Funny things

Rocket ball. A little rocket on your next hit: the ball flies flat and very fast with a trail of smoke. Only well-timed rackets can send it back.
Crow. A crow swoops in, snatches your next shot and drops it far from your rival. Quick feet can still reach it.
Frying pan. Your racket is a big frying pan for three hits: a bigger sweet spot, and a BONG.
Triple ball. Your next hit splits into three balls. Only one is real; the others pop into bubbles when they land.
Jelly ball. The ball turns to jelly and bounces crazily high on their side. Boing!

Four rivals

Bun: Easy, at the park. Friendly rallies to the middle of the court, slow and floaty, and no gifts. First to 2 games.
Kiki: Medium, at the beach. Quick feet, a drop shot now and then, and a gift used at a random moment. First to 3 games.
Bruno: Hard, at a clay court in the snowy hills. Hits hard, drops it short when you stand deep and jumps on anything high. First to 4 games.
Bolt: Champion, at the floodlit arena at night. Reads every shot, lobs when you crowd the net and saves the crow for when you’re out of position. First to 6 games, at full speed and more.

Auto-run and the ball marker are on against Bun and Kiki, and auto-run can be switched on or off for any rival on the start card. Each rival you beat gets a trophy.

Tips for big players

Time it. A swing meets the ball best at the middle of the swing. Press a little before the ball arrives, and the closer to the racket’s sweet spot, the faster and truer the shot.
Move them. Drop the ball short when your rival stands deep, and lob when they crowd the net. Nobody can run both ways at once.
Take the high ball. Jump and hit a high bounce to smash it. A smash comes down fast and bounces over their head.
Pick your moment. A crow is best when your rival is out wide, a jelly ball when they’re at the net, a rocket ball for a ball you hit well.
Mind the let. A serve that clips the net and still lands in is played again.

What kids practice

Timing. Hitting the ball at the right moment, not too early and not too late.
Counting points. Love, fifteen, thirty, forty: the way real tennis counts.
Taking turns. Playing a friend on one screen and swapping who serves.

For grown-ups

Doodle tennis has no ads, no accounts and no trackers. Wins, aces and your best rally are saved only in this browser on this device. Sound stays off until your child turns it on with the speaker button. The funny things are silly, never scary: nobody gets hurt, and a missed ball ends with a spin or a plop on the bottom.

Against Bun the game runs slower, Doodle runs to the ball by himself and a marker shows where it will bounce, so the youngest can play; against Bolt, the game runs faster and the racket has to be close, so it grows with your child. The scoring is real tennis, with a match of 2, 3, 4 or 6 games. With reduced motion turned on in the device’s settings, shakes and slow motion are left out.

Questions

Is Doodle tennis free?

Yes. All four rivals and the two-player game are free to play in the browser, with no ads, no sign-up and nothing to download.

Can a young child play it?

Yes. Against Bun, Doodle runs to the ball by himself, a ball marker shows where it will bounce, a tap a little early still hits on time, the racket reaches far and the game runs slower. Bun plays friendly shots to the middle, and a match is just first to 2 games.

Can two people play?

Yes. Pick “A friend” on the start card. On one keyboard, Doodle plays with A, D, W, S, Space and Z, and the friend with the arrows, Enter and Shift. On a tablet, each player taps their own half of the picture or uses their own buttons.

Are the funny things fair?

Yes. Whoever’s shot flies into the gift balloon wins what’s inside, and you can only hold one thing at a time. Bun never uses them, Kiki uses them now and then, and Bruno and Bolt pick their moment. Every one of them can be answered: a rocket ball with good timing, a crow with quick feet, a jelly ball with a jump.

How hard is the champion?

Very. Bolt reacts in a tenth of a second, reads where the ball will bounce, plays to the open court, lets a ball going out land out and uses its gifts at the right moment. The game runs faster, your racket has to be close to the ball, and a match is first to 6 games.