The demo is the real game with the league trimmed down and no Franchise mode or extra modes. Four clubs, short periods, every core system live. You'll score in your first minute. Getting good is the hard part.

FOUR CLUBS, FOUR CAPTAINS WITH ABILITIES

Made-up clubs get to be characters, and each one dresses a captain with a signature move:

• CHICAGO GUSTERS. Pure speed. THE WHEELS has turbo for days and barely tires.

• SEATTLE SQUALL. Cycle and grind. BULLDOG owns the boards and will not be stripped.

• MONTREAL SENTINELLES. Possession hockey. MAESTRO runs the give-and-go.

• TORONTO REGENTS. The stacked favorites. THE FRANCHISE is a little better at everything.

• The CPU plays each identity for real: stretch passes, wall cycles, a 1-3-1 power play.

AIM IT LIKE IT'S 1994

You aim when you shoot, the way the 16-bit classics did it. Wrist shots stay low and placed. Slappers come in high. One-timers with a visual cue, dekes that make the goalie bite.

THE FIGHTS ARE A REAL FIGHTING GAME

When the gloves come off, you throw and block every punch yourself. Jabs, haymakers, counters, and a super meter that fills as you land. There's also a simple three-button version, or turn fights off and the game settles them without you.

ARCADE ON TOP, REAL HOCKEY UNDERNEATH

No offside and no icing on by default. Penalties stay on, but the refs let the boys play. Line changes, tired legs, faceoff battles. Short periods, OT, then shootouts. No ties. And every goalie has a personality: five styles between the pipes, from the CHALLENGER out cutting angles to the ROVER who really should stay home but doesn't.

WAYS TO PLAY

• QUICK GAME. You're at team select two inputs after boot. Periods run 1:00 to 2:00, so a game fits inside a coffee break.

• VERSUS. Grab a second controller. The old way is still the best way.

• CO-OP. Two on one bench against the CPU, or 2v2 with four controllers on one couch.

• ONLINE QUICK MATCH. Play a real person or share a join code. One-minute periods keep it moving. []3-ON-3. Indoor, full contact, short clock. End to end all night.

• TRAINING CAMP. FIRST SHIFT coaches you through a real overtime and there's a fight drill too.

• HOUSE RULES. Mega hits and big heads

Goal clips export as GIFs, on by default.

IN THE FULL GAME

The other twenty clubs are waiting, and so is the rest of the league:

• FRANCHISE. Drafts, deadline trades, free agency, a cap, aging, awards.

• ALL 24 CLUBS. Every one with its own city, colors, barn, and captain.

• POND HOCKEY. No refs. No lines. Milk-crate goals and a dog.

• TOURNAMENTS. Eight clubs, single elimination. Win or go home.

• Every arcade mode, drill, and house rule.

• Custom teams and rosters, to your heart's content. Wishlist it and Steam messages you the moment the game goes live. It also tells Steam that people want to play it, which would make me pretty stoked.

Built by one person. The demo exists so real people can play it and let me know if it's any good. There's a feedback button inside the game, and a Discord where I read everything.