What we look for in a sports game

Sports is the playground shelf: football and basketball, penalty shootouts, pool and golf, drag racing and motorbike games, plus a few arcade takes on rally driving. We are not looking for licences or commentary — we are looking for a control scheme that works in a browser tab and a match that ends. Physics decides the cut: a football game where the ball does not behave goes, however good the artwork. Single matches run three to ten minutes, and several of these are better with two people on one keyboard.

Every game on this shelf opens in the browser with no download. Each title has its own note on why it is here — how we choose games.