SIDE OUT

SIDE OUT is a multiplayer arena game in which each player defends one edge of a polygon. A ball travels towards the players, and each time it gets past a player’s edge, that player loses a life. Everyone starts with two lives. The game has no unlockables and no text to read before play.

Eliminated players stay in the round as saboteurs, placing bumpers, warps and spinners into the arena to change the board for the remaining players. Each knockout also removes a wall, so an eight-sided arena shrinks to six sides, then four, until two players remain. A second ball is added at 75 seconds, followed by another every 34 seconds, up to a maximum of six at once. Rounds last a minute or two.

There are four modes. Classic puts eight players in one polygon, with the last side standing winning. Arena supports up to twenty players around a ring of obstacles. Private Room lets players share a link to play with chosen people. Solo is an offline practice mode against bots. The Steam version shares its rooms with players on the web and on phones, so friends do not need Steam to join. Bots fill any empty side, and a player who joins a match in progress takes over a bot’s position.