About this game
A rally that never has to end — until it does
Read about this gameHide this
Barry's Table is table tennis from where you actually stand: behind your own bat, looking down a lantern-lit table at Barry, who will get the ball back to you every single time. He never misses. The only question the game asks is how long you can keep up with him.
There is no swing to time. If your bat is in the ball's way when it reaches you, it goes back — the whole skill is reading where the ball is going and getting there first. That sounds simple for about ten shots. Then the pace starts to tell, because every return comes back a little quicker than the last, and by the thirtieth the ball is crossing the table in under half a second.
Reading the ball
Three things tell you where to be. The ball's shadow on the table shows its line. A faint ring marks where it is going to bounce on your side, so you can start moving before it lands. And your bat warms up as it lines up with the ball's arrival point: no glow means you are nowhere near, a strong glow means it is coming back. The glow leans toward the ball, too, so when you are close but off — usually on height — it shows you which way to nudge.
Where the ball goes next
A return carries on along the line the ball came in on, and where it met your bat steers it a little further: off the right half of the bat it drifts right. Every return lands on the table — you cannot hit it out — so placement is never a risk, only a way of making Barry run.
Paddles and nets
You start with the red paddle and the classic net. The others are earned with your longest rally: the blue paddle at 20, the silver net at 30, the green paddle at 40, the black paddle and the rope net at 60, and the black carbon net at 90. They change the look and nothing else — the bat's reach is the same in every colour.
Thirty seconds to start
- Tap Play and drag anywhere on the table to move your bat. It follows your thumb without sitting under it, so you can always see it.
- Be where the ball arrives. That is all — the bat returns it.
- You have three lives. A miss restarts your rally but only takes the edge off the pace, and the next ball comes straight away.