Try These Games

Rinkside seats are the best – they put you right at the edge of the ice and in a position to see firsthand what happens on the ice – action, drama, blood, you name it. For most ice hockey fans, this is the closest they get to the actual action. Simulated action, in turn, is a different matter entirely. There are many ice hockey-inspired video games out there that approach the sport from a more playful or more serious angle. Let’s take a look at some of the best on each major platform available today.

The Casual Side

A quick search on Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store will return a long list of ice hockey-related games to run on your phone, ranging from serious simulators (like Stickman Ice Hockey, a surprisingly good hockey app) to games almost entirely unrelated to the sport. One of the funnier and stranger takes on the matter is Hockey Fight, a game that focuses exclusively on the bloodier side of hockey. It is built in the spirit of classic beat-em-up games but with an ice hockey twist: the character you control is an enforcer throwing his gloves and fighting nine of the world’s most dangerous ice hockey fighters.

If you find it hard to imagine a game more casual than this, take a look at “Break Away”, ice hockey-based video slot machine built by the folks at Microgaming. The company is one of the oldest software developers in its area, with decades of experience in building simple yet entertaining games. You won’t find them in the “usual places”, instead, you should head over to www.gamblinginsider.ca for a list of websites where you can play it free. “Break Away” is, basically, an homage to the great sport of ice hockey that is the perfect choice if you only have a few minutes to spare.

The Violent Side

Finally, let’s take a look at “Super Blood Hockey”, an homage to the classic 8-bit and 16-bit arcade ice hockey games of the past. The game has a variety of game modes, from “franchise” to local multiplayer, and – as its name suggests – it focuses on the gory side of the sport. The pixelated athletes on the screen splatter the ice with blood whenever they collide, suffering head injuries, seizures, and more while playing the best ice hockey the players holding the controller can. The game is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

The Serious Side

If you want a serious ice hockey game to play, you have quite a few options out there. One of the best is the console exclusive simulator “NHL 19” by EA Sports. The game comes with goodies like outdoor and indoor rinks, there are improved skating physics compared to the previous installments, new game modes, and a soundtrack consisting of 20 songs from trending artists. Artists like Greta Van Fleet, Panic! at the Disco, Imagine Dragons, and Arkells. The game’s box art features P.K. Subban, the Predators defenseman, the first player on the team ever to be recognized this way. The game has received generally favourable reviews. It wasn’t released on PC (it’s a PlayStation 4 and Xbox exclusive) but its fans have started a petition to change EA Sports’ mind on this matter.

Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images