Punchers — Play Free Online

What Punchers is

Punchers is a 3D boxing game by independent developer Vardan Aleksanyan, built in Unity and released on Poki in July 2020, with its last update in November 2020. Two fighters in headguards, one in blue and one in red, square off inside a roped ring under a single spotlight. The boxers are ragdolls: their bodies react to every hit with physics rather than canned animations, so a clean shot can snap a head back or send a fighter stumbling into the ropes. You can box against a computer-controlled opponent or against a friend on the same keyboard.

Controls

The game is made for a desktop keyboard. Poki lists these keys:

• Lean: WASD or the arrow keys tilt your boxer forward, back and to the sides.
• Left fist: R, or the < key.
• Right fist: T, or the > key.

There is no separate block or dodge button. Leaning is your defence: shifting your upper body out of the way is how you slip a punch, and leaning in is how you close the distance before you swing. After a bout ends, the game waits on a "press any key" prompt to start again.

What is on screen

During a fight, each boxer has a portrait in the top corner with a running score underneath, and a red counter beside it. A number sits at the top centre of the screen. In the bottom corners the game tracks your Best Punch, measured in kilograms, so every match also doubles as a contest of who hit hardest.

Away from the ring, a training scene puts your boxer in front of a hanging heavy bag. Each strike on the bag is measured, and a board shows the maximum and the last reading for your left punch power and right punch power, again in kilograms. The build also contains a two-player version of the bag scene, so friends can compare power on the same screen. A slow-motion mode replays the action at a cinematic pace, which suits the ragdoll physics well because you can watch exactly how a punch lands.

Tips

• Spend a few minutes on the heavy bag first. It shows which hand hits harder for you, and that number carries straight into the Best Punch readout in a real bout.
• Lean before you throw. Because both fighters are physics bodies, a punch thrown while your weight moves forward carries more force than one thrown from a standing position.
• Watch your opponent's lean. A boxer leaning deep into a swing is off balance for a moment, and that is the time to answer with your other hand.
• Alternate fists. Throwing only R or only T makes your boxer easy to read; mixing left and right keeps the other fighter guessing.