A table tennis game you can play against the PC

Table Tennis in Games by Zaweba lets you rally across the net against the computer, swinging through the ball for pace, spin and angle. Games are to 11, won by two clear points, and the first to two games takes the match. It is free, original and plays offline on Windows 10 and 11.

The bat follows your mouse, so the way you move it is the shot. It feels much closer to swinging a real bat than pressing a button.

How a shot is made

Let the ball bounce on your side, then meet it with the bat. Several things change what happens next. Hitting the ball with the edge of the bat, or while moving sideways, sends it across the table at an angle. Swinging upwards puts topspin on it, which makes it dip down onto the table. A faster swing hits harder but can send the ball long, off the end.

The ball must clear the net and land on the far half to count. That's the balance of the game: more pace and angle makes a winner more likely, but also makes a mistake more likely.

Topspin is your friend

The upward swing is the most useful thing to learn. Without topspin, a fast ball tends to sail past the end of the table. With topspin, the same pace dips down and lands. So when you want to hit hard, swing up as well as forwards. When you just want to get the ball back safely, a gentler stroke with a little upward movement is enough.

Angles win points. A ball sent across the table at a sharp angle pulls the computer out wide, and the next ball into the space it left is hard to reach. Mixing straight and angled returns keeps it moving.

Serving and scoring

Click to serve. The serve changes every two points, as in the real game. A game is to 11 points and must be won by two, so a game at 10 all goes on until someone pulls two ahead. The first player to win two games takes the match.

Your plays, wins and best scores are kept on the game's tile, in a scores file on your PC, so you can see whether your record against the computer is improving.

Rallies against the computer reward patience as much as power. If you lose a few points in a row by hitting long, slow your swing a little and add more upward movement, then build the pace again once the ball is landing reliably. The aim is to make the computer play one more shot than it can manage, not to win every point with the first hit.

Finding it in Games by Zaweba

Table Tennis is on the Skill & sport shelf. Press Ctrl+F and type table to go straight there, or star the tile so it waits in Favourites. The title card sets out the rules and controls before the first serve, F1 explains them again, Esc pauses and F11 makes the table fill the screen, which helps a lot with judging the bounce.

There are no adverts and no account, and nothing goes online. The table, the bats and the tick of the ball are all drawn and synthesised in code, so the game starts at once. When you want a change of pace, Puck Smash on the same shelf is quicker and more frantic, and Spot Kick turns the head-to-head into a penalty shoot-out.