Sumo

How to play

Each bout starts with the two wrestlers facing each other on the white starting lines. After the countdown and the referee's call of "Hakkeyoi!", push your opponent out of the straw ring. The first wrestler whose body crosses the edge loses the bout. Win 2 bouts (best of 3) or 3 bouts (best of 5) to take the match.

• Move: walking into your opponent pushes them, but two equal wrestlers pushing head-on simply lock up.
• Dash: a short, explosive charge in the direction you are moving (or facing). A dash that lands sends the opponent flying. It has a one-second cooldown, shown by the lower bar above your wrestler. Dash sideways to dodge a charge.
• Brace (hold): drop your hips and become almost three times heavier, so charges bounce off you, at the cost of moving very slowly. Bracing uses stamina (the upper bar), which refills when you stop.
• If a bout drags on, the ring starts to shrink after 15 seconds, so stalling doesn't pay.

Controls

• vs Bot: WASD or arrow keys to move, F or Space to dash, hold G or Shift to brace.
• 2 Players: Player 1 (blue) uses WASD, F dash, G brace. Player 2 (red) uses the arrow keys, Enter dash, Right Shift brace.
• Touch: drag anywhere on the ring to move (like a joystick), tap the ring or press Dash to charge, hold Brace. In 2-player mode the left half of the ring belongs to Player 1 and the right half to Player 2.
• P or Esc pauses the game.

Tactics

• Own the centre. Get between your opponent and the middle of the ring, then push outward. A wrestler near the edge has nowhere to go.
• Brace against a charger. If you are near the edge and see a dash coming, brace. The charge bounces off and the attacker is left open.
• Side-step (henka). A dash that misses keeps travelling. Dash sideways at the last moment and an over-eager opponent may run straight out of the ring.
• Don't spam dash. After a dash you have a second with no charge of your own, which is the perfect moment for your opponent to strike back.

About sumo

Sumo is Japan's national sport, with roots going back more than 1,500 years to Shinto rituals. Bouts take place on a dohyō, a raised clay platform with a ring of rice-straw bales (tawara) 4.55 metres across. A wrestler (rikishi) loses if he steps out of the ring or touches the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet. Most bouts last only a few seconds.

The winning technique of every bout is announced by name. There are 82 official techniques (kimarite). This game names the ones that can happen here: oshidashi (frontal push-out), tsukidashi (thrust out, after a charge lands) and isamiashi (stepping out of the ring by yourself, which counts as a loss rather than a technique).

About the bot

The bot uses the same physics and controls as you. It tries to circle into the position between you and the centre, then pushes outward. It charges when it is lined up and dodges or braces when it is near the edge. Easy reacts slowly and often misjudges its angle. Hard reacts in a few hundredths of a second, dodges most charges and rarely steps out by itself. Your best winning streak against each difficulty is saved in this browser.