clayground
A Smash-style game, or platform fighter, is a fighting game where you don't drain a health bar. Each hit raises the other fighter's damage percentage, and the higher it is, the further they fly. You win by knocking them off the stage. Smoosh is a free platform fighter made of clay that you play in a web browser: up to eight fighters, keyboard, controller or touch, and you can sculpt your own fighter.
How Smoosh plays
Every fighter has three lives. Hits add damage, smash attacks launch hardest, and a fighter who flies off the screen loses a life. Last one with lives left wins. Under the cute clay it follows the classic rules: launch speed that bleeds away, directional influence to survive big hits, shields that wear down and break, rolls and dodges, grabs and throws, and ledges you can catch and climb back up from.
You can start in seconds: open Smoosh and press Quick fight. The first time, a one-minute practice teaches moving, double jumping, hitting and recovering.
Controls
| Keyboard | Controller | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | A and D, or the arrows | Left stick | Drag on the left |
| Jump (twice for a double jump) | Space | X or Y | Jump button |
| Attack | J | A | Attack button |
| Special | K | B | Special button |
| Smash | L | Flick the stick with A, or the right stick | Smash button |
| Shield | Shift | Shoulder buttons | Shield button |
Playing with friends
- Online, on your own screens: press Play a friend, get a link and send it.
- Around one screen: open the games page on a TV or laptop and press Host a game. Up to eight people join on their phones with a four-letter code, pick or sculpt a fighter, and the fight plays on every phone at once.
- Against the computer: up to three computer fighters, with a choice of how tough, and best-of-three sets.
Fighters and stages
There are eight house fighters (Mochi, Turnip, Biscuit, Pip, Fig, Pebble, Butter and Tomato) and seven stages, from a flat eggshell with nowhere to hide to a teacup lagoon where an octopus slams and sweeps its tentacles. The fun part is that any fighter can be yours: the fighter maker lets you sculpt a clay body around a skeleton, and whatever clay is near a bone moves with it.
Tips for your first wins
- Don't chase knockouts early. Build damage with quick attacks, then go for a smash when they're high.
- Save your double jump for getting back to the stage, and grab the ledge rather than landing on top of an attacker.
- Shield when someone is winding up a smash, but not for too long: shields wear down and break.
- Fighting a crowd? Stay near the middle and let the others knock each other about.
Why make it out of clay?
Because then anything can fight. Every Smoosh fighter is sculpted clay around a simple skeleton, so a fighter you make in the browser studio moves with the same rules as the house fighters. It also keeps the game light enough to run in a phone's browser: a party of eight can join from whatever phones they have, and the fight runs on all of them at once.
Honestly
Smoosh is small. It's made by one person, it has seven stages and eight fighters, and it isn't trying to be Smash Bros. What it has is a cute clay look, fighters you can sculpt yourself, and the fact that anyone with a browser can join in a minute, with no download, account or console. If that sounds fun, it is.
Questions people ask
Is there a free Smash Bros.-style game I can play in a browser?
Yes, Smoosh is one: a free clay platform fighter that runs in a browser on computers and phones, with no download or account.
Can I play Smoosh with a controller?
Yes. A game controller works like the keyboard: stick to move, A to attack, B for specials, X or Y to jump, shoulders to shield.
Can I play online with a friend?
Yes. Press Play a friend in Smoosh, then send the link.
Is Smoosh made by Nintendo?
No. It's an independent game by Emotionull, the artist behind Clayground, inspired by the platform fighter genre.