Hoops at the palazzo: the shoot-out on the court

The palazzo at Ta' Xbiex has a court in its garden, and now there's a basketball shoot-out to play on it. Hoops is quick to learn and hard to put down: ten shots at a hoop that won't keep still, and a two-minute shoot-out when friends are over. Here's how it works.

How to play

Out in the garden, tap 🏀 Shoot hoops. You take ten shots from five spots round the arc, two from each, left to right. Each shot has a 10-second clock.

To shoot, swipe up from the ball. Two things decide whether it goes in:

• Where you aim. The hoop sways from side to side, and a little further each shot. Aim the swipe where the hoop is going, not where it is.
• How far you swipe. A longer swipe throws harder. The spots in the middle are farthest from the hoop, so they need a longer swipe than the corners.

Miss and the game tells you why: short, long, or off the rim.

Scoring

• A basket is 1 point.
• Three in a row and you're on fire: every basket after that is worth 2, until you miss.
• The last shot is the buzzer-beater, and it counts double.

So a perfect round is 20. The week's best scores go on the board, and your own best shows when you open the game.

The shoot-out

When friends are at the palazzo, someone taps Start a shoot-out. For the next two minutes everyone at the court shoots a round, and the scores fill in as each person finishes. When the clock runs out, the best score wins and is tonight's champion.

A shoot-out round also gives you Social, and playing together brings you and your friends closer, the same way a game of Bixkla or Ludo does.

The rest of the garden

Hoops isn't the only game out there. Each of these is a card in the garden, and whoever starts one opens it for a couple of minutes so everyone at the palazzo can join:

• Swim together: tap Stroke in a steady rhythm. Tap too fast and you splash, too slow and you drift. Everyone's lengths add up.
• Race two lengths: the same strokes, against the clock. The quickest is tonight's champion.
• Chicken fight: you're up on a friend's shoulders. Lean left or right against the sway and stay up as long as you can.
• DJ a set: pick three tracks. The crowd cheers you on, and you hit the drop in each track for extra points.
• The fire pit: hold to toast a marshmallow and let go when it's golden, then tell the story on tonight's card.

Guests are welcome

The grounds are open to anyone the host lets in. When you visit a home with a garden, its cards show at the top of your panel: swim in the pool, or shoot hoops on the court. You don't need to ask first. Upstairs is a different matter: that's the host's call, as the palazzo's guide explains.

Throwing a party is the easiest way to get a shoot-out going. House parties and visits covers inviting people, the drinks and the moments.

Where else

The court is part of the palazzo, the top home on the ladder (the sky penthouse at Pender Place is one step below). The same game is planned for the court at the Eden later, with the same weekly board, so a score at one counts at both.

New to the game? Read what Malta Living is, or play Malta Living free. For the real game's rules, see basketball on Wikipedia.

Questions people ask

How do I score a basket in Hoops?

Swipe up from the ball, aimed where the swaying hoop is going, about as far as the spot is from the hoop.

What's the highest score in Hoops?

20: every shot in, on fire from the third, and the buzzer-beater doubled.

How does a shoot-out work?

With friends at the court, tap Start a shoot-out. Everyone gets two minutes to shoot a round, and the best score is tonight's champion.

Can guests play Hoops?

Yes. Anyone the host lets in can shoot hoops and swim in the pool, without asking.