About This Demo

HEAD UP. GLOVES OFF.

The demo is the real game with a smaller slice of the league. Four clubs are playable in Quick Game and multiplayer. Solo Franchise gives you one ten-game season with Seattle. The periods are short, but the hockey is all there: lines, tired legs, penalties, big hits, overtime, shootouts, and fights. You'll score in your first minute. Getting good is the hard part.

Enjoy the demo? Wishlist Barnburners for its Early Access release on December 8, 2026.

TEN GAMES WITH SEATTLE

Take over the Seattle Squall for one ten-game Franchise season. Set your lines, make roster decisions, play or sim the schedule, and try to make a run through the playoffs. The draft is your final stop. Your demo career ends after your picks; the full game lets you keep building across seasons. Demo Franchise saves are separate and do not carry into the full game.

FOUR CLUBS, FOUR CAPTAINS WITH ABILITIES

Each team has a captain with a signature move:

• CHICAGO GUSTERS. Pure speed. THE WHEELS has turbo for days and barely tires.

• SEATTLE SQUALL. Cycle and grind. BULLDOG owns the boards and will not be stripped.

• MONTREAL SENTINELLES. Possession hockey. MAESTRO runs the give-and-go.

• TORONTO REGENTS. The stacked favorites. THE FRANCHISE is a little better at everything.

The CPU plays each identity for real: stretch passes, wall cycles, a 1-3-1 power play. Captain abilities charge as the players make their mark, then fire with one press.

AIM IT LIKE IT'S 1994

You aim when you shoot, the way the 16-bit classics did it. Wrist shots stay low and placed. Slappers come in high. Set up a one-timer, load the shot before the pass arrives, and score. Dekes can make the goalie bite.

THE FIGHTS ARE A REAL FIGHTING GAME

When the gloves come off, you throw and block the punches yourself. The demo starts with a simple three-button fight style. Want the bigger moveset? Switch to Full for jabs, haymakers, counters, and a super meter. You can turn fights off, too.

ARCADE ON TOP, REAL HOCKEY UNDERNEATH

Offside and icing are off by default in exhibition, with options to turn them on. Penalties stay on, but the refs like to let the boys play. Change lines, manage tired legs, battle for faceoffs, and take your chances on the power play. Games can go to OT and then a shootout, no ties here! Goalies have five styles, from the CHALLENGER cutting down angles to the ROVER who should stay home more but plays the puck well.

WAYS TO PLAY

• QUICK GAME. Get to team select fast. Periods are locked at 1:30, so a game fits inside a coffee break.

• SOLO FRANCHISE TRIAL. Lead Seattle through ten games, the playoffs, and the draft.

• VERSUS AND CO-OP. Play head-to-head, share a bench against the CPU, or put four controllers on one couch for 2v2.

• ONLINE PLAY. Find a quick match or share a join code. Demo periods are 1:30 online too.

• 3-ON-3 ARCADE. Open ice, loose rules, and extended stamina.

• TRAINING CAMP. FIRST SHIFT gets you into a real game. Learn skating, shooting, passing, dekes, checking, goalie control, and fighting in the drills.

• HOUSE RULES. Mega hits and big heads made the demo cut.

IN THE FULL GAME

The full game opens the rest of the league:

• ALL 24 TEAMS. Every one with its own city, colors, barn, and captain.

• MULTI-SEASON FRANCHISE. Keep your club going through trades, free agency, the salary cap, drafts, aging, and awards. The Seattle trial ends after one draft.

• POND HOCKEY AND FROSTBITE SERIES. Different places to take the game outside.

• TOURNAMENTS. Eight clubs, single elimination. Win or go home.

• MORE MODES. Short campaigns, arcade games, drills, and house rules.

Built by one person. The demo exists so real people can play it and tell me what I got wrong. There's a feedback button inside the game, and I read what comes in.