Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe

I wish I could recommend this game. I really have loved it since first playing it on my iPod Touch over 10 years ago. It was really awesome finding it on here! It mostly lived up to the nostalgia, even though it was much harder (and physically painful at times!) to play on PC with a mouse rather than on a touch screen. The character lore was interesting to unlock, the knock-off Tatooine aesthetics were charming, and even though it was a little grindy at times it was fun enough for me to not mind.

The problem is that my save data was backed up to a cloud that had one inexplicable error on startup and wiped my entire game. It has been quite some time since then and I still can't bring myself to dive back in because what if it happens again? There doesn't seem to be a way to have local save data. Because I can't be sure if my save is actually permanent, the grind and physical strain just isn't worth it to me to try again. It's disappointing to have gotten so little out of the PC version considering the price. Maybe if you're playing on VR you'll at least avoid the physical drawbacks enough to run those risks?

Oh well. I'm still grateful to Agharta Studio for the years of fun. I just wish I could show that gratitude with a positive review.

This game tried to be a follow-up to Shufflepuck Cafe from Amiga, but fails. Characters don't have unic detailed ways to play against the player, except their special move, which is lame by feeling all the same at the end ; getting coins will force the player to battle over and over again against the same opponent, which will feel even more boring ; and there is no multiplayer mode even locally, something really pointed out back then. Graphics are good, but that's about it.

Steam has left the tag VR on the game, and trailer videos showing it as VR, but VR is not supported. Requests for support are denied, forum posts asking for help ignored. The best hint you can get is seeing that it used to be called "Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe VR". Some of the links still call it that, but don't make the same mistake I did. VR doesn't work. Pitty, it seems like it was a well-respected VR game. I would've liked to play it.

Still a decent non-vr game, just buy it for the right reasons.

It was good until they removed VR support. What a rip off....
Also the studio isn't answering any question over the last few years.

I bought this for the VR support. Now, like a year later, I go to install it, and lo and behold, the VR has been removed and added in another version. That's a bad business practice. I loved the game in VR, but I won't be paying for it again.

Cantina Deluxe has nothing on Cafe.

The good old Shufflepuck Cafe, when I played it back in another age on a Mac Classic in my school's computer room, was immensely challenging, with each character taking serious skill to beat. Each had their distinct play style, each responded perfectly to some moves and were susceptible to others, each served in semi-predictable or totally unpredictable ways, and all the opponents were ranked from easiest to impossibly hard, and rightfully so. Maybe there was nothing else to the game, it was pretty simple after all, but the gameplay made up for the simplicity.

Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe introduced 3-D graphics, in VR for those so equipped, and added tons of extras - a multitude of mallets and pucks and "embodiments" to choose from, quests, missions, collectibles, and let's not forget special attacks... Too bad that the core gameplay fell far, far short behind the original's. All the opponents have exactly the same core difficulty level - even the newbies can successfully defend against fast cross-courts and rebounds, and even the boss occasionaly fails to catch a slow shot. They differ only with their serve technique (perfectly predictable after 2 or 3 rounds), special moves (also perfectly predictable, except for Phan-Le's "cannonball", but those turn matches against him into mindless smashfests along one side, until he finally misses). Also the concept of mastering special moves is completely useless, as opponents randomly either defend against lightning fast specials, or hopelessly fail to hit a technique executed by accident and slow as a snail.

Then there's the progression, represented by collecting points, credz and completing quests. Again, however, they're ridiculous in design: "boss" missions, completed to collect spaceship quests, are simple "reach 15 points" matches, of which I have not lost even one as a whole; characters' quests, in turn, often involve winning over a dozen points in "survival" mode against an opponent, which is far more time-consuming (considering opponents being as predictable as described above). And while the easy spaceship missions award game-finishing items, the hard survival matches yield points and rewards ten times smaller than a single match against any high-level opponent. Oh, and the final boss of bosses? He's just as hopeless, his only power is that he switches between styles of all the other characters with each ball played.

But an experienced player should easily complete the game by beating all the opponents, right? Nope. The spaceship parts take credz (cash) to obtain, and those are collected by grinding, that is playing hundreds, thousands even, of boring, repetitive matches against inept opponents.

Bottom line? Avoid this, if you expect a challenge similar to the old Shufflepuck Cafe. This remake is a shameful disgrace, just wrapped in pretty graphics.

I puchased this game over a year ago, and played it a lot on my DK2. After getting my new headset I came back to it only to find the steam version doesn't work in VR, and I need to buy it again on the Oculus Store to play it. Would appriciate an Oculus Store key to play again, as it stands now, I am going to give thumbs down.

Game claims full and complete support for the Oculus.

Game does not work with the Oculus, have followed his troubleshooting and other info to try and get it working. Found on the forums where it is not working for anyone, and where over a year ago he said he would fix it soon, and was pretty much never heard from again...

First game I'm requesting a refund for...

Does a very good job of reviving Shufflepuck memories. Also looks nice and is playable with the Oculus.
But the very hard grinding is annoying, and the AI opponents are apparently able to use their special strike more often than you, sometimes right when the game starts, even when not enraged. Also, there is no option for turning off the bonus/hazard coins that spawn on the table.

1) Stay away
2) Only recommended when on sale
3) Recommended
4) Highly recommended
5) This is a must play

An OK little game to remember the original game from the nineties with some flaws that cannot be overlooked.

Clearly designed originally as a free-to-play (an insame amount of challenges, in-game achievements requiring 50+ hours of gameplay and more than a thousand matches to win, different sort of currencies, XP, slot machine, etc...), these mechanisms only strenghten the impression of a lack of content.

Which is sad, because the grinding slowly kills a game that had good efforts put into it (there's decent writing, overall good controls, balanced AI). This should be a lesson to game designers: forcing the player to put more hours than he normally would have only makes him/her notice the little things that are wrong (repetitive sound design, aberrant mallet behaviour on some occasions, too many menus...).

If you are bent on 100%ing games, just don't buy this one, the time you will have to spend is not worth it. For the others who might enjoy a few arcade air hockey matches, you can spend a few bucks when the game is on sale.

Sufflepuck Cantina is a cute little casual game about air hockey simulation, ideal for playing in small doses. What it does it does perfectly with a smooth mouse response and clear and intuitive controls.

Long story short, you play as an astronaut stranded in a distant planet inhabited by a bunch of freaks obsessed with air hockey. In order to get them help you to fix your broken spaceship you need to make youself a name as an air jockey player and beat (a looot of times) the 13 opponents. You start with a basic mallet and puck and the 3 beginner opponents, and you must grind your way up to the rest of them, their special mallets and pucks and some other unblockables, such as concept art, pieces of background for the diffferent characters, etc. Each enemy has their own mallet and puck and a special move, but the concept of the game is always the same.

Some people have said it resembles Star Wars Tatooine cantina aesthetics, and it does indeed. There's even a "Twi'lek" girl and a guy cosplayed as Han Solo, and every alien is very Star Warsy, so if you like the saga then you'll probably find Sufflepuck Cantina attractive to the eye. Most defining trait is the grinding, which many people have complained about; there's no ingame purchases inherited from its former app game nature, yet you will need tons of ingame currency to buy everything, from access to more challenging enemies to new mallets and its upgrades. As there are only 13 enemies and the only mechanics in the game are the short, intense air hockey matches (no other minigames included), this may get repetitive after a while. You can, however, buy your classic coin doubler upgrade, which I recommend you to do first thing (there are a couple upgrades for the puck to give you money when it hits the table and the mallet).

Also the lack of multiplayer really damages a game like this one, which could use it to add some replayability and extra fun. However, the developers are considering to add it in the future if they get funding, and you can read about it in the Steam forums. I had this game on a bundle so I will definitely be investing a couple bucks :p

+ Cute design and characters
+ Addictive and tons of unlockable content
+ Polished and responsive controls and puck behavior

+/- Some people may find the grinding annoying, while others (like me) may find it catchy

- The concept gets repetitive quickly
- No multiplayer (although it could have it eventually)
- Some will find 10€ is a bit pricey due to lack of variety

After playing for 6 or 7 hours I say it's a good game, fun and with a fair amount of content, but it can get old quickly. If, like me, you are a sucker for casual games and achievement hunting, you will sure enjoy it. If you are looking for a more hardcore game, I would advice to avoid this one, specially at full price, as some will consider it to be a bit too much for what it offers; I had it in a bundle though, so I am more than happy with the value. I totally recommed it if you get it on sale and enjoy some good old casual gaming.

If you like rl air hockey (or the idea of a vertical pong) you will like this game.
It is easy to learn and gets challenging later. The atmosphere and music is entertaining. I still coulnd´t find any bugs (kudos to Agharta Studio). Since rewards are frequent and the games are short it is pretty addicitve.

All in all: Big fun for little money!

Surprisingly addictive. The background music gets a tad anoying, but that's the worst of it. If you ever enjoyed air hockey you will enjoy this.

Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe is a great animated 3D air hockey game. The game is controlled via the computer’s mouse. You have to hit a hockey puck with the aim to knock the hockey puck past the opponent’s site (and to get the puck when the opponent knocks it to you). In Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe you have a modern, colorfull design, 13 opponents on 5 floors (with different looking rooms), more than 40 gadgets and equipment and and and. This game is perfect if you just want to play a bit alone. The game saves itself so you have nothing to do when you want to quit the game. You can level your own character (about 200 levels!) and there are over 350 missions and 120 mini quests you can do. If you really want to collect all achievements and to do all quests you can spend much time on that game. I would buy it always again.

It's a fun sci-fi take on air hockey and it's a marvel how good it looks and sounds despite being only a 55MB download. Beyond that though...wow...this is the worst case of mobile F2P grinding garbage I have found on steam. You will absolutely want to find a cheat tool or something to give yourself more currency. This is really shameful. It expects you to beat every character a few hundred times to really fulfill every goal. You'll lose interest completely by the third match with each of them. I paid about $1.21 after selling some cards and using a coupon and I still think it was a bit of a rip off.

******UPDATED******
After more hours into the game and all floors unlocked I have to say the game becones unfair with ai using their powers as much as they like and to get any thing is a major grind. I am talking about Star Wars Force Collection grind, I would hate to see the f2p mobile version. Sadly I can not recommend due to those things.

Do you like pong? Do you like Star Wars? If you answered yes to both then this game is for you! Though not set in the Star Wars universe the universe you are in is very Star Warsy even down to the cantina music. It's got a cute charm to it.

Before you dive into the trenches of this game be warned first, this was originally a phone game that was free to play with in app purchases. No no, there are no IAP here, you buy the game once and that's it, but you can tell because you have to grind and grind and grind to get anything.

The graphics really surprised me knowing that this is a mobile game, though it could use a little AA, it's very pleasing to the eyes. The music is hit or miss after hours of grinding your better off playing your own. The matches are short and sweet lasting only a minute or so but they are fun. You can unlock different power ups and upgrade your paddles and puck slightly. The only thing missing from this game is online play, that would be a blast to play your buddy in a pong like game.

Yes, it's Shufflepuck Cafe. In 2013.

How MUCH like the original?
Well, I keep doing the thing where you'd smash the puck, only to have the baton or whatever it is called get in FRONT of the puck, and then I move backwards to reset - and smash the puck into my own goal. That happened on the original, and it happens here.
The 2nd floor has a good remix of the original tune.
Now, there are extras - you have to collect parts of your spaceship and thus play a lot of games vs. the characters, rather than just get to Biff via playing various others. Also I haven't seen my favorite, the character who'd get drunk gradually and then you'd beat the crap out of him because he was WASTED. Oh wait, maybe he's on floor 2 - maybe he's the insect that is at the bar there.
The little guy with the eyes is named 'Furry' and he is essentially a cat. There are biographies of each type, and quests.

The ONLY problem with the game is there is no Paranoimia cracktro on the front. Felix Schmidt's music on that is brilliant and I kinda wish it was in the game somewhere.

Also, yay this was in the shop so I could buy it. I never saw, or was given the option to purchase, the original, in stores or elsewhere.

Yes, I like this game (:

Boring game, extremely repetitive. You have to play the same character so many times it's absurd to fully unlock a biography from them just to get their paddle. I mean it seems great as an app game, but as a sit down one it's pretty ass.

On the plus side it looks fantastic and everything fits the theme real well

Doesn't matter how pretty it is though, after playing the same robot bartender 40 times just to get enough gold medals to unlock all his biography shit to get a color change on your puck, you start to hate it. I'd pay like 3$ for this max.

[TL;DR -- An unexpectedly addictive and beautifully presented game, well worth the $7.99-$9.99 USD price-point in my humble opinion.]

Though not a regular player of Arcade games, I thought I would make a foray into the genre when I picked up the newly-released Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe (SCD) for $7.99 USD. The game consists of playing Shufflepuck (essentially air hockey) against a series of increasingly challenging opponents to win points and money (known as ‘Credz’), ultimately in order to build a new spaceship to return home to Earth. Although a fairly simple premise, the game mechanics are well executed, and the opponents are sufficiently diverse to keep the game interesting and fresh as you progress.

The game takes place in a five-level Cantina, where Shufflepuck is the key form of entertainment for patrons. The graphics are crisp and polished, with each area of the Cantina having its own style. There are indeed no loading times, and the player can seamlessly travel between each level of the Cantina via an elevator. Four of the levels are populated by three opponent characters each (with the fifth level devoted to a single ‘Boss’ opponent), as well as bystanders and props. The activity in each area is sufficient to bring the game to life, but is subtle so as to not distract the player.

Each of the 12 regular opponents have unique mallets and pucks, as well as unique ‘special moves’, which the player is able to obtain and use as they progress through the game. The different special moves employed by each opponent adds greatly to the challenge of the game, as the player must adapt quickly to avoid defeat, particularly when required to face a series of different foes in attempting to complete each character’s ‘mini-quests’. The Shufflepuck matches are challenging, particularly those which require the player to concede no points over the course of the match. There’s a genuine sense of achievement in a flawless 15-0 victory against a difficult opponent.

As the player progresses, more points and Credz are amassed, as well as Tokens. Points are used to determine the player’s Level, which provides bonuses, as well as to rank the player amongst their friends and the global playerbase. Credz are used to purchase items from the Store, such as puck and mallet improvements, as well as the biography of each opponent character. Tokens can be exchanged for points or Credz via a ‘prize machine’, which involves a random-chance card-flipping interface akin to a slot machine, and may be subject to bonuses derived from your Level.

The character biographies are well thought-out and consistent, and provide a back-story to the player to explain some of the feuds between characters the player will notice during the game. SCD does not have a narrative or story arc in the way that many FPS or RPG games do, however the character dialogue and biographies do a good job of filling that void, bearing in mind the context of an Arcade game.

All-in-all, I am very happy with my purchase and got a solid 20 hours of entertainment before finishing the core game missions. No doubt it would require many more hours to achieve 100% completion. The game is executed to a standard well above what I expected, indeed well above what I would expect of any new 3D game at the $9.99 USD or below price-point from an independent game developer.

I would recommend to all, but particularly those who are fond of Arcade games. This game is fun, challenging and accessible, and at less than 100MB download, you’ll be able to jump into it almost immediately.

Normally being a fan of more action-like games or even shooters, I am surprised of how much this game draws me in. The characters are interesting and way more multidimensional than characters in other games that are supposed to be "main heroes", the gameplay itself is fluid, fun, and there are a lot of things to earn and rewards to get that will keep you going.

I can't recommend this game enough and I am surprised how much I like it, given how it was a "curiosity-buy". I am not disappointed :)

Buy this.

I used to play Shufflepuck Cafe on the Atari ST, back in the 1980's. This is a lovely recreation, with loads of new features to explain exactly why you're playing shufflepuck against a motley assortment of aliens and robots.

This is a unique air hockey inspired game. The gameplay is fun. The characters are amusing. It is apparent there is much replay value to this game.
The gameplay is great. Each opponent you face off against has a special shot they perform once powered up. The opponents you face in the beginning don't have very tricky shots but the shots of later opponents are very intense and hard to combat. You can play a variety of modes against each opponent. There is a simple duel mode in which you battle your opponent up to a certain amount of points. There is also a bet mode in which you can bet up to a set number of coins on the match. A survival mode is also available where one strike against you results in the game being over.
The unlock system adds complexity to the game. Mallets and pucks of varying abilities are able to be unlocked. In fact you can unlock the mallets your opponents use to unlock their shots. There is also a leveling system in which you unlock different coin boosts for the particular modes.
A couple minors gripes I have are the lack of multiplayer and some annoying quirks of the characters. When you score on characters they perform the same action upon every point you win against them. So their catchphrases can get old quickly. However, you can just play a different character upon getting too annoyed.
Overall this game surprised me with how fun it is and I feel I will be sinking many hours into it.