Table hockey games
A table hockey game, also called rod hockey game, stick hockey, bubble hockey, and board hockey, is a game for two players, derived from ice hockey.
The game consists of a representation of a hockey rink; the players score goals by hitting a small puck into the opposing "net" with cutout figures that represent hockey players. The figures are manipulated by rods below the "ice": each one slides forward and back along its own narrow slot when the player pushes or pulls on the rod, or rotates (about a vertical axis) to shoot or stickhandle the puck when the player spins the rod.
Though similar in concept to air hockey (commonly known as "glide hockey"), table hockey games are more of a simulation of the sport of ice hockey while air hockey is more abstract.
The arcade version is called 'dome hockey' or 'bubble hockey', because of the large plastic dome that covers the playing surface in order to prevent the puck either becoming lost or stolen. The most popular of these 'bubble hockey' tables is Chexx (USA vs. Soviet Union) and its successor, Super Chexx (Canada vs. USA).
Super Chexx was the company that originally developed this game in the early 1980s. Later other companies also began to produce similar items.
