Guide

Games like NHL '94 you can play today

NHL '94 is still the hockey game people measure everything against: an overhead view of the whole play, two buttons, one-timers that felt like magic and games that took ten minutes. If that's what you're missing, here's where to find it now.

What made NHL '94 great

• You could see the play. The overhead camera showed the whole zone, so passing was about reading lanes, not guessing.
• Simple controls, real depth. Shoot, pass, check. The skill was in timing, not in memorising combos.
• The one-timer. A pass across the slot and a shot off the tape before the goalie could move.
• Short, fast games you could play three of in a lunch break.

PuckIt: NHL '94-style hockey, free in your browser

PuckIt is our take on that formula, built to play instantly in a browser. It's top-down and fast, and it plays the way the classic did:

• One-timers: shoot the moment a pass arrives and the puck goes straight off your stick.
• Hits that knock the puck loose, goalies that make saves, and a wind-up shot you aim high, low or into the corners.
• Play people or bots: always-on 3v3 and 5v5 pickup games where bots fill any empty spot, so there's always a game.
• A franchise mode with seasons of 10 to 84 games, contracts, a salary cap, trades, free agency and the draft.
• A Rookie Cup tournament, practice against Rookie, Regular or Pro bots, and nine hockey mini-games.
• No download and no account needed. It runs on a laptop, a Chromebook or a phone.

Other hockey games in the '94 spirit

• NHL 94 Rewind — EA's 2020 remake of the original with modern rosters, released for consoles.
• Old Time Hockey — a 1970s-set arcade hockey game from Vancouver studio V7 Entertainment, inspired by NHL '94 and Blades of Steel.
• Super Blood Hockey — an 8-bit-style hockey game with over-the-top fights and a franchise mode.

They're all good; PuckIt is the one that's free, online with real people, and a click away.