Deflex

The gameplay in all versions follows the same basic mechanic. A ball bounces around the screen, moving in cardinal directions only and bouncing off at 180 degrees when it strikes the side of the screen. By pressing a key (or moving the joystick or touching the touchscreen), the player can cause a paddle to appear at the ball's current location, making the ball immediately bounce off the paddle and turn either left or right. Once placed, a paddle remains on screen, forcing the ball into more and more complex bouncing patterns.

In addition, whenever the ball strikes a paddle, the paddle's direction is reversed. The objective of the game is to guide the ball to touch a randomly placed target that appears on screen. When the target is touched, score is awarded and a new target is placed, although all existing paddles remain. The player loses the game if a target is not touched within a time limit.