Punch
A pad lights up
Hit it with the glove on that side before its ring closes. Faster punches score more.
How to play the Shadowbox game
Shadowbox is a boxing game you play with your real fists in front of your phone's camera. Here's how to set it up, every move the coach asks for, and how the scoring works.
Set up your phone
- 1Download the Shadowbox game from the App Store or Google Play and open it on your phone.
- 2Lean the phone against something at about chest height, front camera facing you.
- 3Step back until your head, shoulders and both fists fit on screen. Good light in front of you helps the tracking.
- 4Tap Start, or just raise both hands. A three-count rings the bell for round 1.
The four moves
A toy robot coach stands in the ring with you and holds focus mitts around your body. Watch for what it does and answer with the right move.
Power punch
The gold mitt shows up
Throw a straight punch at the camera. From round 2 the coach holds a gold mitt in front of your chest.
Slip
A glove winds up above you
Lean or step to one side. A clean slip opens a counter pad worth extra points.
Duck
A glove swings in from the side
Drop under it. Three tags and it's a knockout, so keep your head moving.
Rounds
A fight is three rounds of 20 seconds with a short break between them. Each break gives one guard back.
Round 1: Find your rhythm
Pads on both sides and the odd overhand to slip. Chain clean hits into a combo.
Round 2: The hook comes in
The gold power mitt appears, swings come from the side too, and every slip opens a counter.
Round 3: No time to breathe
Pads close faster, swings come more often and the coach starts throwing doubles.
Scoring
- Every pad you hit scores 1, 2 or 3 points depending on how fast the punch was.
- Clean hits in a row build a combo: ×2 at 5 hits, ×3 at 15 and ×4 at 30. A miss or a tag resets it.
- Power punches, counters and slips pay extra.
- You start with three guards. Each swing that tags you costs one, and losing all three is a knockout.
The shadowbox pointing game
The shadowbox game that went viral on TikTok isn't an app. It's a face-to-face reaction game you play with a friend. This is how most people play it.
- 1Two players face each other. One is the pointer, the other is the looker.
- 2On a count of three, the pointer points up, down, left or right, and the looker turns their head in one of those directions at the same moment.
- 3If the head goes the same way as the point, the pointer scores and goes again.
- 4If they don't match, the roles swap.
- 5Three matches in a row wins the round. Many players also forbid repeating a direction within one streak.
Ready to throw real punches?
