The manual
The Pokéjam Player's Guide
Pokéjam is easy to start and quietly deep: a shot meter, a contact system driven by type matchups, and a draft that decides more games than your release timing does. These six chapters cover it in the order you will meet it.
Start here
If you have not played yet, read Basics and Controls first — they take about ten minutes together and cover everything a first game needs. Then play one Quick Play match before reading Draft, because the draft advice only makes sense once you have felt a bad lineup on the floor.
If you already play and keep losing, go straight to the two chapters that decide close games: Defense for contest geometry and steal odds, and Offense for the distances where shots actually go in.
The six chapters
- 01BasicsWhat happens in a match?Quarters, the 24-second clock, how you switch players, what stamina does, and how substitutions work.
- 02ControlsWhich button does what?Keyboard, gamepad and touch, plus the exact timing rules behind the shot meter and what a missed release costs.
- 03OffenseHow do I actually score?Shot odds by distance, when to dunk instead of shoot, alley-oops, the fire state and how to spend the special bar.
- 04DefenseHow do I get the ball back?Contest geometry, steal odds, what a shove really does, rim protection and the rebounds that end possessions.
- 05DraftWho should I pick?The positional scarcity table, the lineup bonus, three worked lineups and the cheap picks that evolve into starters.
- 06FranchiseHow do I win a season?Nine weeks, badges, trades, free agency, the rookie draft and the four-team playoff bracket.
The three numbers to know before anything else
| Rule | Value | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Shot clock | 24 s | An offensive rebound gives you at least 14 more; a change of possession resets it. Stall and the ball is gone. |
| Quarters | 4 | Ties go to overtime. Stamina partly refills at each break, more at half time. |
| Roster | 291 | Pokémon across five positions, each with eight ratings the game actually uses. |
Beyond the manual
The chapters teach the game. The reference pages measure it: how the overall rating is calculated, every player and their numbers, which shoves win and what each gym team brings.