The map display guides me down the ramps to the exit. An Official opens a gate and lets me up a staircase to sit among the other players who are out. A few of them clap me on the back and tell me I did fine.

I slump my shoulders and turn the private screen toward me, changing the video feed to automatically follow the action. My headset plays the audio.

A roar of laughter rises from the red supporters. A few seconds later they cheer and stand up. Around me, however, no one says a word.

The player count drops to 8 as the headset voice says, “Yellow team eliminated.”

The video feed follows Lucas. He dodges a sphere and whips his own at Glacia. She’s the last person on the red team. A green player runs out behind Lucas and Glacia hurls her second sphere at him. It ricochets off the wall and smashes into his chest.

“Seven players remain.”

Glacia slips into a thin aisle, keeping her pace at a jog so Lucas won’t lose her. She turns at the first intersection and picks up two spheres that are casually sitting on the ground. I realize she must have stashed of them, and she’s leading everyone into traps of her own devising.

Three green players run out of the aisle Glacia is about to pass. She skids to a halt and punches away the sphere one of the players throws so they can’t retrieve it. Then she retreats and sprints down the first aisle she comes to. Lucas is close behind, but she’s getting away.

The video feed switches again, focusing on two green players who are about to cross paths with Glacia. The three of them run into an intersection at the same time—but it’s a one-sided battle. Glacia whips a sphere at the floor. It bounces and hits the knees of the first player. Out. She charges at the next player. He’s slow and can’t dodge her swing. She tags him out.

At this, the red section of the arena whoops and hollers. The screen above the stadium focuses on the stands for a few seconds, swooping over people who are pumping their fists. I even hear a ‘Let’s go Glacia’ chant in the commotion.

“Five players remain.”

Now the game gets even more difficult. With five players left you can’t hold a sphere for more than ten seconds or it will detonate in your hands and purge you. If you throw a sphere and it doesn’t hit an opponent within five seconds, you’re out. And to make things even more complicated, if you go thirty seconds without holding a sphere, you’re out.

Games that reach five players end quickly.