Namco's Japan-only 1988 hockey arcade game, Face Off is divided into four rounds, each one made up of three periods; the length of a period depends on what the arcade owner has set the "TIME" setting in the game's options menu to and it can range from as low as 60 seconds (1:00) to as high as 260 seconds (4:10). Therefore, if you are using MAME to play this game (which you almost certainly will be unless you are a native inhabitant of the "Land of the Rising Sun"), you may wish to set the "TIME" setting up to "200/100 260/130 SEC" in order to increase your chances of scoring against the opposing team - and the red number in the bottom-left corner of the screen indicates your team's score, the yellow number in the left centre of the screen indicates the amount of time remaining for in the current period, and the blue number in the top-left corner of the screen indicates the opposing team's score. If the opposing team manages to score more goals than your team by the end of a period, your game will be over and you will be asked if you wish to continue by inserting another coin before a 10-second timer runs out; however, if a period ends in a tie, your team will be forced to take a penalty shot at the other team's goal. If you should miss the shot, it will instantly cost you the game - and you will again be asked if you wish to continue by inserting another coin.
This game features two different modes of play: Tournament Mode, in which up to two players can compete against a CPU-controlled opposing team on each round and Versus Mode, in which up to four players can compete against each other (two players for each team) upon each round; once you have chosen a mode, and selected a team to take control of, you will be asked if you want your team to be comprised of either three (LW controlled by Player 1 and 3, while RW and GK controlled by Player 2 and 4), or five (LW and LD controlled by Player 1 and 3, while RW, RD, and GK controlled by Player 2 and 4) members. If you have chosen to play in Tournament mode the four CPU-controlled opposing teams will be predetermined for each round - and if you have chosen the team that you would normally be facing on a specific round, you will have to face the one positioned above or below it on the team selection screen instead. However, if you have chosen to play in Versus Mode Players 3 and 4 can select a different team to that of Players 1 and 2; the losing team of any period will also be forced to insert another coin before the 10-second timer runs out if they wish to continue playing and have another chance to get back at their opponents, and the game will end after only one round to ensure that the players do not spend more than 300 yen in a single sitting. The full names of the five positions are as follows: LW = Left Wing, LD = Left Defense, RW = Right Wing, RD = Right Defense, GK = Goalkeeper.