Scoring. Solve a mate, you scored. Mate-in-1 and mate-in-2 are worth 2. Mate-in-3 is a 3. Each made free throw is 1.
Getting to the line. Every 2 mates in a row, the defense fouls you. What you shoot depends on how many team fouls they've committed this half:
- • Fouls 1–2 → and-1. The basket counts, one free throw.
- • Fouls 3–4 → bonus: a 1-and-1. Make the front end to earn the second.
- • Foul 5+ → double bonus: two shots.
Team fouls reset at halftime, so the escalation happens twice — once in each half. Miss two moves on one puzzle and it's a turnover.
A note on the 1-and-1
The NFHS eliminated the 1-and-1 for the 2023-24 season: the bonus is now two shots on the 5th team foul of each quarter. PandaBall plays old-school rules on purpose — the front end of a 1-and-1 is the most pressure a free throw can carry.
One liberty: real thresholds are the 7th and 10th team foul. A PandaBall half is ten possessions, not forty, so they're scaled to 3 and 5. The escalation — and the halftime reset — are the real rule.
BEEF is a set shot checklist: feet stay down. That's why there's no "elevate" — a free throw isn't a jump shot.