Splatoon 2

''This article is about the actual game. For its Pokepals community, see spla2npals.''

Splatoon 2 is a team-based third-person shooter on the Nintendo Switch, released on July 21, 2017.

Gameplay
Splatoon 2 is one of the most popular games within the Pokepals community and has several different game modes to play in.

Turf Wars
Turf Wars is the main game mode within Splatoon 2 and is the only game mode that is used in Splatfests. The aim of this mode is cover as much of the ground in your color ink as possible. Turf Wars matches last for three minutes, after which the team with the highest percentage of ground inked is announced as the winner.

Splat Zones
Splat Zones is one of four Ranked Modes in Splatoon 2. It plays similar to other games' King of the Hill modes. One or two 'zones' are marked on the map (usually around or on the center of the map), which teams have to control by inking the ground of the zone. Once a team controls the zone (or both if there's two) their counter will start to go down. If the team in control loses control of the zones, their counter is stopped, their counter will pause. If the opposing team takes control, their counter will start going down and the team that lost control will receive a penalty counter they'll have to deplete first before their normal count can go down again if they regain control of the zone(s). The size of this penalty counter depends on how far ahead or behind a team was when they lost control. If a team's counter reaches 0, the match immediately ends and they are declared the winner. If neither team has reached after five minutes, the team that is the closest to 0 wins, unless the losing team is control, in which case overtime starts. Overtime ends when either the losing team gets ahead and therefore wins the game, or if they lose control for more then ten consecutive seconds or when the winning team takes control back.

Tower Control
Tower Control is one of four Ranked Modes in Splatoon 2. The teams fight over a tower that starts in the center of the map. If any number of Inklings of only one team get on the tower, it will start moving towards the opponents' base over a predestined path. Along the path, there are checkpoints. When the tower reaches a checkpoint, it will stop there for a certain amount of time before moving further. This time decreases faster if more Inklings are on the tower. If there are no Inklings on the tower, the tower will move towards its neutral position. If the tower reaches the goal spot at the the end of the path, the game is over and a winner is decided. If the tower has not made it to either end after five minutes, the team who got it the closest to the end wins, unless the losing team is controlling the tower, in which case the game will go into overtime. In overtime, the match ends when the losing team takes the lead or loses control of the tower.

Rainmaker
Rainmaker is one of four Ranked Modes in Splatoon 2. In the center of the map, there is a weapon called the Rainmaker, protected by a shield. Teams must burst this shield first by shooting it. When one team deals enough damage to the shield, it explodes, and the Rainmaker can be picked up by any Inkling. The explosion radius will splat any enemy Inkling within it. Only one Inkling can carry the Rainmaker, and must work together with their team to get the Rainmaker to their team's goal point, located near the enemy base. However, the Rainmaker has some special properties. It has a timer. If this timer reaches 0, the Rainmaker explodes, instantly splatting the carrier and every Inkling of their team within the explosion radius. The Rainmaker is also always visible on the map to all players, essentially painting a huge target on the carrier. Player also cannot Super Jump while carrying the Rainmaker, and cannot use any of their main, sub and special weapons, leaving the Rainmaker itself as the only weapon they can use. They also move slower. The Rainmaker can fire a shot which travel in arc, exploding when it lands on the ground, splatting all enemy Inklings within the blast radius. If neither team gets the Rainmaker to the goal point after five minutes, the team that got it the closest wins, unless the losing team is currently carrying the Rainmaker, then the match will go into overtime, which ends once either the losing team loses the Rainmaker, or they take the lead.

Clam Blitz
Clam Blitz is one of four Ranked Modes in Splatoon 2, and the only mode that was not in the original Splatoon. The objective of Clam Blitz is to throw clams into a basket on the enemy's side of the map. The basket is protected by a barrier, which must be destroyed first by throwing a football Power Clam at it. A Power Clam can be obtained by collecting ten clams, which will then transform into a Power Clam. A team wins by getting 100 points. If neither team does so, the team that scored the most points wins, unless overtime occurs, which when either:
 * the losing team has a Power Clam in their possession or on the field.


 * the winning team's barrier is open, or

Overtime will end and a winner is decided when either:
 * the losing team's barrier is open but they were winning when it was opened.
 * the winning team scores.
 * the winning team's barrier closes.
 * the losing team loses all of their Power Clams before opening the winning team's barrier.
 * the losing team fails to open the winning team's barrier within 20 seconds of overtime.
 * the losing team takes the lead.

Salmon Run
Salmon Run is a cooperative mode that was introduced in Splatoon 2. Players must survive for three waves as they try to collect Power Eggs by defeating Salmonids and Boss Salmonids. Boss Salmonids will also drop three Golden Eggs which players must collect and deliver them to the basket located somewhere on the map. Instead of choosing a weapon to use, players will receive a random weapon out of 4 weapons that are predetermined for each individual timeframe of Salmon Run, but will never any one weapon more than once per game, nor will any two Inklings have the same weapon on any wave. All weapons given in Salmon Run have Splat Bombs as their sub weapon, and each Inkling will receive one of four Special Weapons, for which they get two uses for the entire game: Inkjet, Sting Ray, Splashdown, or Splat Bomb Launcher.

Splatfest
Splatfest is a special mode in Splatoon 2, occuring only every so often. During Splatfests, Inkling choose one of two teams, represented by a theme, such as Mayo and Ketchup, Action and Comedy or Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Pearl will always choose one option, and Marina will always choose the other. All Ranked Modes are disabled during Splatfests, with Splatfest matches always being played on Turf Wars. Splatfest usually also get a special stage exclusive to that Splatfest. See Spla2npals for more about Splatfest within Pokepals.