How does the penalty shootout work?
Two teams take five penalty kicks each in turns. On your kick you swipe the ball to shoot, on the other team's kick you tap a goal zone to dive. If the score is level after five each, it goes to sudden death, one kick each until one side scores and the other does not.
On attack the camera sits low behind the ball, with the goal and the opposing keeper in front of you. Swipe upward and the ball flies where you swiped. On defence the camera moves behind your keeper, and the opposing kicker starts a run up in the distance. Six zones appear over the goal mouth, and tapping one sends the keeper diving that way. The match alternates between the two views, one kick, one dive.
How do I shoot? Power and curve
Start on the ball and swipe to the spot in the goal you want. Where the swipe ends is the target, and how fast you swipe is the power. A slow swipe is accurate but slow, a flick is fast but the ball rises and drifts.
| Swipe | Ball |
|---|---|
| Slowly into the corner | About 40% power, right on target. A keeper who reads it will save it |
| Quickly into the corner | About 70% power. The keeper's reach shrinks, so the same spot beats him more often |
| A hard flick (80% and up) | The ball rises above your target and drifts sideways, and may go over the bar or wide |
| In an arc | Curve: the ball bulges toward the bend and comes back to the target, fooling a keeper who reads the first direction |
| Just inside a post or the bar | Touch the woodwork and it bounces out. The riskiest spot and the hardest to save |
The power shows as a percentage under the result text after every kick, so a few tries will give you a feel for it. On a keyboard the arrow keys move the aim point, holding Space runs a power meter up and down, and you kick with whatever it reads when you let go. The white line on the meter marks 80%.
How do I save? Six zones and timing
The goal is split into left, centre and right, high and low. Tap one of the six zones and the keeper dives there. His hands reach the spot 0.4 seconds after you tap, so tapping after the ball leaves is late, and tapping far too early lets the kicker see you and go the other way.
- Dive early: tap before the kick and the keeper goes first. The hands get there in time, but a Normal or Hard computer kicker sees it and switches sides more than half the time.
- Read the body: at the end of the run up the kicker leans toward the side he will shoot. Easy always leans honestly, Normal seven times out of ten, Hard only half the time.
- React to the ball: tap once the ball is in the air and the direction is certain, but the hands only get halfway. Slow balls near the middle can still be stopped this way.
How is the winner decided?
During the regular five, the match ends the moment one side cannot catch up even by scoring all its remaining kicks. If it is level after five each, each side kicks once more until one scores and the other does not. The scoreboard dots show the story.
| Scoreboard | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green dot | Goal |
| Red cross | Saved, hit the woodwork or missed |
| Empty circle | A kick not yet taken. The blinking one is up next |
| Sudden death | Level after five each. Ends as soon as one round of two kicks splits the score |
For example, at 3 : 0 after three kicks each the trailing side can only reach 2 with its last two kicks, so the match ends there. Against the computer you kick first, and in two player mode Red kicks first.
What do the computer levels change?
The three levels differ in how well the keeper reads your shot and how hard the kicker goes for the corners. The Hard keeper reads the direction the ball starts in, so you have to fool him with curve.
| Level | Computer keeper | Computer kicker |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Dives to any of the six zones at random | Slow shots near the middle, sometimes wildly off. Body lean is always honest |
| Normal | Guesses the side half the time and the height six times in ten | Goes for the corners more, and switches sides half the time if you dive early |
| Hard | Reads the ball's first direction seven times in ten and dives at once | Deep, hard corner shots, almost always switches if you dive early, and half the leans are fakes |
How does two player mode work?
In two player mode Red and Blue take turns kicking on one screen, and whoever is not kicking plays keeper by tapping a goal zone. The view always stays behind the ball with the six zones drawn over the goal.
While the kicker swipes, the keeper taps a zone. If the keeper taps first the kicker can see it and go the other way, and if the kicker swipes first the keeper has to react late, so it becomes a game of nerves. On a phone the kicker takes the lower half and the keeper the goal. On a keyboard the kicker uses the arrows and Space, the keeper uses Q W E and A S D.
Tips for winning a shootout
- 60 to 75% power is the sweet spot. Harder and the ball rises, softer and the keeper catches up.
- Aim for the corners but respect the posts. A hand's width inside the post is the hardest spot to save, but a little further and you hit the woodwork.
- Curve against the Hard keeper. A ball that starts toward the middle and bends into the corner sends a keeper who reads the first direction the wrong way.
- In goal, read the lean and dive as the ball leaves. Easy and Normal kickers mostly lean honestly. Against Hard, a late dive still stops balls near the middle.
- Play safe when ahead. Two goals up, a medium shot halfway up the goal is plenty.
Controls
- Touch or mouse: to attack, start near the ball and swipe to the spot in the goal you want. To defend, tap one of the six zones over the goal. Tapping outside the goal picks the nearest zone.
- Keyboard: arrows move the aim point, hold Space or Enter and let go to shoot, Z and X set the curve. To defend, Q W E are top left, top centre and top right, A S D are the bottom row. Behind the keeper, Left and Right arrows dive low to the sides, Up is high centre and Down is low centre.
- Title screen: choose vs Computer or Two players, pick Easy, Normal or Hard for the computer, then Kick off. Space or Enter also starts.
Your record and the sound setting are stored only in this browser. Nothing is sent to a server, and two player mode means taking turns on one device.