Toy Soccer Cup review

What it is

Tabletop football, the physical kind, is older than most video games: small figures on a cloth pitch, flicked with a fingernail, in turns. Toy Soccer Cup is that game rendered in 3D with stadiums and a crowd, and it keeps the important rule: you take turns. One flick per turn moves the ball up the pitch, so it is a positional game more than a reflex one, closer to a board game with physics than to a football sim.

The developer lists four ways to play: Quick Match against the CPU, a Tournament where you beat teams one after another for the cup, a two-player mode on the same device, and an online mode against another person in real time. A match is won by reaching three goals or by leading when the clock runs down, and a shop lets you unlock kits, balls and pitches.

How it plays

Everything runs through one gesture. You drag back from a player and release; the direction of the drag sets the line and its length sets the power. That is the slingshot control, and it is equally good on a mouse and a finger, which is why the same-device two-player mode works without any keyboard juggling. The developer states the mobile version uses the same tap and drag.

The interesting part is that the ball only moves when a player hits it, so a flick is really two decisions: where the player goes and what the ball does when they connect. A player that misses the ball is now out of position for your opponent's turn. That makes the passing game more valuable than it looks; a short pass to a well-placed teammate keeps the ball and sets up a shot two turns later.

Tips that actually help

Flick football has more in common with pool than with real football, and the same discipline applies.

• Aim through the ball's centre when you want a straight pass or shot. Clipping the side sends the ball off at an angle, which is useful for a deliberate deflection and ruinous by accident.
• Learn the drag length for a gentle nudge before you learn the one for a screamer. Most turns should be nudges.
• Pass to the teammate who will have a clear line to goal after the ball arrives, not the one who is nearest.
• Before a big shot, ask where the shooter ends up if it misses. A player buried behind the goal line is one fewer defender.
• Playing for a three-goal finish is faster than defending a one-goal lead to the clock; when you are ahead, keep shooting rather than turtling.
• In two-player, treat the other person's flick as information: their players' positions after a turn tell you which lane is open.

Two-player and online

Two-player on one device is where the game is best. Because it is turn-based, there is no fighting over the keyboard or the touchscreen: you flick, you hand over. That works on a phone as well as a laptop, which is rarer than it should be. The online mode is listed as real-time against another player; I cannot speak to how quickly it finds an opponent, which depends on who else is playing at the time, so treat it as a bonus rather than the main event. The Tournament is the single-player spine, and the shop's kits, balls and pitches are cosmetic, so nothing there changes how a match plays.

Where it falls short

Turn-based play means matches have a stately pace, and a hesitant opponent, human or otherwise, slows it further. The shop puts some of the content behind unlocks, which is fine for cosmetics but adds a grind flavour to what is otherwise a pick-up game. The 3D stadiums are dressing on a flat pitch. And the developer says nothing about how tournament progress or unlocks are stored, so assume they live in this browser.

Questions people ask

Can two people play on one phone?

Yes. The two-player mode is on the same device and the game is turn-based, so you simply pass the phone or the mouse between flicks.

Is the online mode really against other people?

The developer describes it as a real-time match against another player. How long it takes to find one will depend on how many people are playing when you are.

How does a match end?

First to three goals wins, or whoever leads when the clock runs out. Matches are short.

Does it save my tournament and unlocks?

The developer does not say. Most games of this type keep progress in your browser's storage, so it should persist on the same device and browser but will not transfer.