Game Reviews

Kind of Soccer 2018 review - The best referee-attacking sim to hit the App Store this year

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iOS
| Kind of Soccer 2018
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Kind of Soccer 2018 review - The best referee-attacking sim to hit the App Store this year
|
iOS
| Kind of Soccer 2018

You can say many things about Kind of Soccer 2018, but none of them would involve its slavish dedication to the rules of the beautiful game.

In fact, it might be better called Kind of NOT Soccer 2018, because while there are shorts and balls and white lines on the pitch, scoring goals isn't the aim of the game here.

Instead you're trying to whallop the ref in the face with a well-placed shot. Which is certainly the kind of rule change I'd be happy to get behind in the real world.

Pass and don't move

The game takes place on an approximation of a football pitch. Your players are all static, and you can pass the ball between them by dragging a finger back on the one in possession and releasing.

The referee, slippery little bugger that he is, spends all of his time running around trying to avoid the ball meeting his face. Kick it too far, or miss a pass, and the referee gets a point. Smash his mug, and you get a point.

Things get more complex as you play though. There are opposition players who'll try and steal the ball from you for one thing. Then there are the power-ups that change certain aspects of the game when you pick them up.

Kind of Soccer 2018 iOS review screenshot - Behind in a game

One of these is a bomb. One of them turns the other team's players into trees. They only last for as long as it takes one side or the other to score a point, but they keep things fresh and delightfully weird.

Fresh and delightfully weird are basically the two things that Kind of Soccer aims for, and to be honest it gets them just about right.

It's not trying to be anything other than a silly, challenging distraction, wrapped up in the trappings of the sport so many people know and love.

Referee!

There's a lot of fun to be had here, and the progression, which sees you unlocking new power-ups, is going to keep you playing for a good long while.

No it's not a real football game, but as a cheeky mobile kick around, it's actually a lot better than a good deal of the sims that you'll find on the App Store.

World cup prediction: Someone will kick the ball in the ref's face. It will be funny.

Kind of Soccer 2018 review - The best referee-attacking sim to hit the App Store this year

You might be kicking the ball in a weird direction, but there's a lot to like about Kind of Soccer 2018 all the same
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Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.