Hello! It’s time for an update on Kickabout - the game PocketGamer described as "as easy to play as table football, but far more addictive". Between new features, a showcase in Oakland, and recent press coverage, there’s plenty to share. So let's dive in!

Representational Characters

Previously, I used identical character models to focus on gameplay, resulting in 22 blonde-haired players. While functional for prototyping, this didn't match my vision for representing a global sport.

As a solo developer, I have to balance representation with a minimal launch scope. I’ve now settled on Red vs. Blue teams featuring varied skin and hair colors. I also updated the character bases to white to improve silhouette readability. These variations are systemic, using tints and texture swapping, allowing me to easily scale the scope of color variations post-launch.

New Single-Player Scoring

While Kickabout is about scoring goals, I want to build a robust "meta-game" to encourage long-term engagement. Drawing on my experience with Slope, which relies on high-score chasing for its 150 million plays, I’m applying a similar logic here.

The challenge is that soccer is a low-scoring game, which doesn't translate well to granular leaderboards. To solve this, I’ve designed a secondary point system where players earn points for goals and "cool moments," such as hitting the post or making a goal-line clearance.

Current Point Awards:

• Goal: 10 points
• Conceded Goal: -5 points
• Hit the Post: 1 point
• Goal off the Post: 15 points

A difficulty multiplier (e.g., 3x for Hard) ensures all players can compete on a single unified leaderboard while rewarding higher skill levels. This design keeps the community in the same "social space" from day one.

Following the design philosophy I used for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, the points UI is subtle. New players should focus on the match; the secondary scoring system is there for competitive players when they are ready to engage.

Press Coverage

PocketGamer recently featured Kickabout in their list of 14 upcoming indie games from London you'll want to check out. Their quote "Kickabout by Rob Kay is a mobile football game that's as easy to play as table football - but far more addictive!" is pure gold; and will be a centerpiece of my promotion efforts.

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Showcase in Oakland

Finally, I recently showcased Kickabout at The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) in Oakland. It’s an incredible venue for retro gaming and was a perfect spot to test the new optional tutorial.

The tutorial covers basic controls and movement before challenging players to score their first goal. The event provided immediate, actionable feedback on both the tutorial and the new scoring system. So a very successful trip over the bay, where I made some new game dev friends to boot!

OK, that’s all for this update! Thanks for reading.

Please follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok via robkay.com.

Feel free to reply with ideas, questions, or just to say hello 🙂

Bye for now!

Rob

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