The Germans found a way to put soccer into Hades

Soccer meets roguelike in upcoming indie

Turtle Knight Games / CobraTekku Games

There is a saying in the world of soccer: “Soccer is about 22 men chasing a ball for 90 minutes and at the end Germany wins.” It is by far the most popular sport in the country and the success of games like EA Sports FC 24 is a natural consequence of that – the second-best option after watching soccer from your couch is apparently playing it from there.

It comes as little surprise, then, that it was a German indie developer which managed to find a way to fuse soccer with roguelike dungeon-crawling in the form of Footgun: Underground, set to release on April 30, 2024. This roguelike platformer with pixel art visuals combines elements of soccer and billiard with genre staples, creating an intriguing mix.

Just like soccer, the concept is very simple: You kick a ball – though not into a goal. In this case, you want to kick it as hard as possible and aim for your enemies, evaporating them through the sheer power of your shot. As is usual for roguelikes, you go down a dungeon with twisted paths, giving you a choice between different room types and rewards. This can be equipment, different types of character upgrades, or various kinds of balls.

Aside from the soccer aspect, there is the billiard element – rooms will often have neutral balls lying around, which can be used to create lethal chain reactions if you play things in a smart way. It’s not just all brawn. Five different biomes and randomly generated dungeons await, securing replayability.

You'd usually want to avoid hitting people in soccer. / Turtle Knight Games / CobraTekku Games

“I was looking for a mechanic that fits well with the genre, that’s fun and invites you to get better. This is where the combat mechanic revolving around the ball comes into play. It’s a little bit like Rocket League. You have to position yourself well in relation to the ball in order to shoot properly. But because the ball often bounces off the spatial level boundaries and (more or less) flies around randomly, you can also hit opponents in this way. These lucky shots offer a certain satisfaction. This is particularly good for beginners,” Turtle Knight Games founder Eduard Dobermann explained.

He initially started Footgun: Underground’s development as a solo project and then hired additional developers after being granted funding by the State of Hesse. The game was recently nominated for the Best Prototype category at the German Computer Game Awards 2024, but didn’t manage to take home the prize – aside from a sum of €25,000 Euro due to all nominees.

After Balatro swept through the charts earlier this year, seemingly anything can happen with pixel art roguelikes taking inspiration from real-life hobbies.

Footgun: Underground will be out for PC via Steam on April 30, 2024.