Slum Soccer

16-bit favela football.

Rocinha against Cidade, under the floodlights, with houses stacked right up to the touchline. Slum Soccer is a fast five-a-side arcade football game in a Mega Drive-style pixel look. Pass into space, hit it first time, slide in late, and pick a bat off the terraces if it turns ugly.

Pick your five

• Pick five from a squad of twenty: 1 keeper, 2 at the back, 1 mid, 1 up top.
  
• Every player has a card with pace, shooting, passing and tackling ratings, plus a trait and a one-line rep. "Nobody walks through Chico."
  
• Play as Rocinha in gold or switch sides and play as Cidade in crimson.

The Whistle

• Before kickoff, pick your referee or leave it on AUTO. Six refs, six tempers.
  
• Ferro sees everything and books everything. Padre watches the ball, and if you knock him he stays down. Bruxo pulls a knife if you try him. Boi is half blind.
  
• A slide from behind is only a yellow if the ref sees it. Two yellows is a red.

Three nights to choose from

• STREET: the CPU gives you time on the ball.
  
• RIOT: they press harder, tackle harder, and lose their temper faster.
  
• WAR: they close you down instantly, and the scraps come thick and fast.

Real football, arcade speed

• Charged passes and shots. Hold the button before the ball arrives and let go for a first-time finish.
  
• Lofted balls, through balls, standing tackles, slides and jockeying.
  
• Skill moves on the ball: the cut, the rainbow and the fake.
  
• No corners or throw-ins. The ball comes back off the walls, and a firm pass from the touchline is a cross.
  
• You always become whoever on your side picks up the ball. You can also swap to the next player yourself.

When it turns ugly

• Scraps only start when the ball is dead: after a foul, a goal, a restart or the whistle. Punch, kick, or cover up.
  
• Walk over a bat, chain, pipe or chair to pick it up and swing it.
  
• Soft refs go down. Mean ones pull a knife. Cuts bleed, and if your players drop you're a man down. Lose all of them and you forfeit.
  
• Score in front of their end and go into the crowd to celebrate. Their fans will fight back.

1v1 online over Steam

• Invite a Steam friend, or find an opponent through Steam matchmaking, and settle it 1v1.
  
• The host picks five in gold and the opponent picks five in crimson. Kick off when both sides are ready.

Built for a pad

• Plug in a controller and play the whole thing on it, menus included. Keyboard works too.
  
• End-of-match stats: shots, on target, possession, fouls, cards and KOs. Your career record on the title screen counts matches, wins, goals and KOs.