In a world where we are glued to our smart phones and tablets, computer games can often be forgotten or overlooked. But nothing can compare to the sheer addiction that can be experienced when the perfect game comes along. Blo-Ball Soccer just might be one of those games.
Overview
If you are looking for impressive graphics, crazy action, or a fast-paced game, Blo-Ball Soccer might not be the game for you; however, if you are a Pong lover, or like to play some old-school Nintendo, this may be just what you’ve been looking for. At first glance, Blo-Ball Soccer might seem confusing, the field is arranged like a typical soccer field, but the “players” are spherical and just slightly larger than the soccer ball itself. The purpose of the game is the same as a typical soccer game, score goals.
Moving the players around the field isn’t a speedy process. In this game, it’s all about angles. Using your angles, you place the ball and get it to another player up field. Only one player moves at a time, to get a player to move, mouse over them, click down and an arrow will show up, indicating the direction that the ball will be kicked when you release your mouse. The further your player moves to kick the ball (considered a “blow” when you play the ball), the more “breath” is used, which can result in running out of breath.
There are a few game options available, including “Network” and “Local”, within those gaming options, players can choose a normal game, turn based game, or one touch game. While the turn based game moves a little too slow for my taste, it did take me a few rounds to get the hang of playing, this game option did help me understand the game a little better.
There are a few rules that you’ll find handy to remember:
- If the ball leaves the playing field, normal sideline and end line rules apply (corner kicks, goal kicks, throw-ins).
- If more than 2 players attempt to block the mouth of the goal for longer than 5 seconds, or if there is 1 player behind the goal line for more than 3 seconds, a foul is issued. These are the only ways fouls can be issued in Blo-Ball Soccer.
- If a player commits a foul they will be placed in the “sin bin” and become ineligible for the foul period.
Verdict[rating:3]
The makers of the game boast that Blo-Ball Soccer is “easy to play, difficult to master” which I found to be true. If you are looking for a game to pass the time, Blo-Ball Soccer could be a viable option. There’s no need to be well versed in the game of soccer to be able to play this game, the rules are simple and so is the overall object of the game.
You might want to also try the iPhone version (direct link), which is a little easier to play than the desktop version.
Price: $0.99 – Available now in the Mac App Store (direct link) and the iOS App Store (direct link).
Pros:
- It’s a simple game concept that doesn’t require a lot of thought
- Can easily be minimized and resumed at a later time
- Brings back fond memories of games before game graphics and objectives became so complex and difficult
Cons:
- Some may find graphics to be outdated
- Getting the hang of the game takes a couple of rounds
This review was written as a guest post by C. Marie Johnson .
