How to play
Two wrestlers meet on a summer meadow while a drummer and a pipe player keep time at the edge of the field. Both are oiled from head to toe and wear the traditional leather breeches of oil wrestling, the kispet. Crimson starts on the left, Cobalt on the right. Bring your rival to the grass, on his back or on his face, and the round is yours. Win three rounds to win the match, or choose two or five on the menu.
- Crimson steps with A and D, plants his feet with S and uses Space to grab, throw and slip free.
- Cobalt steps with the left and right arrows, plants with the down arrow and uses Enter.
- Gamepads work too: the stick steps and plants, A grabs. The first pad is Crimson, the second is Cobalt.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Each player owns one half of the screen: drag to step, drag down to plant, and tap the hand button to grab.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Stepping toward your rival is always “forward”, so Crimson pushes with D and Cobalt pushes with the left arrow.
Balance
Each wrestler is always slightly off balance, like a real one. Leaning into your rival lets you push, but lean too far and you topple. Your legs fix it: if you lean back, step back under yourself; if you tip forward, step forward. Planting your feet makes you much steadier, but you cannot move while you do it.
Under each wrestler’s feet is a bar in his colour: your breath. Planting your feet and winding up a throw use breath, standing easy brings it back. A wrestler out of breath is wobbly and cannot plant until he has caught a little of it again.
The oiled grip
Get close and press the button to grab your rival’s leather belt. Oiled leather is hard to hold, so the grip starts at about half strength. A golden ring around your hands shows how much grip you have:
- Hold still and your fingers dig in: the ring grows.
- The oil makes every grip slide a little, all the time.
- A rival who keeps stepping wriggles out of your hands much faster.
When the ring runs out, the grip slips and you need a moment before you can grab again. Careful: if you were leaning back against your rival when the grip slips, you are suddenly leaning against nothing.
Hip throw and slipping free
With a grip, press the button again to start a hip throw. Your wrestler sinks his hips for half a second and then heaves. The stronger your grip at that moment, the harder the throw. A full grip will put a standing rival on his back. A weak grip rarely beats a rival who has planted his feet.
The defender is never helpless. While a throw is winding up, a bar appears over the defender’s head, the only bar ever shown there. When the end of the bar turns gold, press the button and you slip free: the grip breaks, and the thrower, heaving at nothing, stumbles forward and often falls on his face. Press too early and you waste your chance for a moment, so watch the bar.
Golden time
A round lasts forty seconds. If both wrestlers are still standing, golden time begins: the oil is drying, grips stop sliding on their own and every throw hits a little harder. Breath no longer comes back. Somebody will go down soon. If nobody does, the round is a draw.
Strategy
Grip, then wait. A fresh grip is weak. Stand still for a second while your rival tries to wriggle, and only throw when the ring is nearly full.
Bait the early press. Players who are nervous about throws press too early. If your rival flinches and wastes his escape, throw right away.
Pull a leaner. If your rival leans heavily on you, a step back with a good grip pulls him onto his face.
Save your breath. Planting your feet all round leaves you wobbly when the real throw comes. Plant when a throw is winding up, not before.
Like a shoving match? Sumo Bump is a top-down push-out duel on a clay ring, and Flop Wrestle is a floppy one-button ragdoll match.
About oil wrestling
Oil wrestling has been held in Turkey and the Balkans for centuries, most famously at summer festivals where hundreds of wrestlers compete on open meadows to the sound of the davul drum and the zurna pipe. Wrestlers coat themselves in olive oil, which makes every hold slippery and every match a contest of grip and patience. This game keeps that spirit but simplifies the rules: in the real sport a match can last a long time and is decided by pinning or lifting, not by a single fall.
If you enjoy Oil Wrestling, try Paddle Smash or Penalty Showdown next.
