How to play
Penalty Showdown is a shootout on a wooden harbour pier at sunset. One player takes the kick, the other stands in goal, and after every kick you swap roles. Each player takes five penalties (three if you pick the short match on the menu). The player with more goals wins, and a shootout that can no longer be caught ends early. If it is level after the regular kicks, it goes to sudden death: one kick each, and the first round where one scores and the other does not decides it.
- Coral uses W A S D and Space.
- Teal uses the arrow keys and Enter.
- Gamepads work too: the stick or d-pad aims and steps, A shoots and dives. The first pad is Coral, the second is Teal.
- On a phone, hold it sideways. Each player owns one half of the screen: the stick on your half aims or steps, the ball button on the outer edge shoots or dives.
- Playing alone? Choose vs Bot and pick Easy, Normal or Hard. You shoot and keep against the bot in turn.
- P or Esc pauses. The game also pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Taking a penalty
Hold your fire key and watch the power meter next to the ball rise and fall. Let go when the marker is where you want it: the green band is the clean strike. Above the green the ball flies higher and less accurately, and a full-power shot at a high corner usually sails over the bar or clips it. Below the green the ball is slow and gives the keeper time.
Letting go starts your run-up, which takes about half a second. Your aim is read at the very moment your foot meets the ball. Hold left or right for a corner, nothing for the middle, up for a high shot and down for a low one. Nothing on the screen shows where you are aiming, so the keeper sitting next to you cannot see it either. You can change your mind during the run-up; only the direction you hold at the strike counts.
If you do not start your kick within about six seconds, the clock runs out and you scuff a weak shot down the middle.
Curling the ball
Hold one direction as you let go of the fire key and a different one at the strike, and the ball bends. It sets off towards the first side and curls back to the second. A keeper who reacts to the first few metres of flight dives the wrong way. The price: a curled shot is a little slower and a little less accurate than a straight one.
Keeping goal
Before the kick you may shuffle left and right along the line. Press fire with a direction to dive: left or right for the corners, up with a side for a high dive, down with a side for a low one, up alone to jump at the bar, and no direction to spread yourself in the middle. You only get one dive. It takes about four tenths of a second to reach full stretch.
Dive before the strike and you have a head start, but the shooter sees you go and can pick the other corner. Wait for the ball and you will read it, but a firm shot into the corner arrives before you are fully stretched. A keeper who simply stands still covers a shot straight down the middle at any height.
Sudden death
When the regular kicks end level, sudden death begins and the power meter swings faster. Nerves matter now: a hurried release ends up in the harbour.
Strategy
Do not fall in love with one corner. The bot remembers nothing between kicks, but a friend does. Mix corners, heights and the occasional shot down the middle.
Aim low when you go hard. A powerful shot keeps the keeper from reacting, and a low target leaves room for the extra lift that power adds.
Watch the keeper during your run-up. If they dive early, hold the other side at the strike.
As a keeper, choose your moment. Against a slow, high-arcing shot you can wait and react. Against a shooter who loves full power, guess a side just before the strike.
Enjoy duels on one screen? The neon tabletop of Puck Duel and the big-headed football of Bobble Kick are made for two players side by side as well.
If you enjoy Penalty Showdown, try Pop Split or Puck Duel next.
