Penalty Kick Game: how to play

Penalty Kicks is a penalty shootout game, a quick taste of soccer (or football, wherever you are) in your browser. Mogi takes the kicks and Bruno keeps goal against a team of glitch robots. You take turns: five kicks each, and whoever scores more wins the round. Swipe to shoot, curl the ball round the keeper, then read the robot's run-up and dive the right way. Each level is a new stadium with one new idea, and the robots' kicks are the same for everyone each day.

How to play

• Shooting: swipe up from the ball towards the goal. The direction aims, and the length is the power: a longer swipe goes higher and harder, and too long flies over the bar. Curve your swipe to bend the ball. A guide shows where it is going while you swipe. Mouse: drag the same way.
• Keys: the arrows move the target. Hold Space to power up and let go to shoot: too little and the ball dribbles, too much and it flies over. Hold ← or → while powering up to curl it.
• Saving: when a robot runs up, tap the spot in the goal where Bruno should dive, or tap Bruno to stay in the middle. Keys: ← → for the sides, add ↑ for high or ↓ for low, Space to stay. You get one dive per kick. A dive picked during the run-up starts the moment the ball is kicked.
• Watch the robot's body: late in its run-up it leans the way it is going to shoot. A robot that runs up square may go down the middle.
• Each turn has a six-second shot clock. Run out of time and the kick counts as a miss.
• Score more than the robots after five kicks each to win the round and clear the level. The round ends early when one side can't catch up, and a tie after five each goes to sudden death. Lose a round and you lose one of your three hearts and play the level again; the robots get a little sloppier each time.
• A goal or a save scores 100 points, times your streak of goals and saves in a row (up to ×10). Top corners add 50, a curled goal 25 and close calls (in off the post, fingertip saves) 25. Clearing a level adds 300 × the level number.

The five levels

1. Neon City: the robot keeper is slow and just guesses a corner
2. Rooftops: wind: the arrows show which way it will push your ball, so aim into it
3. Sewer: robot shooters stutter in their run-up, and some shoot down the middle
4. Robot Factory: the keeper learns your favourite corner: mix up your shots
5. Glitch Zone: the goal flickers wider and narrower, with every idea together

Clear the Glitch Zone and the five levels loop again with every idea kept: the robot keepers dive 8% faster and the robot shooters kick 6% harder in lap 2, and the same again in lap 3, where it stays. You have three hearts for the whole run, and the game is the same for everyone each day, so you can compare scores. Press M to turn the sound off or on.

Tips

• Aim just inside the post. The keepers read straight lines, so a curled shot fools them.
• Don't dive too early: wait until the robot's body turns, then go.
• Under the Rooftops wind, aim a little into the wind and the ball drifts back on target.
• In the Glitch Zone, shoot while the goal is big: it flickers just before it changes.

Questions

Is Penalty Kicks free?

Yes. Penalty Kicks is free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no sign-up.

How do I curve the ball?

Swipe in a curve instead of a straight line, like a bow. The ball bends the same way and still ends where the guide shows. With keys, hold left or right while you power up.

What happens if it's a draw after five kicks?

Sudden death: one kick each until one side scores and the other doesn't.

Can I play it on my phone?

Yes. Swipe to shoot and tap the goal to dive. It works on phones, tablets and computers.