How to play
Street Fútbol
A street match, two against two. Pass with button 1, shoot with button 2, and score five, or more goals than them in three minutes.
At a glance
- Players
- 1–4 at once
- Ages
- 7 and up
- Round
- Minutes — a sit-down game
- In the packs
- Party, Arena, Big Kids
Controls
Button 1 does the main thing. The other buttons add moves, and the ready screen shows which ones this game uses.
| What you press | What it does |
|---|---|
| Stick | run; while your shot is in the air, hold it sideways to bend the ball |
| Button 1 — the big button | with the ball, pass to the teammate the stick points at, or into space; without it, poke it off the dribbler; while your side has it, ask for it (pass it!) |
| Button 2 | with the ball, shoot — a tap is quick, a hold charges it; without it, slide |
| Button 3 | with the ball, chip it: over the keeper from six or seven metres out with room to the side, or over a defender to a teammate; without it, while your side has it, ask for a through ball (through ball!) |
| Button 4 | hold for a dash, a burst of pace from the three pips under your tag |
How a round goes
Always two against two: each child has one player and Robo fills every empty seat, so one child plays beside Robo against two more. The pitch is a walled street court with its corners cut off, so the ball is never out, and an automatic keeper stands in each goal: he catches what he can, parries what he cannot hold, and rolls it out to a teammate who is free. It is seen from the side and above, like football on TV. At a Summer Splash or Under the Sea party the same match is played on the beach: wet sand underfoot, boards for walls, the crowd on a boardwalk with the sea behind. At a Space, Halloween, Ninja, Superhero or Barcade party it is played on a rooftop at dusk: a painted court inside the cage, the crowd on the next roof under string lights, the city behind.
The ball belongs to whoever reaches it. With it at your feet, button 1 passes to the teammate the stick points at — a ring lights at his feet when the pass is on — or rolls it into the space ahead when nobody is; button 2 shoots, a tap quick and low, a hold charged and hard. Hold the stick sideways while your shot flies and it bends. Without the ball, button 1 pokes it off the dribbler from in front, a clean steal, and button 2 slides in from behind, which knocks it loose and costs you a stumble when you miss; nobody may slide right after a kick-off, and nobody may stand in the keeper's half-circle.
The keeper stands on his line a little toward the ball and sets early for a charged shot, so a tap straight at him is a save and a tap across him to the far corner, from four to six metres out, is usually a goal; from eight metres, about one in three. He comes off his line only to meet a child inside five and a half metres with nobody between them. Button 3 chips the ball over him: from six or seven metres out, with three metres or more of room to the side, it drops into the far side of the net behind him, and an arc in your colour shows you when the chip is on. Straight at him or from closer he smothers it, and from further out he catches it.
Two passes strung together, each taken by a teammate, load your side's super shot: pips light under your score and the ball glows at your feet. Your next charged shot then flies true to the far corner, through everyone, and cannot be held. SUPER GOAL! Losing the ball empties it.
Three minutes, or first to five. Level at full time is a golden goal, up to a minute more, and still level is a draw. At one or two players the setup card's ▲▼ row offers the STREET CUP: everyone at the table on one side, three two-minute matches against three house teams, each with a habit the card names — the Strollers take their time, the Wall sits back and blocks, the Rockets shoot from anywhere — and two wins lift the cup. At two players it also offers TOGETHER: the two of you against two Robos, for one match.
Scoring and winning
A goal is a goal, from anywhere. Most goals at full time wins; five ends it early; a golden goal ends it at once; still level after the golden minute is a draw. Alone, Robo beating you is a rematch offer, not a winner's card.
In the Street Cup, two wins of three make you champions. A child alone is named; two children share it, and the top scorer is the MVP.
Tips
- Pass first: two passes strung together load the super shot, which the keeper cannot hold.
- Shoot across the keeper, at the far post; a shot straight at him is a save. Hold the stick sideways through the flight to bend it round him.
- Tap across him to the far corner from close, charge one from further out, and from six or seven metres with room to the side chip him with button 3. Off his line, go round him.
- Poke from in front, slide from behind. A slide that misses is a slide that misses, and you are down while the ball rolls on.
- Robo plays at your level. A Little Kids seat gets a wider pass cone, a keeper slower to its shots and no stumble after a slide; a Big Kids seat the opposite.