How to play
New to table football, or foosball as it is also called? Here is everything for your first goal: the aim of the game, the controls for your device and a few tips.
The goal and the table
Shoot the ball into your opponent’s goal. Whoever has more goals at the end wins.
Each team has 4 rods with 11 figures: keeper, defence, midfield and attack. They stand 1-2-5-3, just like on a real table.
- You always control one rod. It glows lime green.
- Your keeper follows the ball by itself, like your second hand resting on the keeper rod. Every other rod only moves when you move it.
- A match against a bot lasts 90 seconds. If the score is level at the end, it’s a draw.
- When you play friends via a link, the host sets the match length.
- Club matches last 4 minutes: two halves of 2 minutes each. At half-time you can change your line-up. The break lasts at most 90 seconds and ends sooner when both sides are ready.
Touch: phones and tablets
You play in landscape. Just turn your phone sideways.
- Finger down
- grabs the nearest rod until you lift your finger
- Slide up and down
- moves the rod
- Quick tap
- plays a soft pass
- Swipe towards the goal
- shoots: the faster, the harder
- Hold still
- catches the ball
- Pull away from the goal
- lifts the figures over the ball
Mouse
- Point at a rod
- picks that rod
- Mouse up and down
- moves the rod
- Left click
- short: pass, hold: charge, release: shot
- Hold right click
- catches the ball
- Hold Shift
- catches too, handy on a touchpad
Mouse and keyboard work at the same time.
Keyboard
- W / S or ↑ / ↓
- move the rod up and down
- A / D or ← / →
- switch rod
- 1 2 3 4
- pick keeper, defence, midfield or attack
- Space
- tap: pass, hold: charge, release: shot
- Hold Shift
- catch the ball
- Esc
- pause
What counts is where a key sits, not what is printed on it. So it works on QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY. You can change the game keys under Controls.
Gamepad
- Left stick or D-pad up/down
- move the rod
- LB / RB or D-pad left/right
- switch rod
- A or X
- tap: pass, hold: charge, release: shot
- Right stick
- flick towards the goal: shot
- B, RT or LT
- catch the ball
Your controller is detected the first time you press something. If it can, it rumbles on hard shots, saves and goals.
Tips
- A short press plays a soft pass, holding makes the shot harder. You reach full power after a brief moment, holding longer adds nothing. On a phone, the faster you swipe, the harder the shot.
- Catch the ball first. It then moves along with your rod. Slide it in front of a gap, then shoot.
- Move the rod while you shoot and the ball flies at an angle. Hit it with the edge of the foot and it goes sideways too.
- A caught ball does not stay forever: after a few seconds your figure lets it go. Then that rod cannot catch it again for a moment.
- Your own figures never get in your way. A ball behind a rod rolls underneath it.
- With keyboard and gamepad, “Smart rod selection” picks the rod that can play the ball. You can turn it off under Controls.
- Too hard? Turn on “Beginner help” under Controls and all your rods follow the ball. Too easy? Turn off “Keeper follows the ball” for pro mode. Both apply to matches against bots.
Your first match
Before your first match against a bot, a short intro shows you three things: move, shoot, catch. It fits your device, whether touch, mouse, keyboard or gamepad. You can skip it at any time.
You pick your opponent on the home page: 4 levels, from Easy to Expert. With “Practice alone” you train with no clock.