About 10 years ago I tried to do my first real game project. It was a Football Agent Simulator that focuses on what I loved most about FM: finding hidden gems that with time and the right guidance become world beaters. I failed at everything: scope, design, and most importantly, shipping. But that idea stuck with me all these years and I was always trying to find an innovative way to make my football management game work.

Sometimes last year I got this idea of using traits to open up a whole new level of squad building where teammates behave like pieces of a puzzle that activate (or deactivate) one another. It probably came from playing a lot of Crusader Kings, but there's a hint of roguelike games where synergies are a big deal.

Then it came down to what I can and want to offer: a story generator akin to CK or Rimworld, rather than football management experience that's all about immersion.

This cocktail of influences and ideas resulted in one failed prototype and then in the game you're checking out now: Footballogy. My design goals are to make the gameplay loop faster (a season in an evening!) compared to FM, but most importantly focused on decision-making that actually matters. Any decision that doesn't leave a mark gets cut.

• Shorter seasons don't mean reduced depth - it's cutting the decisions that are not interesting.

• Unexpected outcomes are possible, but still explainable

• Trait system and synergies it produces result in meaningful differences in team quality

• The playing experience is smooth and polished

I worked on my previous game, Master of Chess, for over 3 years and released it out of Early Access last year. It was a great experience that taught me a lot. The very positive rating it got is more than I can ask for but I plan to improve on every possible aspect with Footballogy.
I'd like to send it to some of my gamedev buddies for testing by end of the year, and then to open it up for all interested players in my Discord sometimes next year:

https://discord.gg/HYV8Zz8V2Q

Right now I have plenty of systems that are partially developed, but everything is disjointed. So what lies ahead is a lot of work and thought to make this game shine.

I know all of this is ambitious and to deliver I'll have to be innovative and efficient, but that's where the magic is going to come from.

If this sounds like your kind of game, a wishlist helps a lot.

Have fun watching the World Cup!

Cheers!
BRANE