A decade ago, I wrote a post about soccer board games... so, with the US Men's team playing Uruguay tonight and both US men and women playing in the Olympics later this month, I figured it was a good time to revisit and update my thoughts.
Soccer was the first sport I ever felt semi-competent at as a kid... which probably has a lot to do with my enjoyment of the game, particularly played at major international tournament level. It's the only sport I've ever "officially" coached. (Note: I coached Under 6 soccer, which is kind of like saying, "I herded cats while they played with a white ball & got distracted by their surroundings.")
I'm not a great soccer player - I don't have the stamina, the coordination or the willingness to practice to get better in those areas. I can handle the ball & can "see the field," which means I was (once upon a time) a passable midfielder. (And by "passable midfielder", I mean "I was slightly better than having no one playing the position... but only by a small amount".)
Soccer, by the way, is probably the easiest of the team sports to teach to young kids. While I used to enjoy watching my sons play the royal mess that is T-Ball, those kids out on the diamond have no idea what they're doing and/or why. But as long as you can sling up two goals, mark the edges of the field & get a decent ball on the ground, you can play soccer. (You may not play it well, but you can play.)
All of this is introduction to my "real" topic, soccer board games. There are a LOT of soccer board games available (Tony Ackroyd over on BGG has an extensive older Geeklist entitled Kick Off & Goal! that contains 70 of them). I haven't played nearly that many... but that won't stop me, of course, from commenting on them. (Some of the games I'll highlight don't appear on Tony's list, which hasn't been updated in about a decade.)
I'll be listing the games in my order of personal preference.
This is a backgammon-ish 5-on-5 soccer game that plays quickly (25 turns) and is incredibly simple to learn. Don't let that fool you - the folks who are good at the game are REALLY good at the game.
It doesn't so much simulate soccer (like Pursue the Pennant attempts to simulate baseball)... instead, it uses a simple dice-based mechanic to simulate the feel of a soccer game - and does so brilliantly. In fact, it's not only my favorite soccer game, it's one of my favorite games, period. (It was #53 on Top 100 list this year.)
Like playing backgammon, winning at Streetsoccer is as much about the position you leave yourself in as well as pushing hard to score.
Eleven is more football (soccer for those of us here in the U.S. of A.) team management (including stadium improvements, hiring & firing staff, and dealing with the mercurial decision-making of your board of directors) than playing soccer games... but don't worry, you'll play six matches over the course of the game (and even more if you're using the International Cup expansion.)
While there are some tricky parts (understanding how/when to flip jerseys, for example), the game itself works like a charm and is great fun to play, especially if you are (like myself) a fan of Premier League soccer. Match play is important – but Eleven is much bigger than winning matches… it’s actually an economic/management game.
Since the game this re-design was based on (Club Stories) was a solo game, it is not a surprise that this works splendidly for a single player. However, I wouldn’t suggest trying to throw all of the expansions in at one time – that’s my single play for this year (so far) and it was a bit much. (I do plan on mixing the international players into the regular deck for more variety moving forward… but ditching the airline/recruiting mechanic.)
There's an excellent review of Eleven on the Opinionated Gamers site - which I didn't write but you should still read anyway.
I've only had the chance to play this game a single time... but I was very impressed with how it using a tile-laying-like mechanic to simulate the build-up of soccer play. There's enough randomness to feel like an actual soccer game (I got a penalty trying to stop an overwhelming attack - then my goalie managed to block the penalty shot!)... but not so much that it overwhelms intelligent play.
I'm not sure where you find a copy except the Pluto Games site (which shows that they are waiting for restock.)
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Much more popular in Europe than here in the States, this flicking game of soccer is a lot of fun to play - but I don't have regular access to a copy. The tiny round-based players are tricky to learn how to flick well... but experienced players can do magical things with them. (For example, the gentleman who taught me how to play and pretty much relegated my team to 3rd Division in a single game.)
You can play at a relativelysimple "just get the ball in the goal" level... or the game has a sophisticated set of systems for dealing with fouls, throws-in, PKs, and the like.
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This is a dice-based game which is played in real time (stopwatch included) and has a nice fluidity to the game (once you get past the tik-takky stuff in the rules). It has a bad reputation due to [a] a ill-conceived design choice to put the scoring spinner in the middle of the board (which has been solved by the addition of a scoring die), and [b] by the less-than-congenial relationship that the company has had with BGG.
The game usually runs a little long... so it didn't hit the table often enough to justify hanging onto it and was traded away in the Great Game Purge of 2013. I'd still be happy to play it - but I no longer have a copy.
Finale was only published in German in the 2-player Kosmos line and is very much out of print. It borrows the rotating card mechanic from the Settlers of Catan Card Game combined with a set of tactics cards to create a pretty nice simulation of coaching a soccer team. Fouls & injuries are a little too common, though.
The problem with the game is that it's a tad fiddly, what with all the marking & turning of player cards. I've got my copy up for trade, but I like it enough that it would take a really good offer for me to part with it. It even managed to survive the Purge - but I'm thinking that mostly due to lack of interest.
I have 3 different sets thrown together, so I can make a pretty large field. Sadly, it's cooler in theory than it is in actual play... the field is stable but the players sometimes pop right off their bases as you try to make a play. But, hey, it's Lego!
Note: while many games were sold in the aforementioned purge (back in our 2013 move) and even more were sold earlier this year... I still have Lego Soccer.
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Sadly, I have never played The World Cup Game... not for lack of trying.
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