Pocket Games
Flick Soccer
Flick Soccer is the tabletop football of button games: three discs a side, one ball, and a shot you take by dragging your finger backwards like a slingshot. The game is all in the angles — the ball bounces, and anyone who keeps that in mind scores twice as often.
How to play
Each team has three discs. You drag backwards on the disc you want to shoot: the further back you pull, the harder it goes. The disc strikes the ball, the ball bounces off walls, posts and opposing discs. First to three goals wins.
Before kick-off you choose how your discs line up:
- Triangle: one pushed up in the middle and two back on the flanks. Balanced.
- Wall: three in a row across your half. Defensive: hard to get through, but you are exposed up front.
- Attack: two forward and only one back. Scores sooner, and concedes sooner.
You play two players on the same phone, with the pitch rotating 180 degrees each turn so both always shoot from their own end, or against the bot at three levels. Wins and losses against the bot are stored on the device.
How to shoot
Power is almost never the answer. A full-force shot sends the ball ricocheting around the pitch and leaves it wherever it likes, often in front of your own goal. The medium shot, which takes the ball where you want and leaves it there, is worth much more.
Aim where the ball will go, not where the disc meets it. The ball leaves along the line joining the centre of the disc to the centre of the ball: clip it and it goes sideways. That is the only piece of geometry you need, and it lets you angle shots deliberately.
Use the walls. The ball bounces predictably: a shot sent into the side wall arrives at the goal from an angle your opponent’s back disc does not cover. It is the standard way to score when the middle is shut.
Play the return. If you do not have a clean shot, do not shoot at goal: move one of your discs to a better position, or clear the ball out of your own half. A turn spent tidying up is a goal not conceded.
Opposing discs are walls too. A bounce planned off a defender is often the only way around the wall formation.
Defending
You do not defend by stopping the ball, you defend by holding the line. Always keep a disc between the ball and your goal, preferably centrally: the angles can be covered with small movements, the middle cannot.
The classic mistake is sending everything forward after conceding. With the attack formation it is worse still, because you start exposed: that line-up only makes sense if you are convinced you can finish quickly.
Frequently asked questions
How many goals to win?
Three. Games last a few minutes, which is why it is worth playing best of three or best of five.
Is the bot strong?
Depends on the level. At the first it shoots almost at random, at the second it lines the disc up and aims at goal, at the third it simulates several candidate shots before choosing the best: at that point it makes few mistakes, and you have to play off the walls to surprise it.
Can two people play on the same phone?
Yes, and it is the best way. The pitch turns itself each turn, so both players always shoot upwards and nobody plays upside down.
Do games count towards an online record?
No: wins and losses are counted here and stay on the device. Online records are for the score-based games.
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