Face to face football shoot-out. Penalty Duel is a free 2 player game on one phone. One swipes the shot, the other picks a dive, both in 1.5 seconds. Five kicks each, then sudden death.
How to play
Penalty Duel is a 2 player game made for one phone lying between two people sitting face to face. One of you is the shooter and the other is the keeper. After every kick you swap. Red takes the first kick.
Each kick has a 1.5 second window, shown by a timer ring around the ball. In that time:
- The shooter swipes the ball toward the goal, in their half of the screen. Where the swipe points is where the ball goes. A faster swipe is a more powerful shot. If your finger draws a curve, the ball curls.
- The keeper taps the left, middle or right third of the screen to choose a dive. The first tap is final.
Neither player can see what the other picked. When both have locked in, or the time runs out, the ball flies and the keeper dives. The screen turns around so the shooter always sees the goal in front of them.
Playing alone? Tap the Blue seat on the setup screen to make it a CPU. Then you can swipe or tap anywhere on the screen. On a computer, drag with the mouse to shoot, and the keeper uses A S D (Red) or J K L (Blue) for left, middle and right.
Rules
- Each player takes five kicks, one after the other. The shoot-out ends early when one side is too far ahead to be caught.
- If it is level after five kicks each, it goes to sudden death: one kick each, and the first pair with a different result decides it.
- A shot is a goal if it is inside the posts and under the bar and the keeper does not save it.
- The keeper saves a shot only when they dived to the same third of the goal as the ball ended up in. They cannot reach shots that go into the top corners, or shots that are hit very, very hard.
- A shot that clips the outside of the post, goes wide, or flies over the bar is a miss. A swipe that is too short, or that does not go toward the goal, is no shot at all. A keeper who does not tap stays in the middle.
Tips
- Mix it up. If you always go to the same side, a good keeper will find out. The Hard CPU keeper does exactly that.
- A firm, fast swipe is hard to save, but a wild one can fly over the bar. A top corner is the best way to beat a keeper who guessed right.
- Keepers: think about what your opponent expects, and do something else.
- Computer players come in Easy, Normal and Hard.
Why it’s fun
It is a staring contest, a guessing game and a bit of skill, all in a few seconds a kick. Play a full shoot-out, then go again.