‘Kick’ and the Art of Not Booting a Football into a Moving Car: Why This Indie Gem is Pure Magic
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Jeff takes a look at 'Kick,' an upcoming indie soccer game that trades corporate monetization for childhood nostalgia and dog companions. It's a 2D physics-based 'slice of life' that might just be the cozy antidote to modern sports gaming fatigue.
Right, so I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared—mostly because it reminds me of a time before my knees started making that clicking sound every time I stand up. If you’ve ever spent your childhood trying to emulate David Beckham in a cramped back alley while dodging your neighbor’s prize-winning petunias, then pull up a chair. We need to talk about *Kick*.
According to a rather lovely report by Ford James over at *Polygon*, there’s a new indie title heading to Steam that’s ditching the high-stakes, billion-dollar spectacle of modern sports sims for something far more potent: pure, unadulterated nostalgia. It’s called *Kick*, and it’s being brewed up by solo developer Peter Soerensen at nospacelost.
Now, I reckon we’ve all felt a bit of ‘sports game fatigue’ lately. You know the feeling—when a ‘revolutionary’ new update is basically just a roster change and a more aggressive way to ask for your credit card details. That’s why *Kick* feels like a breath of fresh air, or perhaps a cooling breeze on a gravel pitch. It’s a 2D side-scrolling ‘slice of life’ game where you play as ‘The Kid.’ There’s no world championship at stake, no global leaderboard of whales competing for the shiniest digital boots. It’s just you, your ball, and the journey to school.
### The Physics of Being Ten Years Old
In *Kick*, your primary mission is to get from A to B while keeping a soccer ball (or football, let’s be real here, mate) glued to your feet. As someone who once accidentally cast a ‘shatter’ spell on my mum’s conservatory window with a stray Mitre ball, I can relate. The game asks you to dodge pedestrians, navigate obstacles, and—this is the bit that tickles my inner geek—master the ‘art of soccer ball physics.’
We’re talking about kicking the ball with the perfect power and at the right angle to pull off tricks and find shortcuts. It’s the kind of gameplay that sounds deceptively simple but, like a well-crafted potion, requires a lot of finesse to get right. You’ll be traversing everything from bustling city streets and scenic beaches to those slightly dodgy-looking shaded underpasses we all remember from our youth. There’s even a sprawling park where you can just... practice. No timers, no shouting coaches, just vibes.
And the best part? You’ve got a dog with you. I don’t care who you are; adding a canine companion to a game is an automatic +5 to its Charisma stat.
### The Solo Dev Sorcery
I’ve always got a soft spot for solo developers. It’s like watching a wizard try to build a floating castle by themselves—it’s ambitious, slightly mad, and occasionally leads to something brilliant. Soerensen describes *Kick* as a ‘labor of love’ over several years. He told *Polygon* he wanted to create a game people could ‘lose themselves in, with no threat, no danger.’
In an industry that often feels like it’s trying to optimize our cortisol levels for maximum engagement, there’s something genuinely radical about a game that explicitly says: ‘There is no danger here.’ It’s just a boy and his ball. It reminds me of why I got into gaming in the first place—not to grind for ‘legendary’ loot, but to explore a world that felt a bit more magical than the one outside my window.
### A Trend of the Heart
*Kick* isn’t an isolated incident, either. It’s following a trend we saw last year with *Despelote*, another nostalgic soccer title set in Ecuador during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. While *Despelote* focused heavily on the cultural and emotional weight of the sport, *Kick* seems to be doubling down on the mechanical joy of movement.
It’s interesting, isn’t it? We’re seeing a shift away from the ‘corporate stadium’ vibe of gaming and toward the ‘playground’ vibe. Whether it’s in the indie Steam scene or the burgeoning world of Web3 gaming, there’s a growing appetite for games that actually *respect* the player’s time and emotions. We don’t always want to be the hero who saves the multiverse; sometimes, we just want to be the kid who successfully dribbles past a grumpy postman.
### Cautious Optimism (My Specialty)
Now, because I’m me, I have to sprinkle in a little bit of healthy skepticism. Physics-based side-scrollers can be a bit of a double-edged sword. If the controls aren’t tighter than a wizard’s coin purse, the ‘cozy’ feeling can quickly turn into a ‘why is this ball moving like it’s made of lead’ feeling. We’ve all played those games where the physics engine feels like it’s actively trolling you.
However, everything we’ve seen so far suggests that *Kick* is leaning into that ‘flow state’ where you’re just one with the ball. If Soerensen can nail that feeling of momentum, this could be the ultimate ‘winding down’ game.
### Why This Matters to Us
You might be wondering why a digital wizard obsessed with the future of gaming is talking about a 2D soccer game. It’s because *Kick* represents the soul of what gaming should be. In a world of consolidation and ‘live service’ nightmares, indie projects like this remind us that innovation doesn’t always mean more pixels or faster ray tracing. Sometimes, innovation is just finding a new way to make us feel like kids again.
It also highlights a space where I reckon Web3 could actually learn a thing or two. Instead of focusing on ‘earning’ and ‘assets,’ developers should be focusing on this kind of emotional resonance. Imagine a world where your unique tricks in a game like *Kick* actually meant something to your community, or where the journey you took was truly yours. That’s the kind of ‘ownership’ I’m interested in.
For now, there’s no official release date for *Kick* on Steam, but it’s definitely one to keep on your radar (or in your crystal ball). If you’re looking for a break from the grind, this might just be the spell you need to cast.
*Original reporting by Ford James at Polygon.*
Tags: Indie Games, Kick, Steam, Retro Gaming, Soccer Physics
Original article: Polygon