Questions and answers

Yes. Karoball is free to download and free to play. There's nothing to buy with real money, and there are no ads in the Windows game.

The only money in the game is gold. You earn it by playing matches, challenges and cups, and by selling or trading kit.

How gold works Link to this answer

Karoball is on Windows 10 and 11 today. The Android version is in closed testing on Google Play, and anyone can join: here's how. It's free and uses the same account, so your progress carries over. There are no Mac or Linux versions, and Karoball isn't on Steam yet.

News about other platforms goes on the updates page and the Discord.

Other platforms Link to this answer

• A PC with Windows 10 or 11
• A keyboard and a mouse
• A graphics card that supports OpenGL 2.1
• About 30 MB of disk space
• An internet connection: Karoball is online only

Older versions of Windows haven't been tested. Some PCs also need a free Microsoft runtime: see “missing https.dll”.

System requirements Link to this answer

1. Get the zip from the download page.
2. Unzip it anywhere: right-click it and choose Extract All. Running it from inside the zip won't work.
3. Open the Karoball folder and run Karoball.exe.

The first start downloads the game itself, about 28 MB, then opens it. There's no installer, and you don't need admin rights.

Install steps Link to this answer

No. Every time you start Karoball.exe, the launcher checks for a new version and downloads only what changed. Most updates are about half a megabyte. The bigger ones, when the art changes, are around 16 to 18 MB.

If a new version comes out while you're playing, see “Update needed”.

How updates work Link to this answer

Yes, you play with a free account. In the game, press Play, then Register on the Log In card. Pick a username (up to 29 characters, not already taken) and a password of at least 3 characters, then log in with them.

Use a password you don't use anywhere else: see “What password should I use?”

Your first steps Link to this answer

No. The game never asks for an email address, your real name or your age. An account is just a username and a password.

That also means there's no email to send a password reset to: see “I forgot my password”.

Privacy Link to this answer

Karoball's launcher is new and isn't code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen and some antivirus programs don't know it yet and warn about it. It's a false positive.

• On the blue Windows protected your PC box, click More info, then Run anyway.
• If your antivirus quarantined Karoball.exe or https.dll, restore the file and allow the Karoball folder, or unzip the game again.
• On Windows 11, Smart App Control, if it's turned on, can block new programs that aren't code-signed, with no Run anyway button. If that happens to you, ask on Discord.

The exe itself isn't signed, but the list of game files the launcher downloads carries the developer's signature, and each file has to match its published SHA-256, so a broken or tampered download is never run.

All the steps Link to this answer

Your PC is missing a Microsoft runtime that the launcher needs. Install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable, x86 (the x86 one, even on 64-bit Windows), then start Karoball again. Reinstalling Karoball won't fix this one.

Get it from Microsoft: VC_redist.x86.exe. The same fix works if Windows says VCRUNTIME140.dll or MSVCP140.dll was not found.

Still stuck? Your antivirus may have removed https.dll: restore it, or unzip the game again.

Troubleshooting Link to this answer

The launcher couldn't reach either of its two download hosts, or the download kept breaking off. Check you're online and press Retry.

On a school or work network the downloads may be blocked: see school and work networks. Once the game is installed, the launcher starts it even when it can't check for updates.

Troubleshooting Link to this answer

A new version came out while the game was open, and the server no longer accepts the old one. Press Restart: Karoball goes back to the launcher, which downloads the update and starts the new version.

What's new Link to this answer

The game can't reach the server. Either the server is down or restarting, or something on your side is blocking the connection.

Check the Discord first: if the server is down, that's where you'll hear about it. If everyone else is playing, check your internet connection and the answer on school and work networks.

Link to this answer

In Settings › Graphics:

• turn off Lighting and Day and Night
• set Anti Aliasing to 0
• try Windowed mode, or Limit FPS

If the picture is smooth but players or the ball jump about, it's more likely your connection: see the answer on ping.

Link to this answer

Some networks block games. Karoball needs:

• outgoing UDP on ports 3000 and 3001 to eu1.karoball.net, to play
• HTTPS to dl.karoball.net and f005.backblazeb2.com, for updates

If those are blocked, only whoever runs the network can open them.

Link to this answer

Press F9 or F12 in the game to take a screenshot. Screenshots, saved replays and crash reports all go in the game's save folder:

%APPDATA%\Karoball

Type that into File Explorer's address bar to open it. Screenshots go in Screenshots, saved replays in replays and crash reports in crashes. The Screenshots button on the main menu opens your screenshots folder directly.

Link to this answer

There's no uninstaller, because nothing is installed. To remove everything:

1. Delete the Karoball folder you unzipped.
2. Delete %APPDATA%\Karoball Launcher (the game files).
3. Delete %APPDATA%\Karoball (settings, saved login, replays, screenshots and crash reports). Copy out anything you want to keep first.

Your account and progress stay on the server.

Uninstalling Link to this answer

No. Karoball runs from the folder you unzipped, which can live anywhere, such as your Desktop or Downloads. It adds no shortcuts or Start menu entries, and everything it writes goes to your AppData folder, so it never needs admin rights.

Link to this answer

There's no password reset in the game, because accounts have no email address to send one to. Two things to try:

• On the PC you last played on, the game remembers your login and fills it in for you.
• If that doesn't help, ask on Discord and say which username it is.

Link to this answer

You can delete your account in the game, under Settings > Account, and the delete account page has the steps. There's no button to change your username, so for that ask on Discord and say which account it is.

Privacy Link to this answer

No. Your Elo, gold, kit, classes and challenge stars are kept on the server. Log in on any PC and it's all there.

Only your settings, saved replays and screenshots live on the PC itself.

Link to this answer

You can use your account on any PC, but on one at a time. Logging in while you're already playing somewhere else gives “You are already logged in”.

Link to this answer

One you don't use anywhere else. Karoball's login is simple:

• The game saves your username and password on your PC, in its save folder, and fills them in for you next time. On a shared PC, anyone who opens the game can log in as you.
• There's no way to reset a password you've lost.

The server keeps only a hashed form of your password, never the password itself.

Privacy Link to this answer

By default, the server works out your country from your connection when you log in, and shows its flag in front of your name (under your player) and on your profile.

To change it, open your own profile and press Change (or Add your flag). You can pick any of 256 flags, including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or No flag. A flag you pick never changes by itself.

Flags Link to this answer

What the game needs to run your account: your username and a hashed password, your game record (Elo, gold, kit, classes, challenge stars), your flag, your friends list and the chat lines you send. Replays of your matches stay on the server for 14 days.

The server also logs what happens in the game, such as logins, matches, trades and chat, and keeps those logs for 14 days. A private copy of them currently has no end date.

The privacy page has the full list, why each thing is kept, for how long, and who can see it.

Privacy Link to this answer

No. Karoball is played with a keyboard and mouse, and there's no controller or gamepad support. Keys can't be rebound either.

By default your player runs toward the mouse pointer. Press M in a match to steer with WASD or the arrow keys instead.

All the controls Link to this answer

No. Everything runs on the server, bot games and challenges included, so you need to be online.

Once you're online, a bot game is there any time: choose VS BOTS in Quick Play and it starts straight away.

Playing against bots Link to this answer

Yes, from anywhere. There's one region for now, Europe, with one server, so the further you are from it, the higher your ping. The region chip at the top right of the play menu shows your ping.

If you play from far away, tell us on Discord how matches feel.

Link to this answer

Yes. Your place is kept for 150 seconds.

• If your connection dropped, the game reconnects and puts you back by itself.
• If the game crashed, start it again and press Play. The menu shows YOUR MATCH IS STILL ON, so press Rejoin.

If you're back in time, nothing is lost: it isn't a loss, you lose no Elo and your goals still count. If you don't make it, or press Abandon, it counts as a loss. Leaving with Leave Match doesn't keep your place, and bot games and challenges don't keep one either.

Rejoining Link to this answer

Yes. Add them as friends, by name or from their profile, and invite them to your party: up to 5 players. The party leader searches for everyone, the party always plays on the same team, and Quick Play only searches team sizes big enough for the whole party.

There are no private matches, but you can meet up on one of the town's pick-up pitches.

Parties and friends Link to this answer

• In ranked, your Elo goes up or down, you're matched with players near your rating, and there are never bots.
• Casual is just football, with no Elo. If nobody else is searching, bots fill the empty places after 20 seconds. You can turn that off.

Your Elo sets your rank, from Bronze up to Master. Six of the town's nine pitches are rated too and move your Elo the same way. Leaving after kick-off counts as a loss either way, and costs Elo in ranked.

Ranked, explained Link to this answer

New accounts start with the Standard. Each of the other six is unlocked for good when you earn the first star on level 1 of its challenge, on the play menu's Challenges card.

• Dribbler: unlocked by Cone Slalom
• Gorilla: unlocked by Goal Cannon
• Meteor: unlocked by Sharpshooter
• Lakaka: unlocked by Pass Master
• Disruptor: unlocked by Bot Duel
• Phantom: unlocked by Cross & Finish

The seven classes Link to this answer

• A Quick Play or town match: 25 for a win, 12 for a draw, 6 for a loss
• A bot game (touch the ball at least three times): 10, 5 or 2
• A challenge star, the first time: 20 to 180
• Selling a piece of kit: 40 to 6,000, by rarity
• Winning or reaching a cup final: a share of the prize

Spend it in the town shop, which has 8 new pieces every day at midnight UTC, from about 300 gold for a Common to about 40,000 for a Legendary. Or use it in trades. Walking out of a match pays nothing, and gold from bot games and challenges can't be traded.

Gold and kit Link to this answer

Meet the other player at the trading desk in the market hall, in town. You can swap kit and gold, up to 12 pieces each. You both see the same table, and both of you have to accept.

Gold from challenges and bot games, and kit won in challenges, can't be traded.

Kit and trading Link to this answer

Yes. Every match is recorded: Quick Play, bot games, cups and town pitches, but not challenges. Press Watch replay on the results screen, or open Replays on the play menu.

Replays stay on the server for 14 days. Press Save to keep one on your PC for good. Each replay has a number, so a friend can type it in and watch it too.

Replays Link to this answer

A celebration is something you wear, chosen on the locker's Celebrations tab. After you score, run where you like and press your ability button (E, F or the middle mouse button) to celebrate there. If you don't, it starts by itself after 2.5 seconds.

There are 13, from a Blown Kiss to an Explosion. They drop as rewards, sell in the shop and trade like kit. Wear none and play simply restarts after the goal.

All 13 celebrations Link to this answer

There's no fixed timetable. A moderator sets up each cup, and it shows on the play menu's Tournaments panel with a countdown to the start. Sign up there, and be online when it starts.

Everyone signed up and online is then drawn into even teams and a knockout bracket, and each of your matches calls you from the play menu. The winners and runners-up share the prize gold, and the winners hold a champion title until the next cup of that type.

Tournaments Link to this answer

On the Karoball Discord. It's the place for help, bug reports and ideas, and it's where outages are announced.

For a bug, say what you were doing, what you expected and what happened instead. A screenshot (F9) or the crash report helps a lot.

Prefer email? Write to support@karoball.net.

Join the DiscordLink to this answer

Report it on Discord: the player's name, what happened and roughly when.

If it happened in a match, add the replay number. Every match is recorded and kept for 14 days, and anyone can watch a replay by its number.

Link to this answer

When Karoball crashes, it saves a report and shows a screen with Restart, Copy report and Quit.

1. Press Copy report.
2. Paste it into a message on Discord, with a line about what you were doing.
3. Press Restart. If you were in a match, you have 150 seconds to rejoin.

Closed it already? The last 20 reports are kept in %APPDATA%\Karoball\crashes.

Link to this answer