Ranked
Elo on the line
You're matched with players within 200 Elo of you. The window widens by 15 a second and is wide open after a minute. Ranked is never filled with bots.
The game
Everything in Karoball
Short matches from 1v1 to 5v5 on a fenced pitch, and a town to hang about in between. There are challenges that unlock the classes, cups with brackets, and kit to collect, wear and trade.
Written for version 0.1.42, the one the launcher installs today.
Quick Play
One search, any team size
Quick Play sits in the middle of the play menu, over a replay of a recent match. Press Play, tick the team sizes you'll play, anything from 1v1 to 5v5, choose ranked or casual, and press Find Match. One search covers every size you ticked.
- Everyone searching is matched from the same queue.
- Players are split so each side's Elo adds up as evenly as possible, then a coin toss decides red and blue.
- You search from the play menu, and going into town leaves the queue.
Casual
Just football, no Elo
Players are taken in queue order. With "Let bots fill empty places" on (it is by default), bots take the empty places after 20 seconds if nobody else is searching your sizes.
VS Bots
Pick the bots' rank
A game against bots that starts at once, 1v1 to 5v5. No Elo, no stats, a little gold. More on bots.
Elo, ranks and the leaderboard
Elo is your team's average against theirs: two evenly matched teams move 20 points. It only changes in ranked Quick Play and on the rated pitches in town. Your Elo puts you in one of six ranks.
- BronzeBelow 1200
- Silver1200+
- Gold1400+
- Platinum1700+
- Diamond2000+
- Master2600+
The leaderboard ranks everyone with a finished match by Elo: the top 10 on the play menu, the top 50 on its own screen, and your own line always.
After full time
The results screen shows:
- The result and the score
- Your Elo before and after, and your rank
- The gold you earned
- Your goals
- Any new kit
- Watch replay
Turning up, and leaving
Before kick-off, if someone leaves or doesn't arrive within 45 seconds, the game is called off: nobody is penalised and everyone else keeps their place in the queue. After kick-off, leaving counts as a loss, and costs Elo in ranked. If a whole team leaves, the other side wins 3-0.
1 of 12Next: Match rules
Match rules
Kick-off to full time
Bigger teams get a bigger pitch and a longer match. The ball bounces back off the touchlines and goal lines, so it's always in play: there are no throw-ins, corners, free kicks or offside.
- 1v13 min
- 2v24 min
- 3v35 min
- 4v46 min
- 5v57 min
Pitches drawn to scale: the 5v5 pitch is about two and a half times as long as the 1v1. The match length is the playing time; the clock stops for goals.
Always in play
The ball bounces off the lines and play goes on. Goals are the only stoppage.
The clock stops
For the short pause after each goal, and while a goal celebration plays. Then the ball goes back on the spot.
Draws stand
A draw is a draw in Quick Play, bot games and town matches, and it still pays gold. Golden goal is only for cup matches and the Bot Duel.
Abilities rest
During the countdown and for 3 seconds after every kick-off. Each class has one; see the classes.
150seconds to rejoin
Crashed? Your place is kept
If the game crashes, the connection drops or the window closes during a match (anything but Leave Match), your seat waits for you for 150 seconds. A dropped connection puts you back by itself. After a crash, press Play: the menu shows YOUR MATCH IS STILL ON with Rejoin and Abandon.
If you're back in time you lose nothing, there's no defeat or lost Elo and your goals still count as yours. If a whole side is away, the match waits with the clock stopped; when the last seat runs out, that side loses 3-0. Bot games and challenges keep no seat.
2 of 12Next: Bots
VS Bots
A game any time
Pick VS BOTS in the Quick Play popup and you're on the pitch straight away, 1v1 to 5v5. No waiting, no Elo, no stats, and you can leave whenever you like at no cost.
- You pick the bots' rank, from Bronze to Master. Bronze is open to everyone, and winning a game against a rank, played to the end, opens the next. Bots that fill a casual search are picked to match the people in it.
- They use their abilities like anyone else, and half of them wear a goal celebration.
- Every bot wears its rank under its name, like BRONZE BOT, and no account can take a bot's name, so you can always tell.
- They pay a little gold: 10 for a win, 5 for a draw and 2 for a loss, if you touched the ball at least three times. Bot gold can't be traded, and bot games drop no kit.
3 of 12Next: Cups
Tournaments
Cups with brackets, trophies and titles
Cups are knockout tournaments from 1v1 to 5v5, with a prize pool in gold. The moderators set them up, and they appear in the Tournaments panel on the play menu. You sign up, and the game does the rest.
- Parties stay together, and everyone else is drafted into even teams by Elo.
- Cups are never ranked, so a cup match doesn't touch your Elo.
- Quick Play is closed to you while you're still in a running cup.
Sign up
From the Tournaments panel on the play menu. In a team cup, a party leader's sign-up enters the whole party.
The draw
At the start, everyone signed up and online is drawn into teams, seeded by average Elo into a single-elimination bracket. The top seeds get byes.
Your match calls you
An 8-second countdown on the play menu, then you're taken onto the pitch. Not there within 4 minutes, and it's a walkover.
Golden goal
Level at full time? Next goal wins, for up to 3 minutes. Still level, the higher seed goes through.
Watch from the stands
Click any live match in the bracket to watch it, goal celebrations and all.
70% to the winnersand a gold cup for their profile's trophy cabinet.
30% to the runners-upand a silver cup. Prizes are split evenly within a team.
3v3 Champion
The winners of the latest cup of each type carry its champion title under their name, on the leaderboard and on their profile, until the next cup of that type is won.
4 of 12Next: Challenges
Challenges
Six challenges unlock six classes
Every new account starts with the Standard. Each other class is yours for good once you earn the first star on level 1 of its challenge. Play them in any order from the Challenges card on the play menu.
- Five levels with three stars each, 90 stars in all. A star opens the next level, and every level is clearly harder than the last.
- Every attempt scores points, from ×1 on level 1 up to ×3 on level 5. Each challenge has its own highscore board, with the top three on a podium.
- To keep it fair for every class, the five drills are on the 2v2 pitch with abilities off. The Bot Duel is a real 1v1, abilities on.
Goal Cannon
“Keep goal against the cannon. Twelve shots, each one faster and wider than the last.”
Touch the shot inside the box: a touch outside it counts as a goal.
The five levels
- The cannon as you know it
- Quicker shots, the whole goal
- Fast shots, a late aim
- Rockets into the corners
- Thunderbolts: read the barrel
Cone Slalom
“Dribble the ball through the gates of cones, in order, then into the goal. Against the clock.”
You have 150 seconds to finish.
The five levels
- Five wide gates, a gentle weave
- Six gates, tighter
- Seven gates, a steeper weave
- Eight narrow gates
- Nine needle's eyes
Sharpshooter
“Score past the moving keeper from behind the line. As many as you can in a minute.”
The five levels
- A slow dummy, a short range
- A bigger, quicker dummy
- Bigger still, further out
- A big, sharp dummy, long range
- A wall of a dummy, from deep
Pass Master
“Pass the ball into the moving rings from behind the line. As many as you can in a minute.”
The five levels
- Big, slow rings
- Smaller, quicker rings, further back
- Quicker, wider, from further back
- Small rings on the move
- Tiny, darting rings
Bot Duel
“Beat a bot one on one in a two-minute match. Win by more for more stars; every level's bot is stronger.”
Level at full time: golden goal for up to 60 seconds. A win only counts if you touched the ball at least 5 times; a draw earns nothing.
The five levels
- A rookie bot
- A club bot
- A good bot
- A strong bot
- A star bot
Cross & Finish
“Your teammate crosses from the wing: get on the end of it and score past a defender and the keeper.”
Ten crosses a go.
The five levels
- Soft crosses, a sleepy defence
- Quicker crosses, a keener defence
- A defender who reads it
- Whipped crosses, tight marking
- A back line of stars
Stars pay gold
Each star pays once, the first time you earn it, and higher levels pay more. The third star on level 3 adds a piece of kit (Uncommon or better), and the third star on level 5 another (Rare or better).
Every star of all six challenges comes to 7,200 gold and 12 pieces of kit. Challenge gold and kit can't be traded.
| Level | Star 1 | Star 2 | Star 3 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 40 | 60 | ×1 |
| 2 | 30 | 60 | 90 | ×1.5 |
| 3 | 40 | 80 | 120 + kit | ×2 |
| 4 | 50 | 100 | 150 | ×2.5 |
| 5 | 60 | 120 | 180 + kit | ×3 |
5 of 12Next: Town
The town
A town between matches
Press Town on the play menu and you walk into Maple Green, the Europe server's town: nine pick-up pitches, a changing room, a market hall and a shop, joined by walkways, with other players about.
Nine pick-up pitches
Walk onto a pitch and the match starts when both sides are full. It pays gold and counts for your stats like Quick Play, abilities and all.
- 1v1 × 4
- 2v2 × 2
- 3v3 × 1
- 4v4 × 1
- 5v5 × 1
Six are rated, so Elo changes, and have fresh white lines. Three are casual (two of the 1v1s and one 2v2), with worn, greener lines.
Day and night
A 40-minute day, the same for everyone. At dusk the street lamps come on, and every pitch has floodlight towers for matches at night.
Lighting and the day-night cycle can be turned off in Settings.
The changing room
The seven class cards: stand at one and hold to play as that class. Kit on the rails: stand under a piece and hold to wear it. And your three lockers, with your kit presets.
The market hall
The trading desk, where you trade kit and gold with another player, and the sell stands for kit you don't want. And the shop, also in town, has new pieces every day.
In town, the leaderboard sits in the corner of the screen and Tab opens your profile. Quick Play searches start from the play menu, not from town.
6 of 12Next: Kit
Kit
Your kit, on your token
On the pitch you're a round token wearing your shirt, pattern and number, with a stamina tube and an ability tube in its rim. Every piece is an item you own, in one of five rarities, and your bag has no size limit.
23colours
Shirt
The colour of the shirt on your token.
28patterns
Pattern
Tiger Swipes, Camouflage, Thunder, Sunset, Waves and more, each in a colour.
1–99numbers
Number
In a colour. Low numbers are the prize: 1 to 10 are the top tier.
The locker
The Locker card on the play menu shows your whole bag as cards. Try a piece on, wear it or sell it. Its tabs are Shirt, Pattern, Number, Celebrations and Class, and your three saved kits sit under the shirt on show.
Every piece is drawn as a night-time stadium card, with floodlight beams and a neon rim in its rarity's colour. From Rare the beams sweep, from Epic the rim pulses and sparkles, and a Legendary gets rays, confetti and a halo.
Five rarities
A piece's rarity comes from two rolls: one for what it is and one for its colour. A Legendary is about one new piece in 360.
Out of every 10,000 new pieces:
Prices in gold. Shop prices vary by up to 10% either way.
| Rarity | Roughly | In the shop | Sells for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 7 in 10 | 300 | 40 |
| Uncommon | 1 in 5 | 1,000 | 120 |
| Rare | 1 in 15 | 5,000 | 600 |
| Epic | 1 in 60 | 15,000 | 2,000 |
| Legendary | about 1 in 360 | 40,000 | 6,000 |
Where gold and kit come from
Gold is earned by playing and selling, and spent in the shop and in trades. There's no way to buy it: Karoball has no real-money purchases.
| Where | Gold | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| A match (Quick Play, town pitch) | 25 for a win, 12 for a draw, 6 for a loss | A random piece every 20th win, and every 50th match |
| VS Bots | 10, 5 or 2, if you touched the ball at least three times. Can't be traded | None |
| Challenge stars | 20 to 180 a star, once. Can't be traded | The third star of levels 3 and 5 |
| Cups | A share of the prize pool, if you reach the final: 70% to the winners, 30% to the runners-up | None (finalists get a trophy for their profile) |
| Selling | 40 to 6,000, by rarity | – |
| The daily shop | Where you spend it | The day's eight pieces |
| Trading | From another player | From another player |
Walking out of a match pays nothing.
Kit presets
Three lockers, called HOME, AWAY and THIRD until you rename them (up to 12 characters). Each holds a shirt, a pattern and a number. Save, wear, replace or clear them under your kit in the locker, or at the three lockers in the changing room. Your class and celebration stay as they are.
Trading
At the trading desk in the market hall: kit and gold, up to 12 pieces a side. You both see the same table, and both accept. A trade request lasts 60 seconds. Gold from bot games, and gold and kit from challenges, can't be traded.
Selling
Sell from the locker or at the sell stands in the market hall. Pieces you're wearing can't be sold, and the game asks twice before it lets one go.
7 of 12Next: Daily shop
The daily shop
Eight new pieces every day
The shop is in the town. Its stock changes at midnight UTC, and the sign counts down to the next lot. Everyone sees the same pieces.
- Stand at a piece and hold to buy it. It's gold only.
- It never sells out: everyone can buy each piece once, whoever bought it first. A piece you already own shows YOURS.
- Prices go by rarity, about 300 gold for a Common, 1,000 for an Uncommon, 5,000 for a Rare, 15,000 for an Epic and 40,000 for a Legendary.
- An Epic or better turns up about five days in eight, and a Legendary about one day in ten.
Today's piecesNew at 00:00 UTC
Back row
- FeaturedRare 50%Epic 40%Legendary 10%5,000–40,000
- Piece 2Rare 75%Epic 25%5,000–15,000
- Piece 3Rare5,000
- Piece 4Uncommon1,000
Front row
- Piece 5Uncommon1,000
- Piece 6Common300
- Piece 7Common300
- Piece 8Common300
8 of 12Next: Celebrations
Goal celebrations
Score, then show off
A celebration is a fourth kind of item, and you can wear up to three. After every goal you score you pick one, and everyone on the pitch sees the show. Wear none, or pick none, and you get the GOAL banner, then kick-off.
Score
The ball waits, and GOAL goes up for everyone.
Find your spot
Run where you like. You have 5 seconds to pick.
Pick a celebration
1, 2 or 3 starts that one where you stand. On a phone, tap its card. Pick none, and there's no show.
-
13celebrations
Each show lasts 3.5 to 5.5 seconds, its name goes up in the goal bar over the scorer's name, and the match clock stops while it plays. The rarity on each card is the lowest that celebration comes in: they come in every colour, and a rarer colour makes it rarer.
- Common
Blown Kiss
“Kiss the fingertips, blow it to the stands. And one for the camera.”
- Uncommon
Knee Slide
“Drop to your knees and slide all the way to the fans.”
- Uncommon
Take a Bow
“A spotlight, three deep bows, and roses from the stands.”
- Uncommon
Shush
“SHHH. The other side goes quiet.”
- Rare
The Airplane
“Arms out, a banked lap of honour, contrails and all.”
- Rare
Selfie
“Say cheese: a flash, and the picture to prove it.”
- Rare
Backflip
“A double backflip. The judges hold up their cards.”
- Epic
Salt Sprinkle
“Shades on. A pinch of salt for the keeper, with a flick of the wrist.”
- Epic
Fireworks
“Rockets from the turf and a sky full of colour.”
- Epic
Raincloud
“Sunshine for you. A little raincloud for each of them.”
- Legendary
Golden Statue
“Turned to gold on a marble plinth with your name on it.”
- Legendary
Abduction
“A saucer comes for the keeper. They send him back.”
- Legendary
Explosion
“Push the plunger. The net blows up, and everyone but you goes flying.”
Celebrations drop from matches and challenges, turn up in the daily shop and trade like any other kit. The locker's Celebrations tab plays each one for you. They show in replays and to cup spectators, and half the bots wear one.
9 of 12Next: Replays
Replays
Watch it back
Every match is recorded from kick-off to the result: Quick Play, ranked and casual, bot games, cups and town pitches. Not challenges, and not matches shorter than 20 seconds.
- Press Watch replay on the results screen, or open Replays from the play menu: your matches, the server's recent ones (town matches marked TOWN) and the ones you saved.
- Save keeps a replay on your PC for good.
- Every replay has a number, and you can type someone else's on the Replays screen to watch it (on the same server).
- The chat isn't recorded.
14days on the server
35 KBa whole 1v1
0.25–4×playback speed
Replay controls
- Space
- Pause and play
- ←→
- Back or forward 5 seconds
- ↑↓
- Speed: 0.25×, 0.5×, 1×, 2×, 4×
- PgUpPgDn
- Previous or next goal, with its build-up
- C
- Camera on the ball or any player
- Drag
- The timeline, with every goal marked on it
10 of 12Next: Friends
Parties & friends
Play with your mates
Make a party and you search together and play on the same team. Your friends list shows where everyone is.
Parties
5players max
Invitations and requests to join last 2 minutes. The leader searches for everyone, so the party only searches sizes that fit it all: a party of three searches 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5. In a team cup, the leader's sign-up enters the whole party.
Friends
100friends max
Add someone by name or from their profile (up to 50 requests can wait). See where your friends are, invite them to your party or ask to join theirs.
Flags
256flags
Fly a flag before the name under your token, and on your profile. It starts on Automatic, from where you play. Press Change on your profile to pick any flag, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland included, or No flag. Bots fly a football nation.
Profiles
Open yours from your name on the play menu, the Profile button, Tab in town or the pause menu. Open anyone else's from the leaderboard, the chat or your friends list.
- Your token, in your kit
- Your flag
- Rank, Elo and place
- Your class and its stars
- Your record
- Titles and a trophy cabinet
11 of 12Next: Chat
Chat
Talk on the menu and on the pitch
Text chat on the play menu, in town and in matches, plus quick chat for when your hands are busy. There's no voice chat.
Global
Everyone on the play menu. Each line has the player's region in a pill (Europe, for everyone today), then their name in the colour of their rank.
Party
Your party, wherever they are. It reaches you in town and in matches too: reply with /p.
How it works
Enter opens the chat and Tab switches tabs; click a name to open that player's profile. Lines are up to 140 characters. In town and in matches, Enter opens the game chat.
Moderators can mute players.
Quick chat
In town or a match, press 1 to 4 for a group, then 1 to 4 for a line. It shows in the chat and as a bubble over your player, like Nice shot! Three in a row, then one every 2 seconds.
1 Info
- 1 I got it!
- 2 Pass it!
- 3 Take the shot!
- 4 Defending...
2 Praise
- 1 Nice shot!
- 2 Great pass!
- 3 What a save!
- 4 Thanks!
3 React
- 1 Wow!
- 2 Close one!
- 3 Calculated.
- 4 Noooo!
4 Chat
- 1 Good game!
- 2 Well played.
- 3 Sorry!
- 4 Oops!
All the keys are on How to play.
12 of 12Back to Quick Play
Free to play
See you on the pitch
Karoball is free. Download it for Windows, make an account in the game and you're in a match in a minute.