Steering: mouse or keys
- Mouse Default
- Your player runs towards the pointer. Rest the pointer on your player to stand still; just off its edge you move slowly.
- Keys
- W A S D or the arrow keys.
Press M to switch. The game remembers your choice.
How to play
How to play Karoball
Everything you need for your first matches: getting in, the controls, how a match runs, your class's ability, ranked play, the challenges that unlock the other classes, and gold. Then twelve tips based on how the game works.
01 · Getting started
From download to kick-off
Karoball is free and runs on Windows 10 and 11. You need a keyboard, a mouse and an internet connection: every mode, bots and challenges included, is played on the server.
-
Download and unzip
Get Karoball from the download page, unzip it anywhere and run
Karoball.exe. The first start fetches the game (about 28 MB). After that the launcher keeps it up to date by itself.Windows warned you about it? Here's why, and what to do.
-
Make an account
Press Play, then Register. Pick a username (up to 29 characters, and not one that's taken) and a password of at least 3 characters, then log in with them. No email needed.
There's no password reset, so choose one you'll remember and don't use anywhere else.
-
Choose how you shoot
The first time you have a player of your own, the game asks: One Button or Two Buttons. If you're not sure, keep One Button. You can change it later.
-
Find a match
On the play menu, open Quick Play, pick Ranked, Casual or VS Bots, choose your team sizes from 1v1 to 5v5 (as many as you like, or one against bots) and press the big blue button.
Everyone starts as the Standard. The other six classes are won in the challenges.
Chapter 1 of 8Next chapter: Controls
02 · Controls
Keyboard and mouse
By default you steer with the mouse and shoot with a left click, and everything has a key as well. There's no controller support, and the keys can't be changed in the game.
Every control
| Action | Keys | Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| Move | W A S D or the arrow keys | Point where you want to go |
| Shoot | X or Space | Left click |
| Sprint | C or Q | Right click |
| Ability, and your goal celebration | E or F | Middle button or side button 4 |
| Quick chat | 1 to 4 for a group, then 1 to 4 for a line | – |
| Chat | Enter | – |
| Switch mouse or keyboard steering | M | – |
| Your profile | Tab in town or a match | – |
| Zoom | Numpad + and − | Wheel |
| Pause menu | Esc | – |
| Screenshot | F9 or F12 | – |
| Fullscreen | F11 | – |
Screenshots go to the Screenshots folder; the Screenshots button on the main menu opens it.
Shooting: one button or two
- One Button Default
- Shoot sprints as it kicks, so every kick is a full-power shot. It's the easy way to start.
- Two Buttons
- Shoot and sprint are separate. A kick on its own is soft; hold sprint as you kick for the power shot.
Switch from the pause menu or in Settings › Controls, which also has Inverted Mouse Controls to swap left and right click.
Chapter 2 of 8Next chapter: Your first match
03 · Your first match
How a match runs
Quick Play puts your teams on a pitch of their own. Every match follows the same shape, from the countdown to the results screen.
-
Countdown
Once both teams are on the pitch, a countdown runs: 6.5 seconds in 1v1, up to 12.5 in 5v5.
-
Kick-off
The ball sits on the centre spot. Abilities rest for the first 3 seconds.
-
Goals
The clock stops for a short pause. Then the side that scored is kept out of the centre circle until the ball is played.
-
Full time
When the clock runs out, the score stands. There's no extra time in Quick Play, so a draw stays a draw.
-
Results
Victory, defeat or draw, your gold and goals, any new kit, your Elo if it was ranked, and Watch replay.
Match length
| Team size | 1v1 | 2v2 | 3v3 | 4v4 | 5v5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match | 3 min | 4 min | 5 min | 6 min | 7 min |
| Countdown | 6.5 s | 8 s | 9.5 s | 11 s | 12.5 s |
| Goal pause | 5.5 s | 6 s | 6.5 s | 7 s | 7.5 s |
The rules
- There are no throw-ins, corners, free kicks or offside. The ball can't leave the pitch, it bounces back off the touchlines and goal lines.
- Players can run past the lines, out to the fence round the pitch.
- The clock stops during each goal's pause and while a celebration plays.
- If you score with a celebration on, run where you like and press your ability button to celebrate there. After 2.5 seconds it starts by itself.
- Golden goal (next goal wins) is only played in tournament matches and the Bot Duel challenge.
After the whistle
A real match pays 25 gold for a win, 12 for a draw and 6 for a loss, and drops a random piece of kit on every 20th win and every 50th match.
A game against bots pays 10, 5 or 2 gold, if you touched the ball at least three times.
Matches are recorded and kept for 14 days. Watch replay plays this one again; the Replays screen has the rest.
Leaving early
Leaving after kick-off counts as a loss, and costs Elo in ranked. Leaving a game against bots costs nothing.
If someone doesn't arrive within 45 seconds, the match is called off. Nobody is penalised, and everyone else keeps their place in the queue.
If the game crashes
Your place is kept for 150 seconds. A dropped connection reconnects by itself. After a crash, start the game and press Play: the menu shows Your match is still on, with Rejoin and Abandon.
If you're back in time you lose nothing, no defeat and no Elo, and your goals still count. If your whole side is away, the match waits with the clock stopped. Bot games and challenges don't keep a place.
Chapter 3 of 8Next chapter: Abilities
04 · Abilities
One button, one ability
Every class has its own ability on a cooldown, and they all use the same button: E or F, the middle mouse button, or side button 4.
Know when it's ready
- The chip at the bottom of the screen names your ability and its key. It dims while the ability cools and flashes when it's ready.
- Your token shows it too, with two small tubes in its rim. Stamina is on the bottom left, and on the bottom right your ability fills with your class's colour as it cools.
- Everyone sees an ability coming: a shimmer before a Flash Step, flames and an arrow before a Comet, a ring filling round a Ground Pound, frost behind an Ice Trail.
When abilities rest
- During the countdown and the pause after a goal, then for 3 seconds after every kick-off, restarts included.
- A goal ends any ability that's running, and melts the ice.
- The five drill challenges are played without them. The Bot Duel has them on.
The seven abilities
| Class | Ability | In the game's words | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Chip | Lift the ball over the next man. It can't score from the air. | 9 s |
| Dribbler | Hook Turn | Snap the ball onto a new line in one touch. | 8 s |
| Gorilla | Ground Pound | Slam the ground: the ball in the ring flies away from you. | 12 s |
| Meteor | Comet | Ignite, then one blazing straight run. | 12 s |
| Lakaka | Ice Trail | Leave frost behind you: opponents on it slow down and can't turn. | 13 s |
| Disruptor | Juggernaut | Nobody can move you: bulldoze through anyone in your way. Tap again to stop. | 7.2–12 s |
| Phantom | Flash Step | Blink a short step in any direction. | 13 s |
Good to know
- A Chip or Hook Turn that finds no ball costs only a 1-second cooldown.
- A Hook Turn with no direction held traps the ball dead.
- Ice Trail slows opponents only, never your own side, and never works in a goal area.
- Tap again (after half a second) to stop a Juggernaut. The shorter it ran, the shorter its cooldown.
- An ability that's running uses no stamina.
- While a Chip is in the air it flies over every player, and nobody can touch it until it lands.
Chapter 4 of 8Next chapter: Ranked
05 · Ranked
Ranked, casual and the leaderboard
The Quick Play popup has three kinds of game. Only ranked moves your Elo. Tick as many team sizes as you like: one search covers them all.
Ranked
Your Elo movesPeople only: bots never fill a ranked game. You're matched with players within 200 Elo of you, a window that widens by 15 every second you wait and is fully open after a minute. Teams are split so their Elo adds up as evenly as possible.
Casual
Your Elo stays putPlayers are matched in the order they searched. If nobody else is searching your team sizes after 20 seconds, bots fill the empty places. Switch off Let bots fill empty places if you'd rather wait.
VS Bots
Pick the bots' rankStarts at once, 1v1 to 5v5. No Elo and no stats, a little gold, and you can leave any time. You pick the bots' rank: Bronze is open to everyone, and winning a game against one rank unlocks the next.
Elo and ranks
Win a ranked match and your Elo goes up; lose and it goes down, by more when the other side was the stronger one. Two evenly matched teams win or lose 20 points, and a draw between them changes nothing.
Elo also moves on six of the nine pitches in town, the rated ones with fresh white lines. The three with worn, greener lines are casual. Tournament matches never change it.
- Bronzebelow 1200
- Silver1200+
- Gold1400+
- Platinum1700+
- Diamond2000+
- Master2600+
The leaderboard
Everyone who has finished a match, ranked by Elo. The play menu shows the top ten; View all shows the top 50, with your own line always there.
Your rank on show
It's on your profile and the results screen, and in the play menu chat your name shows in its colour. Open your profile from your name on the play menu, or with Tab in town.
Chapter 5 of 8Next chapter: Challenges
06 · Challenges
Unlock the other six classes
New accounts start with the Standard. Each other class is yours for good once you earn the first star on level 1 of its challenge. Open them from the Challenges card on the play menu, in any order.
| Challenge | What you do | Level 1 stars | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Cannon | Keep goal against the cannon: twelve shots, each one faster and wider than the last. | 7 / 9 / 11 saves | Gorilla |
| Cone Slalom | Dribble through the gates of cones in order, then into the goal, against the clock. | 65 / 38 / 27 s | Dribbler |
| Sharpshooter | Score past the moving keeper from behind the line, as many as you can in a minute. | 5 / 8 / 11 goals | Meteor |
| Pass Master | Pass the ball into the moving rings from behind the line, as many as you can in a minute. | 5 / 10 / 16 hits | Lakaka |
| Bot Duel | Beat a bot one on one in a two-minute match. Win by more for more stars. | win / by 2 / by 3 | Disruptor |
| Cross & Finish | Your teammate crosses from the wing: get on the end of it and score past a defender and the keeper. Ten crosses. | 3 / 5 / 7 goals | Phantom |
Level 1 targets for one, two and three stars. In the Cone Slalom, lower times are better.
Stars, levels and rewards
Every challenge has five levels with three stars each, 90 stars in all. A star on a level opens the next, and every level is clearly harder than the one before.
| Level | 1st star | 2nd star | 3rd star | 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 |
Gold for each star, paid once, the first time you earn it. The kit on level 3 is Uncommon or better, on level 5 Rare or better. Challenge gold and kit can't be traded.
90Stars
7,200Gold in all
12Pieces of kit
- Every attempt scores highscore points, your result times the level's multiplier. Each challenge has its own board, with the top three on a podium.
- The five drills are played on the 2v2 pitch without abilities, so the targets are the same for every class.
- The Bot Duel is a real 1v1 with abilities on. A win only counts if you touched the ball five times, and a draw at full time goes to golden goal for up to a minute.
Chapter 6 of 8Next chapter: Gold
07 · Gold
Earning and spending gold
Gold is Karoball's only money, and it can't be bought. You earn it by playing and spend it on kit: shirts, patterns, numbers and goal celebrations, each in five rarities.
Earn
- Win a match Quick Play or a town pitch25
- Draw a match12
- Lose a match6
- A game against bots win, draw or loss; touch the ball at least three times10 / 5 / 2
- A challenge star once each20–180
- Sell a piece of kit by rarity40–6,000
- Win a tournament winners share 70% of the prize pool, runners-up 30%Prize
Walking out of a match pays nothing. Gold from bots and challenges can't be traded. Real matches also drop kit: a random piece every 20th win and every 50th match.
Spend
The shop
In town. Eight pieces a day, new at midnight UTC: a featured piece at the back (Rare or better), then a Rare or Epic, a Rare and an Uncommon, with an Uncommon and three Commons at the front. Everyone can buy each piece once, and you can't buy one you already have.
Trading
At the trading desk in the market hall. Swap kit and gold with another player, up to 12 pieces a side. You both see the same table, and both accept.
| Rarity | Shop price | Sells for |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 300 | 40 |
| Uncommon | 1,000 | 120 |
| Rare | 5,000 | 600 |
| Epic | 15,000 | 2,000 |
| Legendary | 40,000 | 6,000 |
Shop prices vary by up to 10% either way. Sell in the locker or at the sell stands in the market hall; pieces you're wearing can't be sold. More on kit and the shop.
Chapter 7 of 8Next chapter: Tips
08 · Tips
Twelve tips for your first matches
They all come from how the game works, and knowing them early saves you a lot of frustrating first matches.
-
Aim with your body
A kick sends the ball away along the line from the middle of your player through the ball. The pointer doesn't aim it, so get round behind the ball before you shoot.
-
Sprint in short bursts
A Standard's sprint lasts under two seconds and takes about 17 seconds to refill from empty, so save it for the runs that count.
-
Press Shoot, don't hold it
In One Button mode, Shoot also sprints, so running at the ball with it held down empties your tank. Press it as you reach the ball.
-
An empty tank still shoots hard
The power shot comes from sprint being held as you kick, not from stamina. You can hit it just as hard with nothing left in the tube.
-
Use the lines
The ball can't go out: it bounces off the touchlines and goal lines, and there's never a throw-in to wait for. Play it off the line to get round a player.
-
Stop with the pointer
With mouse steering, rest the pointer on your own player to stand still; just off its edge you move slowly. Handy when you're keeping goal.
-
Count three at kick-off
Abilities rest for 3 seconds after every kick-off, goals included. Plan your first touches without one.
-
Pass with the Chip, don't shoot
It can't score from the air, if it's still in the air at a goalmouth it hits the bar. Use it to lift the ball over players to a teammate or out of danger.
-
Zoom out on big pitches
The mouse wheel zooms from 0.65× to 2×. A 5v5 pitch is about two and a half times as wide as a 1v1 one, so zooming out shows you more of the game.
-
Talk without typing
Quick chat is two key presses: 1 1 “I got it!”, 1 2 “Pass it!”, 4 1 “Good game!”. It shows over your player too.
-
Know how your class turns
The Lakaka glides: it takes about four times as long as most classes to turn round from a walk, so start turning early. The Disruptor turns quickest of all.
-
Practise in the drills
The five drill challenges run without abilities, so they're a fair place to work on shooting, passing, dribbling and keeping, whatever class you play.
Chapter 8 of 8Download and 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.