REVIEW
Written byDethyan
I went into KICKSLAUGHT expecting a small and simple football game, and it ended up being much more addictive than I expected.
It takes football and strips it down into something completely different: a side-scrolling idle RPG where you run toward the goal, fire balls through defenders, collect equipment, improve your stats, unlock abilities and slowly work your way through stronger leagues.
It isn't trying to compete with traditional football games, and that's probably one of its strengths. KICKSLAUGHT knows exactly what kind of experience it wants to be: simple, progression-driven, a little strange, and easy to keep coming back to.
The progression loop is where most of the appeal comes from. Improving stats, replacing gear and unlocking abilities such as storm kicks and double strikes gives you a constant sense that your character is becoming stronger, even when the underlying gameplay remains deliberately straightforward.
Recent updates have also helped make the career more interesting. Missions provide additional objectives, transfer offers introduce clubs with different advantages and disadvantages, and special opponents and match events add some welcome variety to the climb through the leagues.
A game that's easy to keep around
KICKSLAUGHT works particularly well as something you can play in shorter bursts or leave running while doing other things.
You can check back periodically, manage equipment, invest in upgrades and continue progressing without needing your full attention every second.
The addition of Mini Mode was a particularly smart update because it fits naturally with that style of play. The game can now sit comfortably in a smaller window while you do something else, without feeling like you're fighting against the interface.
Allowing gameplay to continue while the inventory is open was another small but meaningful improvement.
More personality than I expected
The parts outside the matches are simple, but they give KICKSLAUGHT a surprising amount of charm.
You can visit the gym, buy coffee for temporary stat bonuses and check your character's smartphone for messages, career updates and photos.
The newer career systems also help here. Transfers, missions and special events make the journey feel a little less like watching numbers increase and a little more like following the career of this increasingly ridiculous football player.
None of these systems are enormously deep on their own, but together they give the game personality.
Still a little rough around the edges
The inventory is still the part of the game that bothers me the most.
Right-click equipping was a good improvement, but managing the amount of equipment you receive can still become cumbersome as your inventory fills.
I also accidentally sold equipment a few times when I was trying to upgrade it. The position of the buttons makes those actions a little too easy to confuse, and losing something you intended to improve can be genuinely frustrating.
I'd still like to see a few quality-of-life improvements here:
1) More inventory space;
2) Clearer separation between selling and upgrading;
3) Some additional protection for valuable equipment;
4) Better tools for managing large amounts of gear.
Offline progression also feels a little slower than I'd expect for a game that otherwise works so naturally with an idle-style structure.
These aren't problems that ruined my experience, but they're the areas where I felt the most friction.
What impressed me most was the developer
Something I think deserves mentioning is how quickly KICKSLAUGHT has been improving.
Mini Mode, better inventory interaction, continued gameplay while managing equipment, improved tutorials, missions, transfers, special events, new animations and expanded phone messages have all arrived through updates.
That says a lot about the person behind the game.
KICKSLAUGHT isn't the biggest or most polished football game you'll ever play, and it clearly still has room to grow. But there's a lot of personality here, and more importantly, you can feel that the developer genuinely cares about making it better.
That matters.
Final thoughts
KICKSLAUGHT is a small, quirky football RPG built around progression rather than mechanical depth.
It's not trying to replace FIFA, Football Manager or any traditional football experience. It's something much simpler: watch your character run, kick increasingly absurd shots, collect better equipment, grow stronger and see how far you can push the career.
And if that loop clicks with you, there's enough charm and progression here to keep bringing you back.
It still has rough edges, but I've enjoyed watching the game improve even during the time I've been playing it, and the developer's commitment to listening to feedback makes me optimistic about where it can go next.
For a small project, there's a lot of heart behind it — and sometimes that's exactly what makes an indie game worth giving a chance.
There is only one thing I still can't forgive:
A football game without Brazilian Portuguese? Hasan... we're Brazil. That's at least a yellow card.
Recommended.
— Dethyan / Noobsnoplay