Curve Kings

Curve Kings is arcade football at its most satisfying: put your finger on the ball and flick it at the goal. Swipe faster to hit it harder, and curve your swipe to bend the ball the same way. Bow it out round the wall and watch it whip back inside the post, or dink a slow, lofted chip over a keeper rushing off his line.

Take a nation to the Global Cup. Pick from 32 countries, each in its own colours, then play three group games, the round of 16, the quarters, the semis and the final. Every match is a run of big moments: free kicks from the edge of the box, penalties, one-on-ones, and the other side breaking through, when you go in goal and swipe to dive. Knockout draws go to a full penalty shootout. Win the cup and climb from Amateur to Pro, World Class and Legend.

The keepers are properly good. They read your body shape, guess the side on penalties, smother one-on-ones and fling themselves across goal for the top corners, and they get sharper as you go. Hit the woodwork and it rings. Find the net and it bulges and ripples as the crowd erupts, the boards flash and the camera flashes go off round the ground. The best goals get a slow-motion replay from pitch level.

There's plenty to play beyond the cup. The 60-stage Career runs from the youth academy to legend status, with three stars on every stage. Skill challenges include Target Rush against the clock, the Bar Challenge, and Penalty Saver, where you're in goal. A new Daily Challenge lands every day. Earn coins to unlock balls and kits in the Locker, from neon and molten magma balls to a golden boot ball for the very best.

It all happens in a real-time 3D stadium at night, with floodlights, a two-tier crowd that jumps when you score, a cloth goal net and confetti and fireworks when you lift the trophy. It plays in portrait or landscape with touch, mouse or keyboard. Every nation, player and tournament is fictional.