Football 3s: The Review

Imagine this scenario. You are at home watching a live football match from the comfort of your living room. As a neutral observer, you are interested but unfulfilled. You want to interact and get involved in some way, but you don’t gamble. You notice a player putting in a good performance, or someone having a terrible game, but the deadline is passed and your fantasy team that week is already chosen. Wouldn’t it be great if there were another way to interact with the match?

Well, with Football3s there is. Set to launch in time for next season, Football3s is a new real-time fantasy football game in which you pick the team and follow it’s progress in real-time. The aim of the game is to outwit your opponents, outscore them with your choices and prove your managerial powers of perception. Fancy yourself as the next Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho? Then Football3s is for you.

The game works as follows. In Football3s you pick a team of three players from any of the twenty-two on the pitch and sit back and watch as players compete during the live game, accumulating points for your team (you hope) as the minutes pass.

Points are scored for all manner of actions: completing a pass, successful tackles, assists, saves and scoring goals. Similarly points can be deducted. If a player hits a shot into row Z he loses points for your team. Likewise for bookings and sendings off, stray passes and fouls.

Over the course of a ten minute game against friends, associates and whoever else joins the relevant mini-leagues, your aim is to correctly pick the three players you feel will influence the game most positively and rack up the most points possible. Whoever has the most points after 10 minutes wins. A limited number of substitutions are also permitted should you feel the need to tinker with the lineup.

Take Barcelona vs Manchester United as an example. You might choose Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi as your three. But as the game progresses you might notice play increasingly shifting down the left hand side of the field, and decide to sub Xavi out and Patrice Evra in. It’s all about staying au-fait with matters on the pitch. Think Fantasy Premier League meets Football Manager.

Having exclusively tested Football3s I must say it looks promising. The site is slick and clean, the interface easy to use. You login, join a mini-game and within a few steps you’re away. The real time match engine is very impressive in the way it compiles stats. The points scoring system is generally decent if a bit dubious at times (witnessing one of your three players dribble past two men and hit a lovely shot onto the outside of the post only to get minus points for a shot off target can be frustrating), but generally the way points are accumulated leaves enough room for players to engage tactically with the game.

I can see Football3s growing strongly in popularity once released. It is innovative and simple to play, and adds a new element to football for people watching matches from the comfort of their armchair. The chat feature should also prove a hit for those banterous games between groups of friends.

Based on the games I’ve participated in I can certainly imagine playing Football3s next season. It will provide a new dimension for fans who think they are the next Brian Clough, or for games in which one is a neutral observer. With the introduction of league tables and mini-tournaments the competitive aspect of the game can only get better in future too. Football3s definitely gets the Just Football seal of approval!

Product Reviews