It’s that time in the endless churn of writing about video games for a living when we start to look at what’s coming up. I write about upcoming indies to watch out for, and I mention Despelote. I discuss ways my GOTY list surprises me, and I mention Despelote. We share recommendations for different editors at the site, and I mention Despelote. We brainstorm upcoming review assignments, and I mention Despelote. Then I go to add some juicy backlinks to my various articles, and I realise I have never mentioned Despelote.
This is unlike me. Everything in my life is mere petroleum for the content generation machine that is I, and as such an indie game that I’ve had my eye on for months should have generated some pistons by now. Despelote is a football (soccer) narrative game with a unique sepia-toned art style and a small-scale plot about growing up in a rough village. It’s published by the company behind Thank Goodness You’re Here, Untitled Goose Game, and Firewatch. It’s my thing. I’ve known it’s my thing for months. And yet, I haven’t told you lot about it. That changes today.
Despelote Adds A Narrative Sports Games Need
Despelote is… wait, I already did that part. But as well as being extremely for me, those characteristics also make it quite niche. Which would explain why I haven’t written about it, except I’ve also spent way too much time down the years writing about The Artful Escape, Neon White, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, and 1000xResist, all of which are equally niche. It’s a bit of a puzzle.
Mostly what I love about Despelote is that it’s a football game trying something different. I play EA Sports FC every year (and did for more than two decades when it was FIFA), but it doesn’t make me feel much anymore. It’s a good casual game for switching my brain off – and I do need that in my life – but it doesn’t inspire a lot of passion. Despelote might inspire passion.
I’ve written before about wanting a little more from FIFA. Legendary teams from the past coming back, iconic moments to recreate, and ways to inject your own storytelling into the game would uplift EA FC, but it doesn’t want or need to be uplifted. It is one of the most popular games in the world and prints money. That it can sometimes bore me is not a factor because a) I am but one person b) I never played Ultimate Team anyway c) I still buy it.
Despelote Is An Exploration Of Ecuadorian History
Despelote will not be entirely about football. There’s a story with characters to meet and, taking place in Ecuador, these characters are shaped by their love of the beautiful game. It’s set in 2001, the year Ecuador qualified for their first ever World Cup. La Tricolor finished bottom of their group and failed to make much of an impression the following year, but in 2001, football in Ecuador was a gateway to dreams.
It’s fascinating to see football used as a lens for a period piece like this. We see it often with movies or music being hooks for plunging into the recent past, but not so much with sport. That’s another factor in what makes Despelote one of the games I most have my eye on in 2025, and the sepia aesthetic may be a way to tap into that.
When Rematch was revealed at The Game Awards, it made me pay attention because it was a football game doing things differently. Still arcadey in its approach, and basically Rocket League minus cars (it makes sense, I promise), it was different enough to EA FC to be worth paying attention to. But Despelote is several dozen more degrees of different. It’s more like A Space for the Unbound with football as opposed to EA FC with a narrative adventure, but all those factors assemble into a dream team.
Despelote is one of my most anticipated games of 2025, and I should have told you all about it sooner.
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