How We Designed the Duel System

At the heart of Totally Football is the duel system.

From the very beginning, we wanted every challenge, matchup and decision to feel meaningful.

Football is built around individual battles:

• passes versus interceptions
• dribbles versus tackles
• shots versus saves

Those moments often decide matches.

We wanted the tabletop gameplay to capture that tension.

Why duels became the core mechanic

Many football games focus heavily on either whole-game simulation or club management.

While realism can be enjoyable, we felt the emotional core of football often comes from direct player confrontations.

• A perfectly timed challenge.
• A risky attacking move.
• A defensive stand under pressure.

By focusing the game around tactical duels, every turn becomes important.

Players constantly need to decide:

• which player to commit
• when to pass
• when to dribble
• when to shoot
• when to take risks
• when to be cautious

Simplicity was important

One of the biggest design goals was accessibility.

We wanted the game to feel tactical without becoming complicated.

That meant creating mechanics that:

• were quick to understand
• stayed strategically interesting
• rewarded smart timing
• kept matches moving quickly

The duel system allowed us to create depth without slowing the pace of play.

Momentum matters

Real football matches constantly swing between control and chaos.

We wanted matches in Totally Football to feel the same way.

That is why momentum shifts are such an important part of the duel structure.

Winning one key battle can suddenly:

• create attacking pressure
• change tactical options
• force defensive reactions
• completely alter the match flow

Those swings create drama and replayability.

Chaos Cards add unpredictability

Football is never completely predictable.

Unexpected moments define the sport.

To recreate that feeling, we introduced chaos cards that allow players to:

• disrupt opponents
• reverse momentum
• protect leads
• create surprise tactical plays
• introduce random outside elements

These moments help matches feel dynamic rather than scripted.

Balancing tactics and accessibility

One of the hardest parts of the design process was balancing:

• accessibility
• tactical depth
• replayability

We wanted new players to understand the game quickly while still giving experienced players opportunities to outthink opponents.

The duel system became the foundation that allowed both goals to work together.

Realism vs Excitement

During the early stages of development, the duel system was yielding extremely realistic matches:

• lots of battles
• back and forth attacks
• few goals

This quickly became a problem with the amount of 0-0 draws that played out. Super realistic, but not very fun and not very exciting.

We wanted players to feel like every game had goals and “moments” whilst retaining the realistic nature of the matchplay.

Chaos cards help with this, but subtle tweaks to the distribution of action card values tipped attacking opportunities into more goals, with the average game having 2+ goals in it.

Final Thoughts

The duel system defines the identity of Totally Football.

It creates:

• tactical tension
• momentum swings
• meaningful decisions
• emotional rivalry

Most importantly, it keeps every ball contested.

That philosophy shaped the entire design process from the very beginning.