One player, one ball, full control
Soccer Online: Ball 3D puts you in a third-person view controlling a single player on the pitch. The ball behaves through a professional physics engine, so you work with the geometry of the field and the objects on it. You can kick high, low, hard, softly, with curve or a lob, and you can jump, dribble, sprint and pull off tricks. The game runs on dedicated servers with an anti-lag system that includes client-side prediction, and there are 21 stadiums to play in.
Playing with your group
You can play online with other people over the internet or a local network, or start solo against bots if you would rather practice first. The game supports online co-op and online PvP, so your group can team up or split into opposing sides. Building a team is part of the game: pick a name and tag, invite your friends, and decide together how to line up. You choose how many strikers and defenders to field, whether to play short passes or full-power strikes, and whether to push forward or sit back and defend the goal. There are 11 game modes, and besides soccer you can play basketball, handball, ice hockey, racing, battle royale, darts, ping pong and others. In battle royale you survive by staying out of reach of your rivals, with no shooter mechanics or crosshair. The racing mode uses your mouse and keyboard as the controller.
Before you start
A tutorial covers the basics and works as a sandbox for practicing moves and tricks, which is a good place to start before joining real players. Replays let you watch matches from several camera angles, including TV, Action, Top Down and Auto, so you can study goals and save them. Statistics track your play, and the best player of a match appears on the man of the match board. The game also includes a ball editor and customization options. It runs on Windows, MacOS and Steam Deck (Linux). Matches are real-time and competitive, and the focus is on improving your own reactions and decisions rather than leveling up a character.