Football Academy is a nice idea in theory, but there's not much fun to be had
Scouting Mission – Scolari asks where teams play. Obviously this is just a geography lesson. It's fairly easy when he asked you about English teams, but when he starts asking about Spain, Germany, Italy or France, then you start to struggle.
Guess The Nationality – Players come out the tunnel and you grab and drag them to their national flag. It's silly that they move fast and jerk side to side to make it hard for you to catch them. That is unnecessary.
Sharp Shooter – Given a direction, you need to tap a position on the ball to get the correct lift and curl to hit a target in the goal.
Higher or Lower – You study a league table from the past, and then presented with higher or lower questions about teams positions.
Reveal the Badge – You get a scratch card which reveals a badge. The less you scratch off before you select your multiple choice answer; the higher the score.
Be the Ref – Drag the referee's hands to make the correct signal for the situation described
Formation Game – write what formation it is
Memory Match – Turn over cards to match players to teams, or teams to leagues.
5-a-side scramble – Given a task of picking out players with a certain ability from a crowd of players in order to assemble a 5-a-side team.
Who Is It? – Hangman with football teams
Repeat the move – the ball is played around the formation in a sequence. You memorise the sequence and tap the players.
Best 11 – You go through each position. You have a choice of 4 players, 2 of which aren't even that position, and you have to select the best one.
Team Sheet Mix Up – The starting 11 have their names jumbled.
Kits on the Clothes Line – drag the kits to the correct country's basket
The games are a bit of a mixed bag. I liked 5-a-side Scramble and Best 11 because it tests your knowledge of players and who is better. Since the game is based on the 2009 roster, some of the games are very dated and so Team Sheet Mix Up was really hard when trying to remember who was Middlesbrough's striker back then (Alfonso Alves). At the end of the test, you are assigned an IQ rating which determines how good the players are in the pack of cards which you are then awarded. You have a choice out of the major leagues to choose from. Collecting a certain amount of cards from a team unlocks them to play against them in the Stadium. You can either discard the cards (but they get added to your collection) or add them to your squad. Cards that aren't added to your squad cannot be moved there later. This is a huge shame because it almost forces you to choose a formation, then collect cards for that specific tactic. It should have been more like FIFA Ultimate Team where you have more freedom to make changes. In the Stadium, you select a team to play against, and use the cards you have collected. There's a lot of random attributes involved and with each play, and you are always asked if you want the simple option, or the risky one. Possession is chosen at random at a random position on the pitch. The players are chosen based on this position (so if it is in the centre of midfield, its midfielder vs midfielder), and a move is chosen (pass, or dribble). As the players appear, their statistics are shown and a bonus is added based on tactical mentality, team chemistry, and energy levels. If it is pass, you have the option of to play it short, or play a long through ball. The safe option adds between -5 and +10, and the risky one adds between -25 and +25. The risky one allows a larger progression further up the pitch. When you get to within shooting range, the options you get are either long shot, pass or cross. Then when you are in the box, the option is always shoot. When choosing how to save, the safe option; 'parry' seemed to have a chance of giving it back to the striker for a guaranteed goal, but the risky option of 'catch' obviously has a larger random element which either guarantees them a goal, or guarantees the save. In terms of defence, the safe 'block tackle' stops the play, but possession is then determined at random. The risky tackle allows you to keep possession and launch a counter attack. It seems a good to have a defensive minded team, but then when it comes to counter attacking, if they aren't also good dribblers or passers, then the counter attack isn't effective. I was trying to create a game like this myself, but struggled to get the balance right between random elements and tactics. You need a system where a poor team has the potential to overcome a strong team given a bit of luck and correct tactics, but you don't want it so that one tactic is clearly the best. I felt Football Academy's engine had some good ideas but there was definitely some room for improvement. Given the amount of moves you need to put together in order to get a shot away, most matches seemed to only have 3 or 4 chances at the most, and sometimes you just got a free shot without any build up play at all; so sometimes it just felt too random and cheap. There were certain players like Pienaar that are geared towards a speciality, eg Dribbling and so when it came to Defence, I don't think I came across a player that had a low enough dribble attribute in order for Pienaar to actually tackle them. Overall, Football Academy is a nice idea in theory, but there's not much fun to be had. The mini-games are a bit lacking and some are a bit dated due to reliance on the 2009 squads. The restrictions placed in not being able to keep all the cards you win really holds the squad development side back. The game engine is basic and has lots of random elements so won't be to everyone's tastes and loses it's fun quickly.