The soccer-themed video game "Behold the Kickmen" was born on Twitter. Game developer Dan Marshall who has adventure game "Ben There, Dan That" under his name tweeted on April 5 that he was going to make a soccer game. In less than an hour later, he revealed he was already 90 percent done with a football game.
Even with less knowledge about football and its rules, Marshall continued working on the concept. The game eventually got its name, and several unique rules. Instead of a rectangular shape, its pitch is round. Scoring from far out is more than those made from close.
Its bullet time maneuvers are in Matrix style and every time the player scores, the referee gives him a kiss on the cheek. Marshall publicly documented the process of the game on Twitter. While Marshall is not very familiar with football, he reimagined football rules in a joyous fashion, according to The Reticule.
Marshall did play football a bit when he was a kid. But he told The Verge that he had been occupied until it came to the point that he had despised the game and its entire surrounding culture.
As for the joke on Twitter that became real, Marshall told the publication, "It was all from Twitter." Headded that he "started out making some stupid jokes" about how he was "making a football game without caring what the actual rules were" and it "kind of struck a nerve and took off."
To make the "boring" sport in his game more exciting, Marshall stated it is more like a speedball though "Behold the Kickmen" is a football game and might be doomed to be dull. However, many have loved the concept because they may be football haters, or football fans with a sense of humor.
The idea of having the referee reward the player with a kiss came from the audience, Marshall shared in the interview. There were those who suggested multiple balls but the game designer said it does not seem appealing.
While some people criticized the video game, other appreciate having it in devices so that football lovers who cannot play it on the field with a ball can at least play it with a gamepad. It has caught the interest of people who like the thought that they can at least play soccer, and it looks fun.
Here is a video of Dan Marshall's "Behold the Kickmen" game.