
Release Date: May 1, 2025
A first-person football adventure game. The action of despelote takes place in Ecuador in 2001. We play as an 8-year old Julian, kicking the ball and interacting with various people and objects from the world. The boy wants to spend time celebrating the country's chance to qualify for the football World Cup.
despelote is an adventure game that allows us to play as an eight-year-old Ecuadorian celebrating the possibility of his country qualifying for the World Cup in 2001. The game is the result of collaboration between independent developers - Julian Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena.
In despelote we watch the events from a first-person perspective (FPP). During the game, we traverse Quito, the capital of Ecuador, kicking a ball in front of us. By passing the ball to different people, we engage with them in various interactions and get to know their reactions, as well as find out what they have to say.
Among the characters we meet on the city streets, we can find both peers of the protagonist (Julian), as well as adults. Not everyone shares the hero's enthusiasm, especially when he starts to misbehave.
The story told in the game has a bittersweet and of a partly biographical character.
The graphic design of despelote was maintained in a characteristic style combining monochromatic color scheme of locations with cartoonish, black-and-white character sprites. A physics engine has been implemented that takes care of the behavior of the ball, which we can roll in front of us, dribble and pass to NPCs.
Platforms:
PC Windows May 1, 2025
PlayStation 4 May 1, 2025
Xbox One May 1, 2025
Nintendo Switch December 11, 2025
PlayStation 5 May 1, 2025
Xbox Series X/S May 1, 2025
Developer: Julián Cordero
Publisher: Panic Inc.
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System Requirements for despelote Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core i7-7700HQ / AMD FX-8350, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 4 GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 8 GB HDD, Windows 10.
Recommended System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz, 16 GB RAM, graphic card 6 GB GeForce GTX 1660 / 4 GB Radeon RX 580, 8 GB HDD, Windows 11.
Game Ratings for despelote Video Game.
GamingTrend: 90 / 100 by Olivia Davies
Despelote was a bit of a personal one for me, and I can see why some players may not love it due to it being a walking simulator where you kick a ball around. But for anyone willing to give it a chance, you’ll find a snippet of pure sentiment to engage with as you put on the shoes of its developer. You see Ecuador for its authentic self as a child and witness a moment that you probably never batted an eye at before. But you leave with a fuzzy feeling, wanting to reminisce about your own memories you had as a child.
Life is Xbox: 77 / 100 by Robby Bisschop
Despelote is a unique documentary around Ecuador and the country’s newfound obsession with soccer in the early 2000s, but it sometimes misses the goal of being an entertaining game. Definitely worth playing, but more so as education than entertainment.
WayTooManyGames: 5.5 / 10 by Leonardo Faria
Despelote is not awful… it’s just very confusing. I appreciate the interesting premise and presentation, but it’s just somewhat devoid of elements that make it a proper “game”. Even the football-related gameplay (or what little of it is present) feels clunky and shallow. I also think the story could have been more focused on the innocence and lack of urgency in the life of a child – it would have made it a lot more relatable.
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