‘Foxy’s Football Islands’ Offers Up Something Very Different on Mobile

Mobile games don’t have to make sense, as evidenced by the enduring popularity of a franchise that sees players catapulting birds (which can fly) at pigs (green).

But even in the topsy-turvy world of mobile game concepts, Foxy’s Football Islands is gloriously out on a limb.

The hypercasual gameplay spans a number of different genres, including football, building, collection, and multiplayer tit-for-tat. These genres aren’t natural bedfellows, any more than a fox is an obvious choice for a football game, but it all works like a dream.

Here’s how it all works.

Your first port of call is an island called Aztlan, a lush green habitat dotted with palm trees and building sites.

Tap on one of these sites and you’ll begin construction on a building. Once that building is finished, you can tap again to upgrade it, and again, and again, all over the island, until every building has reached its final form.

Then you move to the next island, earning stars that determine your place on the leaderboards.

But hold up. It’s not that simple. Construction is an expensive business, and you’ll need to keep filling your coffers with gold coins to finance the work. And what’s the easiest way to earn coins fast? That’s right: by playing football.

The soccer part of Foxy’s Football Islands sees you taking shots at a goal – or, more specifically, at targets nested within a goal.

To take a shot, you slide your finger up the screen in the direction of the target. Unless, that is, there’s wind over the pitch, in which case you have to adjust for the gusts. Some targets move, too, requiring you to lead your shots.

Hitting a target can have a number of different results, the most common of which is a great cascade of coins.

The size of this cascade depends on the amount you stake. While a basic shot uses up one unit of energy (more on that later) it’s possible to double or treble the ante in exchange for proportionately greater rewards – as long as you don’t miss.

You’ll also get to attack another player’s island, either at random or in a targeted fashion, destroying one of their buildings and setting them back in their quest to overtake you on the leaderboards.

Sometimes you’ll bring up a moving target, opening the way for a major payday, and on other occasions you’ll obtain a special glove that lets you block a single attack on your own island.

There are familiar elements in Foxy’s Football Islands, including an energy system that limits the number of shots you can take (unless you pay for more), gems for buying coins, a tiered upgrade system, and so on.

But it’s the way the game manages to bring together a vast range of different genres that really helps Foxy’s Football Islands really stand out.

One minute you’re enjoying a physics-based football game, and then next you’re expanding your territory by ploughing coins into the construction of an Aztec pyramid or an Ancient Egyptian monument.

The multiplayer is equally varied, combining the extremely devious with the extremely wholesome.

For instance, when you’re not taking revenge on players who have aggrieved you or targeting your friends for lols you’re trading the adorable relics that you obtain throughout the campaign.

We’re not sure whether Foxy’s Football Islands is a nasty game with a nice streak or a nice game with a nasty streak.

Either way, there’s nothing else quite like it.