Street Football Game: Barrio Kick Sent Me to Penalties Twice
A dirt pitch, a rainy night, neon pink boots and two shootouts I am still not over. Polarzinho goes to play ball in the neighborhood.
By Polarzinho ·
I played two Street Cups and lost both on penalties. One in the semifinal, one in the final, and both times my very first kick smacked the post. Looking for a street football game that opens straight in a browser tab, and wondering if Barrio Kick is any good? I am the fluffy proof: you lose, you sulk for four seconds, you hit rematch.
Barrio Kick is pixel art 5-a-side football on a dirt pitch, with a wall full of fans and a three-minute match clock. It is a Polar Games title and I am the studio mascot, so yes, I am biased. But I really played it: a friendly that turned into a soap opera, a match in the rain, two cup runs and way too many penalties. Here is all of it, embarrassing bits included.
What kind of street football game is Barrio Kick?
The setting got me first. The pitch sits right against a painted wall with a youth soccer school sign, a Polar mural and a row of fans perched on top. Behind them, a hill packed with colorful houses and a clothesline of jerseys. Along the bottom there is a real sidewalk: a sleepy tan dog, a popsicle cart and a little snack stand near one goal. I would move there tomorrow.
PolarzinhoFans sitting on the wall like it is the best seat in town. I play better with an audience. I also lose the ball better with an audience, about ten seconds after this.
The main menu puts the four modes right up front:
- Friendly: a quick match against the computer, where you pick the opponent and difficulty.
- Street Cup: a two-game knockout, semifinal and final.
- Online: play against other people.
- 2 players: two people on one device.
Underneath sit the Locker Room, the Ranking, a trophy for the 16 achievements and Options. Opponents are Morro, Jardim, Estrela and Areião, plus Random, on Easy, Normal or Hard. I kept the menus in Portuguese, so I translate what I quote from the screen.
How to play Barrio Kick on a keyboard
Your first match is a tutorial: the clock stays frozen while a banner teaches four short steps and the other team jogs closer. Esc skips it. I did not, because pandas who skip tutorials cry at the penalty spot.
- Steer your player with WASD or the arrows.
- Press J to pass. The ball goes to the teammate with the little marker over his head.
- Carry the ball into the box while holding Shift to sprint.
- Hold K and release to shoot. The longer you hold, the harder it goes.
- Without the ball, the same keys switch jobs: K tackles, L slides in and J switches players.
My tutorial shot? The keeper caught it. The game used my shame as a teaching moment and explained defense on a single card, with a warning in red that I took personally: sliding in from behind is a foul.
PolarzinhoIt taught me defense right after I missed the first shot of my career. Some coaches really do wait for you to cry before the lesson starts.
With the ball, L plays it long and I dribbles. The button bar in the corner relabels itself between attack and defense, and Options has a Controls screen for remapping, including a Q key to switch players.
A friendly against Morro: comeback, hat-trick and a goal with 2 seconds left
My first friendly was against Morro on Easy. I expected a stroll. I got a rollercoaster. I scored early, they leveled, I went ahead, they leveled again and then went up 2-3. When I tied it 3-3, a HAT-TRICK achievement popped up at the top, and I was so proud I almost let Morro walk right through me.
Lovely touch: the match kicks off in the late afternoon, and as the clock runs down the sky darkens and the street lamps on the sidewalk switch on. By full time it was night in the neighborhood. Nobody told me a three-minute friendly came with a full sunset.
I pulled away to 7-4, Morro made it 7-5, and with 0:02 on the clock I scored one more. GOOOL on screen, a NO ÚLTIMO SEGUNDO achievement (Buzzer Beater in English) and, on top of everything, the celebration picker.
PolarzinhoFour celebrations: slide, backflip, airplane and pile-on. I am a round panda. I picked the backflip anyway. Dreams are free.
The picker has a short timer, and each celebration sits on a key: J, K, L or I. Every goal also gets a replay you can skip with any button.
PolarzinhoTwenty shots to five and I still let in five goals. My attack is a highlight reel. My defense is a blooper reel.
Final score 8-5, a VIRADA achievement (Comeback) and two gifts: the Retro kit and the Neon Pink boots. Straight to the Locker Room I went.
The Locker Room: a retro kit and neon pink boots
The Locker Room has two tabs, Kit and Boots, with four options each. Some start with a padlock and open as you win. I swapped the yellow Classic shirt for the white and green Retro kit, and the black boots for Neon Pink. A big version of your player on the left shows the full look before you leave.
PolarzinhoWhite, green and neon pink. Defenders could not decide whether to mark me or ask for my stylist's number.
Street football in the rain: puddles, slips and a 2-4 loss
Options has a Weather setting that starts on Random. I flipped it to Rain to see what happens. Puddles showed up on the grass, rain streaked across the whole screen and a brand new drama appeared: people slipping. Right after kickoff, a Jardim player went down and the game printed ESCORREGOU (he slipped) right above him.
PolarzinhoI laughed when the Jardim guy slipped. Ten seconds later I was picking the ball out of my net. Karma has excellent reflexes.
Against Jardim on Normal, I got schooled. I fell behind, gave away a foul in the box, and the penalty made it 0-2. It reached 0-4 before I woke up. Then I scored, earned the DEBAIXO DE CHUVA achievement (Singing in the Rain), scored again and lost 2-4. Full-time screen: shots 11 x 12, saves 4 x 10. Their keeper worked harder than mine and I still lost.
Street Cup: two runs, two penalty shootouts
The Street Cup is a two-game knockout. Before kickoff, a bracket screen shows the semifinal on the left, the final on the right and a gold trophy waiting at the end. A draw in the cup goes straight to penalties, and I learned that the painful way. Twice.
Cup number one, on Normal: Areião in the semi
I drew Areião, the team in orange. They scored first, I equalized, they made it 1-2, and I only leveled at 2-2 with 0:36 on the clock. Penalties. My first kick hit the post and the game spelled out NA TRAVE (off the post) in huge letters. The shootout went to the eighth kick each: I scored 6, Areião scored 7. Then PAREDÃO (The Wall) unlocked, for five saves by your keeper. My keeper was a wall. I was the post.
Cup number two, on Easy: 10-2 and a final full of plot twists
I went back on Easy, and once a cup starts its difficulty stays locked. In the semifinal I flattened Morro 10-2, shots 18 x 5, with 3900 points on the screen. On the bracket, Estrela, in purple, had beaten Areião 3-1. Final against Estrela, still in the rain.
They went 0-1 and 0-2. I pulled one back, gave away another penalty, it was 1-3, and then came the fightback: 2-3 and, with 0:10 on the clock, 3-3. In the shootout my first hit the post again, their keeper stopped my second, and Estrela missed their first two as well. Then everyone scored until round six, when my kick was saved and Estrela buried theirs. Estrela won on penalties.
PolarzinhoLook where I parked the crosshair: hugging the right post. It hit the post, obviously. Next time I am sending the crosshair a map to the middle of the goal.
Penalties show a small window of the goal seen from behind, with a yellow crosshair you steer with the direction keys. The power bar fills while you hold K, and L chips it. When the other team shoots, you are the keeper: pick a side and press a button.
A 5v5 soccer game online you can play with a friend
Online offers a quick match against another person or a private room with a code to invite a friend. I went private. I made a room, sent the code, and in came a friend who goes by Shinpad. The nickname fooled me: he moved the ball like he had a map of the pitch in his head and chipped me on his very first touch. I spent the whole first match chasing shirts. In the second I closed the middle, passed quicker and ended up taking a few matches off him. Now he sends me a room code every night, and I walk in already guarding the middle.
If your friend is on the couch next to you, there is 2 players on one device. Player 2 picks a club and the screen lists the keys: player 1 gets WASD, F, G, H, R and Shift; player 2 gets the arrows, comma, period, slash and right Shift. One keyboard, no elbows.
Street football tips I learned by conceding
- Pass before you get boxed in. J goes to the teammate with the marker, so check it first.
- Shoot from inside the box with a short hold on K.
- On defense, tackle with K before sliding with L. A slide from behind is a foul, and a foul in the box is a penalty. I learned that twice.
- Switch players with J or Q when the ball is far from the player you control.
- I suffered a lot more on Normal. To practice celebrations, start on Easy.
Who this street football game is for (and what takes a minute)
If you like arcade football with short matches and want something to play with a friend, this is it. What takes a minute is one key doing two jobs: with the ball, K shoots; without it, K tackles. Early on I pressed K to win the ball and, if the ball reached me at that exact moment, I shot instead. Penalties also need a light touch on the aim. Nothing two lost cups will not teach you.
Barrio Kick FAQ
Does it run straight in the browser?
It does. I opened the page and the menu was already there, pitch and all.
Can I play online with a friend?
Sure: a private room with a code, or a quick match against another person. On the couch, split one keyboard in the two-player mode.
What about phones?
Phones are covered on the game page, with a stick on the left and buttons on the right. I stuck to a keyboard.
Barrio Kick pros and cons
Ready for the dirt pitch?
Barrio Kick is on Polar Games, straight in your browser: versus the computer, with a friend on one keyboard or in an online room with a code. Start with an Easy friendly, let the tutorial run and aim a little inside the corner on penalties. That post is mine.