despelote

Despelote es un punto de convergencia para latinoamericanos y fanáticos del fútbol por igual, creando una obra que se siente tuya incluso aunque estés a miles de kilómetros de distancia de los espacios que la inspiraron. Sinceramente, una obra maestra del medio interactivo a la que debemos mirar para cuando queramos recordar que el videojuego es cultura, y que el título de juguete ya se le quedó muy corto hace tiempo.

The late legendary film critic Roger Ebert said that, "Video games can never be art." Well he had not experienced games like Despelote which is not only art, but art at its highest level. What a beautiful narrative, that has the sensitivity of great films like Cinema Paradiso. If you wish to experience something special and have 2 hours to spare, just don't miss this one. Despelote is something you will remember for the rest of your life.

Not the longest game but very atmospheric. I didn't know what to expect from it and that's the best way to experience it tbh. This game got me invested in the Ecuadorian national team and now I have 4 national teams capable of hurting me at the world cup.

I think the terms games as art gets passed around a bit too much, or maybe I am getting older and more jaded at what games people call art. But this game is actual art. I mean like, a walk through a museum art. This game is a whole exhibit. I really did not expect to feel the emotions I felt playing this game. Its moving and weirdly sad. It made me cry and I didn't even fully understand why i was crying. There was just a really powerful surge of emotions. Nostalgia. Loss. Joy I never knew. Understanding. I am not sure. All those words sort of all flat or fail to capture the feeling. Which is sort of what the devs say themselves about the game itself. They say it doesnt quite capture the feeling they were looking for. I am not sure what that feeling is, but the did something right.

First of all, I'm Peruvian, but I feel as though I've lived my life so disconnected from who I truly am, and this game was able to scratch an itch I've never been able to get rid of while being stuck in this place in my country with no one like me. This is an excellent game. Si se puede <3

I unfortunately did not have a good experience playing this game, and it saddens me to write this review because I really believe it does deserve a chance from you to play. But you should know exactly what you walk into. The game's approach to integrating the narrative with the design is clever, but be wary of over-exploring. There are many, many ways to get bugged and softlocked in this game and I was softlocked for almost 40 minutes without knowing. Going online to check how to resolve this I found out quite a few stories and threads of people sharing that they had similar issues, but in other parts of the game, until I finally reached the point I had the issue with. I hate, hate hate hate hate HATE leaving negative reviews on games you can see were made by someone who wanted to bring their personal story to life (and this game very clearly does that) because it could easily be mistaken for criticism against their story. This is not what I criticize. All I ask is - when you play this (which I think you still should), you're far better off focusing on the story as much as possible, because the softlock risk in this game is high, and I don't want your gameplay experience to be ruined like it sadly was for me.

I learned of "Despelote" from the 2025 Game Awards which I remember noticing its' cover photo with kids kicking a football. And for me almost anything I see with football peaks my interest. The only thing I knew about the game going in was that it followed Ecuador qualifying for the 2002 World Cup so playing this right after the 2026 World Cup concluded felt right. Julian Codero does a fantastic job of telling a story of a memory he barely remembers but one he wishes he could which is very relatable for me. As an Italian-American who was just 7 when Italy won the 2006 World Cup there's nothing more that I wish I could remember as much as I wish I could remember that game and the moments of my family and my neighborhood celebrating it. But unfortunately no matter what the only way I'll ever be able to remember it is through stories. So "Despelote" hit really close to home in a way I didn't anticipate it doing. Overall a great short game that I'm going to be recommending to my friends.

I think the game’s biggest problem is that it tells an extremely personal story—so personal that it feels like it was made only to preserve the memories of one person, or at best, one nation. Even a phenomenon as powerful as football can’t do much to draw the player in. On top of that, the gameplay doesn’t have much to offer either. It feels like sharing a personal memory was the first and only idea behind making this game.