Software:Despelote
Despelote is a first-person adventure video game and that released on 1 May 2025. It is slice-of-life set in Quito during Ecuador's qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where the player is able to explore and play with a soccer ball in the city. The game is autobiographical and from the perspective of an eight year old Julián Cordero, one of the developers.[1][2][3][4]
Gameplay
Despelote is a first-person narrative exploration game, mostly set in Quito in 2002.[5] Players wander the city as an eight year old Julián Cordero, the designer of the game, and interact with locals, observe street life, and use a soccer ball to engage with the environment.[6] The ball can be kicked, passed, and used to trigger small vignettes and conversations that reveal the community's mood during Ecuador's 2002 World Cup qualifying run.[6] The game emphasizes ambient storytelling, with unscripted-feeling encounters rather than traditional objectives or puzzles.[7] It incorporates flash-forward moments as well, with the player controlling Cordero as a teenager as well.[7]
Development
Julián Cordero initially conceived of a game about the "universal language" of football, inspired by his childhood in Ecuador and his time in New York City.[5] Cordero wanted the game to avoid the look of high budget sport games like FIFA, which did not represent the soccer that he grew up with.[8]
After realizing that the game was not working in that format, Cordero's New York University Professor Gabe Cuzzillo, the designer of Ape Out, suggested that Cordero bring the "place" of Quito to the front of the game, using documentary audio and visual design in addition to the gameplay.[5]
Reception
Critical reception
Despelote received positive marks from critics. Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell called the game something "personal and universal all at once" and praised how the developers handled the experience of childhood memories.[6] Polygon's Oli Welsh felt that Despelote felt "fully realized" and said that it might "be the best game ever about childhood."[10] The Guardian's Keith Stuart compared the game favorably to "the great works of independent game design", comparing it favorably The Unfinished Swan, Gravity Bone, and Virginia. Stuart also called the game "fascinating, formally daring stuff."[7] Rock Paper Shotgun's Graham Smith praised the game generally as a football fan, commenting "In a medium often dominated by genre pastiche and YA fiction tropes, what a treat it is to have a video game that feels true."[11]
RPGFan's Tom Naylor noted in a generally positive review that the kicking controls can be "finicky" and cautioned that the game was relatively short.[12] Slant Magazine's Steven Scaife instead felt that the game's "underlying clumsiness" in its first-person sections helped to capture its "vision of a messy childhood."[13]
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Independent Games Festival | Seumas McNally Grand Prize | Nominated | [14] |
| Excellence in Audio | Won | |||
| Excellence in Narrative | Nominated | |||
| Nuovo Award | Nominated | |||
| Golden Joystick Awards | Best Indie Game | Nominated | [15][16] | |
| The Game Awards 2025 | Games for Impact | Nominated | [17] | |
| Best Debut Indie Game | Nominated | |||
| 2026 | 15th New York Game Awards | Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year | Nominated | |
| Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game | Nominated | |||
| Excelsior Award for Best New York Game | Nominated | |||
| 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game | Nominated | [18] | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Story | Nominated | |||
| 26th Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Narrative | Nominated | [19] | |
| Social Impact | Nominated | |||
| 22nd British Academy Games Awards | Debut Game | Nominated | [20] | |
| Game Beyond Entertainment | Won |
Notes
- ↑ Based on 41 reviews
References
- ↑ Romano, Sal (December 10, 2024). "despelote add Switch version". Gematsu. https://www.gematsu.com/2024/12/despelote-add-switch-version. "Due out in early 2025."
- ↑ Robles, Por Gustavo (2024-12-11). "Despelote confirma su llegada a Nintendo Switch en 2025" (in es). https://www.infobae.com/malditos-nerds/2024/12/11/despelote-confirma-su-llegada-a-nintendo-switch-en-2025/.
- ↑ Castillo, Carolina (2024-12-15). "Videojuego ecuatoriano Despelote llega a Nintendo Switch en 2025" (in es). https://www.elcomercio.com/games/videojuego-despelote-nintendo-switch.html.
- ↑ "Despelote: El videojuego ecuatoriano inspirado en la clasificación al Mundial del 2002 que llega a Nintendo en 2025" (in es). 2024-12-12. https://www.ecuavisa.com/entretenimiento/gaming/despelote-videojuego-ecuatoriano-llega-a-nintendo-2025-EC8466565.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gordon, Lewis (2025-04-30). "A Soccer-Loving Nation’s Transcendent Summer Is Reimagined". https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/arts/despelote-soccer-ecuador.html.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Tapsell, Chris (2025-05-01). "Despelote review" (in en). https://www.eurogamer.net/despelote-review.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Stuart, Keith (2025-05-14). "Despelote review – a beautiful, utterly transportive game of football fandom" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/may/14/despelote-review-football-fans-world-cup-panic-pc-ps4-5-xbox.
- ↑ Couture, Joel (2025-03-24). "Exploring Quito, Ecuador (and soccer fever) in despelote". https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/exploring-quito-ecuador-and-soccer-fever-in-despelote.
- ↑ "Despelote" (in en). https://opencritic.com/game/18474/despelote. Retrieved May 9, 2026.
- ↑ Welsh, Oli (2025-05-24). "Despelote might be the best game ever about childhood" (in en). https://www.polygon.com/review/601192/despelote-review-childhood-ecuador-football-sorry-soccer/.
- ↑ Smith, Graham (2025-05-02). "Despelote review" (in en). Rock, Paper, Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/despelote-review.
- ↑ Naylor, Tom (2025-05-01). "Despelote Review | RPGFan" (in en-US). https://www.rpgfan.com/review/despelote/.
- ↑ Scaife, Steven (2025-05-01). "'Despelote' Review: Soccer Fever Is in the Air" (in en-US). https://www.slantmagazine.com/games/despelote-review/.
- ↑ Patches, Matt (2025-03-19). "The GDC Awards' 2025 Game of the Year winners are in". https://www.polygon.com/events/542599/gdc-awards-2025-winners-igf. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ Harris, Iain (2025-10-03). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the Golden Joystick Award 2025 charge for most nominations, nudging out Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2". https://www.gamesradar.com/games/events-conferences/clair-obscur-expedition-33-leads-the-golden-joystick-award-2025-charge-for-most-nominations-nudging-out-death-stranding-2-ghost-of-yotei-and-kingdom-come-deliverance-2/.
- ↑ Bevan, Rhiannon (2025-11-20). "All Of The Winners At The Golden Joystick Awards 2025" (in en). https://www.thegamer.com/golden-joystick-awards-2025-all-winners/.
- ↑ Lewis, Claire (December 11, 2025). "Here are all The Game Awards 2025 winners". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/the-game-awards-2025-all-winners/.
- ↑ LeBlanc, Wesley (January 8, 2026). "The 29th DICE Awards Nominees Have Been Revealed, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 And Ghost Of Yōtei Lead The Pack". Game Informer. https://gameinformer.com/2026/01/08/the-29th-dice-awards-nominees-have-been-revealed-clair-obscur-expedition-33-and-ghost-of. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie (March 13, 2026). "Expedition 33 Wins Yet Another GOTY--See All The Winners From The 2026 Game Dev Awards". GameSpot. https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/gdca-2026-nominees-winners/2900-7409/. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ Welsh, Oli; McWhertor, Michael (April 17, 2026). "Clair Obscur completes its sweep of all the major GOTY awards with BAFTA win". https://www.polygon.com/bafta-games-awards-2026-winners/.
External links
Announcement trailers | |
 Official Nintendo Switch Announcement Trailer | |
| Official PlayStation 5 Reveal Trailer |
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