What Penalty Kick Online Is: A Math Soccer Game by Code This Lab
Published · Updated · 2 min read
Who made it
Penalty Kick Online is an HTML5 soccer game made by Code This Lab, a studio that builds HTML5 browser games. The game's credits screen reads "Developed by" followed by codethislab.com. It is published on Coolmath Games, where it is listed as Penalty Kick Online Multiplayer. The online server ID inside the game files is named "penalty-kick-math", which points to its main feature: math questions decide your bonus shots.
Where the math comes in
A match is five rounds of penalties. Each time a player scores a regular kick, a math question appears with four possible answers. A correct answer earns a bonus shot; a wrong answer or running out of time does not. The time limit gets one second shorter each round, from 13 seconds in the first round to 9 seconds in the fifth round and in extra kicks.
The questions are generated by the game from fixed rules, so they stay at a times-table level. Here is what each type can contain, based on the question generator in the game files:
| Type | What you get |
|---|---|
| Addition | Two numbers of at least 10 whose sum is under 100 |
| Subtraction | A two-digit number minus 6 to 9, or minus a smaller two-digit number with no borrowing |
| Multiplication | Times tables such as up to 20 times 2 to 5, 10 to 50 times 2, tens times a single digit, or 6 to 11 times 6 to 9 |
| Division | Whole-number answers only, for example a two-digit number divided by 2 to 5 with an answer from 10 to 15 |
The wrong answers are built to sit close to the right one, usually changing one digit, so guessing from the size of the number does not work well. In a round where both sides score, the computer is given the same type of question you had.
Single player: 10 matches
You pick one of 32 national teams, then play a 10-match run against computer opponents. Winning a match unlocks the next one, and your progress is saved in the browser. The level screen has a button to replay all matches and the main menu has one to delete saved progress.
XP, trophies and stats
Matches give experience points, and the profile has 100 XP levels. There are 15 trophies. Some examples from the game's text file:
- Bronze, Silver and Golden Boot for scoring 50, 250 and 1,000 goals
- Mathkicker, Math of the Match and Math Legend for 25, 100 and 500 correct answers
- Hat Trick for three goals in a row
- World Champion for beating the computer in match 10
The stats panel has four pages: overall record and favourite country, kicker stats, keeper stats, and math accuracy split by addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Online mode
The main menu has a second button for playing against other people online, with quick matches and private rooms protected by an optional password. It needs a connection to the game's online server. If no connection is available, the game offers a "Play offline" option that starts the single-player run instead.
Languages
The game files include text in English, Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian.
More from the blog
- Penalty Kick Online Shooting Guide: Swipes and Goal Zones
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- Penalty Kick Online Goalkeeper Guide: Moving the Gloves
In Penalty Kick Online you save shots by moving a pair of gloves, not by diving. How the keeper controls work and how shots get harder over 10 matches.