Penalty Shooters 2 — Play Free Online

Penalty Shooters 2 strips football down to the one moment everybody remembers: a ball on the spot, a goalkeeper, and a few seconds to decide where it goes. There is no pitch to run around and no passing. A match is a shoot-out, so a session is short, tense and easy to repeat.

It is a sports game on a site built around Doodle Jump, and the connection is the pace. Both are about one precise input made at the right moment, and both end quickly enough that "one more go" is almost automatic. It loads in the page, so there is nothing to install and no account to make.

How to play

The game lists the arrow keys or WASD for movement and the mouse for aiming and selecting menu options. On a phone you tap and swipe instead. In practice the mouse or your finger does most of the work: you choose a spot in the goal, send the ball there, and then the roles swap so you have to deal with the other side's kicks as well.

A shoot-out is decided by who converts more of their kicks, so every miss or save matters. Menus let you pick how to play before the first kick, and the game is designed to be picked up without reading a manual.

Tips

• Do not aim at the middle of the goal every time. A keeper that has seen you shoot centre twice will start covering it.
• Mix up your corners, but do not get fancy: a shot placed firmly into a corner usually beats a risky one that misses the target.
• When you are the one defending, commit early to a side instead of waiting. Hesitating costs more than guessing wrong.
• Take a breath before the deciding kicks. Rushing the final attempt is the easiest way to lose a close match.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

If you want another sport with a quick loop, Bouncy Basketball is the closest neighbour, though it is physics and timing rather than a single kick. Helix Jump and Bird Jumper keep the one-input, quick-retry feel without any football. For something you can share with a friend, Fireboy and Watergirl is a co-operative puzzle platformer.

It suits short breaks, a quick duel with whoever is sitting next to you, and anyone who likes games where one good decision decides the result. A keyboard works, but a mouse or touchscreen makes aiming far easier.