For such an ostensibly small game, there’s such bigness to Despelote.

The result is special, something personal and universal all at once.

Football, suddenly, is life, and for Julian it’s all-consuming.

Despelote official key art showing kids in black and white line drawing having a game of street football against more realist, but sepia backgrounds of Ecuador’s streets

  • over the head of your mother, father, and little sister in turn.

Memories cross-contaminate from childhood into teenage years.

Bass reduction, force mono, reduce dynamic range, increase dialogue clarity, hyperacusis filter audio toggles.

Cover image for YouTube video

A kind of hybrid crossing of autobiographical documentary with fantasy retelling.

And, yes, also a world where football is indeed a community’s lifeblood.

The thing where Julian’s world begins and ends.

Despelote screenshot showing

A copy of Despelote was provided for review by Panic.

Despelote screenshot showing your TV with a football video game on it

Despelote screenshot showing a countdown of points needed to qualify and games remaining in Ecuador’s World Cup Qualifiers

Despelote screenshot showing your mother warning you that you must return at 6:30pm sharp

Despelote screenshot showing you reaching towards a DVD rack with a copy of Pulp Fiction on it

Despelote screenshot showing you kicking a ball in the streets, under purple hue, with a person and a football-related speech bubble