Registration is not required and you can begin playing soccer online at HaxBall in about 15 seconds after landing on their website. After selecting a username to play as, you’re presented with a list of rooms. Join a room and you’re ready to play.

HaxBall’s Start

HaxBall is an indie game developed by Mario Carbajal, known as Basro in-game and on Reddit. He and his brother, Pilaf, created HaxBall as a bit of a personal project and just for fun. It has since fleshed out to a thriving community of players that can reach up to 5,000 online at once during peak hours.

HaxBall utilizes Flash’s P2P (peer-to-peer) technology. There are no dedicated servers. It makes for a very unique experience that calls on all players to help contribute as pillars to the game.

The Gameplay

HaxBall’s gameplay consists of two functions – the arrow keys to move your player and the X key to kick the ball. If you’d rather switch hands, you can use the WASD keys as directional keys and the spacebar as your kick button. It’s a matter of preference, but both are very primitive and simple. You need no other keys or mouse gestures to play this game.

The objective is to score goals in the opposing team’s net. The maximum number of players, time limit, score limit, and stadium type (the field, basically) are all variables that you can modify by creating your own room. These variables create unique and exciting gameplay scenarios if you’re bored of standardized 3-on-3 games. Up to 22 players can join a room, which includes spectators.

On the following screen, you’re able to choose your stadium. Here is what the more popular Classic stadium looks like:

Here is what the less-popular Hockey stadium looks like:

Stadiums come in various sizes, big and small, with a choice of corner styles, rounded or standard.

Here is the official HaxBall promotional trailer:

Competition & Leagues

For a game so simple, you’d expect competitive play to behave the same. Not entirely. HaxBall has a thriving elitist community who show a huge skill gap between your first-week beginner. Here’s a little montage of higher-skilled players you might like to see:

Personal friends of mine have participated in the league and can’t really say enough about how well everything is handled. Games are streamed to the masses, results are posted on their forums, and they really handle this entire thing as if they’re getting paid for it. Check out some of the top plays from one of their most recent weeks:

The HaxBall Community

HaxBall has players from every continent in the world. It doesn’t matter what nook or cranny you’re living in, there should be a server hosted within 1,000km of your location so that you can maintain a solid ping to play competitively.

HaxballTube

HBT is a YouTube clone filled with awesome HaxBall videos.

HaxBall Australia/NZ

Your hub for all things HaxBall for Australia and New Zealand.

HaxBall.de

HaxBall’s German community, filled with awesome tips and tricks for new and old players.

HaxBall Amateur League

The HaxBall Amateur League is the premiere league for players in Poland.

HaxBall Türkiye

Turkish HaxBall players can organize their leagues and discussions here.

There are many more community sites that you can check out here.

Give HaxBall a try. It doesn’t matter if you’re a casual player or a player looking for a new and interesting, competitive game that can be played from any location. HaxBall has a lot to offer for a game that is so simple. My username in-game is Crayder and maybe you’ll see me around!

The cool thing about Netsoccer is that, unlike other soccer games you may have played either offline or online, you actually control an individual player, not the entire team. This gives the game a feeling like you are actually playing the sport – playing your position and moving around the field just like you would in real life.

Practice Makes Perfect

There isn’t much of a learning curve in this game.  The only control required is the mouse. However, it does take a little bit of practice to get used to, so to get started, click on the “Play” dropdown list and choose the “Free Practise” option.

All you have to do to control your player is place the cursor some distance away in the direction that you want to run. The further away you lead the cursor, the faster your player will run. As you approach the goal or another player and you want to kick, just tap the mouse.

The practice session pits your character against a goalie. So take a running start, and when you get within a comfortable distance, put the cursor where you want to kick and click the right mouse button. If you’ve aimed right and are running at a good speed, you may very well make a goal!

When you’re done playing and you want to step it up a bit, click on the “Play” dropdown again and choose either Training, Team Matches or Challenge.

How Gameplay Works

If you haven’t been invited to one of the password protected games, then you’ll have to choose from one of the other open servers that have active players.

Once you join the server and you’re in the game, it’ll look like the screenshot below. You’re automatically placed on one of the teams, and you can see the individual player names just above the image of their character. These are real people that are playing the game alongside you – it’s a true team simulation!

During the game, you can quickly communicate with your team (or both teams) by using the messaging system at the lower left corner of the screen. Just tap the function key for the communication desired and quickly type out your message. From what I’ve seen, for the most part, the games here are relatively “quiet” and there isn’t a whole lot of trash talk or chatter – although maybe that was just the time of day when I was testing.

At the upper left corner of the screen you’ll see a “HUD” display that shows all player positions on the field. The dots representing the players are color-coded for each team, so this is a good area to glance at when you’re coming up with a strategy to get through the field. Look for a good opening and then either race your way through or pass to an open team member.

Back at the main menu, by clicking on the “Stats” dropdown box, you can choose from one of several statistics displays to view. Take a look at your own profile and determine where you stand, or take a look at team standings and player standings across the entire network.

When you click on your own player name, you can also configure the appearance of your character. Unlike other team soccer games out there like Ggoal, the graphics on this particular game are actually pretty decent. They are clear enough so that you may want to take advantage of the character configuration feature to make the player look more like you.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the overall team and player standings, because you never know when your name may appear on the list! All it takes is a bit of practice and joining up with a team where you can really help out with your skills.

Of course, like any sport, the most important thing is to practice enough so that people actually want you on their team. The controls are simple enough to understand so that you can really focus more on strategy and how you place yourself and move on the field.

So give Soccer 2 a try and see if it quenches your thirst for all things soccer or football. Let us know what you think of the game, what your favorite features are, and whether there are any shortcomings. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credit : Sam

Fear not! There is always a new season looming and you still have time to get in on the college bowl game action as well as the NFL playoffs, March Madness, and baseball season coming up.

Playing fantasy sports online is a great way to follow your favorite sports throughout the season. You can compete against your friends, family members, coworkers, or even strangers in a fun, point-based statistical environment.

Because of its popularity, there is no shortage of fantasy sports-related websites. In this article, we are going to explore some of the best free websites for participating in fantasy sports online. These resources are all you will need to get in the game and dominate your competition.

Getting In The Game – Places To Play

Let’s start off with the best places to play fantasy sports online. There are a lot of options out there, but if you’re just starting out you can’t beat these free options. These are in no particular order.

ESPN

When doing anything sports-related, it is hard to pass on the self-proclaimed “˜worldwide leader in sports’. The juggernaut that is ESPN offers a wide array of fantasy games, including football, baseball, basketball, hockey, stock car, uber (whatever that is), soccer, and even fishing.

The site has everything you could think of and league settings are very customizable. It is a great place to start your league and should only get better as the years pass.

CBS Sports

CBS Sports, which is my personal favorite, is another great place to play fantasy sports. They carry all of the major sports and the site is very easy to navigate. Its simplistic design and rich set of features are what sets it apart and make it one of the best places to host your league(s) on the web.

Yahoo!

Yahoo! presents a lot of options and is perhaps the most customizable of the bunch. They offer a multitude of sports as well and their website is a very easy way to set up all of your teams/leagues.

Stay Up To Date With Fantasy News

Okay, so you finally have your league set up. Now what? Well, during the season you are going to have a lot to keep track of in the form of trades, injuries, records, and statistics. This can be a bit daunting at first, especially if you are in multiple leagues. The above sites all offer news on your players and teams, but there are a lot of websites that specialize in bringing you the best fantasy information. Here are a few of the best:

Fanhouse

Fanhouse is one of the top sports blogs and they carry lots of great fantasy-relevant information. They keep their fantasy page up-to-date with all of the latest news and are a partner with Sports Illustrated.

Roto World

Roto World is another great place to find news. They claim to be “˜America’s #1 source for Fantasy Sports News’, and they have a LOT of information available for you. They have pages for player news, headlines, injuries, transactions, etc. You can even read stories from your teams’ local newspapers.

Blogtalkradio ““ The Fantasy Sports Channel

If you prefer to listen to your fantasy news you might want to try Blogtalkradio. The site offers podcasts that run throughout the week and has more than 50 shows in all.

Do I Need Anything Else?

So by now you should have your fantasy leagues up and running. After you have the bare essentials, it is key to find resources you can utilize to dominate your competition and win a few championships. Out of the broad collection of cool fantasy websites out there I have come across a few resources/apps that will help you if you are still looking for something more.

Dmoz ““ Fantasy Sports

The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.

Aside from being useful for other purposes, dmoz has a huge amount of fantasy sports resources, 506 as of the writing of this post. All of that information WILL keep you busy.

PickEmFirst

PickEmFirst is a really neat Firefox extension that acts as your personal “˜Fantasy Sports Assistant’. It allows you to input information about your fantasy teams and it will check the availability of players in such leagues while you browse the web. If players become available, Pickemfirst will direct you to your fantasy site (CBS, ESPN, or Yahoo!) so you can add them to your team. This is very useful if you are in multiple leagues on multiple sites.

LeagueSafe

If you are playing fantasy sports with your friends and have decided you want to play for money then LeagueSafe is for you. Fantasy commissioners and owners can sign up for free and manage league finances with LeagueSafe. It eliminates the hassle of managing league entry fees and payouts by automating the entire process. League funds are held safely in an FDIC-insured account.

You should now possess all of the knowledge and power necessary to become a fantasy sports guru. Do you already play fantasy sports online? If so, what are some of your favorite resources? Please leave your comments, ideas, and opinions below.

And then there’s the rest of us. The ones who know the feeling of landing a perfect shot, adrenaline running through your veins and the joy of ultimate exhaustion.

Save the exhaustion, these are the things we’re looking at today. The joy of football – without even leaving your comfy seat!

Some time ago, we talked about the 2 best, free online soccer games. That list, although still very enjoyable, is now sadly outdated.

We’ve got a new football game for you today, and it’s called Football Superstars.

Football Superstars

Football Superstars is the first ever truly virtual football world. You can not only play football over the net with other people, but also enjoy life as famous football players do – go to bars and restaurants, and even give interviews to aspiring journalists.

This game doesn’t stop after the match is played, but is an extending virtual superstar experience that will only stop when you see fit.

Play as an Individual

In most on- or offline football games, you play with the whole team. You flick between your different Ronaldo’s and give passes to yourself. Until now, multiplayer football games often just meant that you were playing against the team of another player.

Not in Football Superstars, though. In this game, you play as an individual player, or superstar, if you’re lucky. This means that when playing a proper match, you’ll be playing with ten and against eleven other players from all over the world. The word ‘team’ gets its meaning back and the game has just gotten an awful lot bigger.

In Football Superstars, you can also join ‘real teams’, similar to the guilds of the MMO world. You’ll have your own emblem and a fixed player composition, so you’ll be more familiar and better adjusted to the people you’re playing with. That, and you can make a name for yourself.

Of course, if you can’t find 22 (decent) players to set up a match, you don’t need to box up. Games can be played with a minimum of 3 versus 3 players.

Live the Life

But playing (and of course, winning) in football matches is only half of the deal in Football Superstars. A ‘virtual football world’, in this game, means you get to live the life as well.

The game hosts plenty of commodities to entertain you while you aren’t doing the foot-to-ball thing. Team up with your fellow players after ‘work’ and go have a drink at the pub, or a bite at the nearby restaurant. The world covers plenty of places to keep you entertained.

By participating in these events, you can work on your fame level. A higher fame level will get you better football positions, a better paycheck, and so on.

And a famous football player, of course, can’t head out without the right equipment. Throughout the map, there are a number of shops, including a virtual Puma shop. Here you can buy new sporting equipment, like shoes and training vests.

There are also other shops where you can buy regular clothing (male and female), to style your character the comfy style.

All these things are bought with the ingame FSD or FSB currency. They can be earned by playing games for your football team. The size of your paycheck depends on a number of factors, like fame, skill and position.

Managing a Team

Managing, coaching and Captain positions are also available for premium members.

These allow the player to experience a football management game, but on a whole new level. Buy in real players, and do play them out against each other. When managing in Football Superstars, you get to look past the numbers and have a live example of your team.

What do you think? Best game ever, or only mediocre quality? Do you know of any other similar games? Do tell us all about it in the comments below.

However, these people forget the real reason of sports – not keeping fit, but having fun. Sports should be enjoyed before anything else, showing off your skill and competing with others.

Another great advantage is that there’s no need for any clothes to play a game on your computer.

There are many great free video games available (i.e. racing games, fps games, online shooters etc.), amongst them more than a few sports games. We’ll be looking at the best of those today. More precisely, best online socer games.

I hope you’ll discover something new for you today, something fun to play, something worth remembering.

Soccer

Soccer, or football to some, is one of the most popular sports in the world, so it’s no wonder that there are tons of games to go by – when we are looking at the all time classics like FIFA and PES, we’re really just scraping at the top of the mountain – but how about their free counterparts?

There are two online soccer games that we’ll look into, both astray from the traditional.

Goal Or No Goal!

Goal Or No Goal! – GONG! for friends – is an online cartoony soccer game. The game sets a very light tone and offers a lot of online fun with friends or strangers alike.

The game is played on a wide variety of maps, all of them based on real-life places. The maps include both realistic football courts as more fantasy-themed environments. Each place goes with its own specific rules for the match, which keep things fresh and interesting.

Your chibi-avatar is fully customizable, ranging from physical characteristics to clothes. Additional items can also be earned while playing the game.

In short, this cartoony soccer game, can offer you tons of fun online. The wide array of maps, varying moves and character customisation possibilities makes that you won’t lose interest soon.

KICKS Street Football

This game is, just like GONG, a Massive Multiplayer Online soccer game – however, not quite the same.

This game, which has built a fanbase of over 300,000 players in the past three years, focuses on street football.

In general, street football is thought of as a more supple game of soccer, which doesn’t require all the rules and standard conditions of a real soccer game. However, that isn’t always true. To win a game of street soccer, there are a few things that need to be heavily extorted if you want to win the game.

Tactics, for one, play a huge role. Only through proper coordination and cooperation – action and reaction – a match can be won. Hence, there’s also more than heavy accent on strong, solid teamwork.

KICKS is a very detailed game, which might take some time to master, but has enough depth to make it worth the while.

If you know of any other free online soccer games, let us know about them in the comments.