A masterclass in action design, Despelote delivers an unforgettable experience from start to finish.
92
Verdict
95%
Steam
—
IGDB
Verdict score based on confidence-adjusted Steam reviews?
Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (95% positive from 902 reviews)
Compelling narrative and story
Rich open world to explore
Limited professional critic coverage
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.
Runs well on modern hardware.
Last updated 7d ago
Wanted to love this game so much and it has amazing ambiance, art direction, and concept, but just didn't land for me. The gameplay felt unreal and unnatural - felt clunky, but not in a "service to the game" way. The storytelling was compelling, but disjointed - I felt like I was being shuttled from vignette to vignette, but without a sense of place (not just from the graphics, but from the storytelling). I think this game would be amazing to many folks (and hugely respect its intention), but couldn't get to the hour mark myself.
This game is to love and then to learn to let go. You don't get to keep all of it, just fragments.
Despelote is a very sweet experience, and I am happy that something like this got the support necessary to be made.
Reviews sourced from Steam. All reviews belong to their respective authors.
Data sourced from RAWG, Steam, IGDB, CheapShark, Wikipedia, HLTB, and GX Corner. Sources: rawg, steam, cheapshark, igdb, wikipedia.
All game titles, trademarks, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
