Despelote

Initially I didn't think reviewing this game made sense, because the experience I had with it was produced by my very specific life experiences and how they relate and don't relate to the story of this game. But now i think, that is precisely what this game is about. despelote's trick, is that it's very good at immersing you in it's story and leverages that to make you think about your own story. The story itself is rather mundane and very specific to one person. But the way it simply pulls you in and makes you consider it's story, and more importantly, it's scenarios, it triggers something else. It doesn't matter how much you relate to the story or not, but in the exercise of analyzing which parts you do or do not relate to, you inevitably have to dust off those memories. That trip down memory lane is what despelote is about. At least, that's what my experience was. And I can imagine that's what it could be for other people. Is despelote fun? It wasn't for me, those memories aren't happy. Am I glad I played it? Absolutely. There is no point in me explaining why, because the reasons are unlikely to apply to you, reader. I don't say that to be pretentious or to frame myself as special. I say it because I honestly think the experience is very individual.

I learned of "Despelote" from the 2025 Game Awards which I remember noticing its' cover photo with kids kicking a football. And for me almost anything I see with football peaks my interest. The only thing I knew about the game going in was that it followed Ecuador qualifying for the 2002 World Cup so playing this right after the 2026 World Cup concluded felt right. Julian Codero does a fantastic job of telling a story of a memory he barely remembers but one he wishes he could which is very relatable for me. As an Italian-American who was just 7 when Italy won the 2006 World Cup there's nothing more that I wish I could remember as much as I wish I could remember that game and the moments of my family and my neighborhood celebrating it. But unfortunately no matter what the only way I'll ever be able to remember it is through stories. So "Despelote" hit really close to home in a way I didn't anticipate it doing. Overall a great short game that I'm going to be recommending to my friends.