How to play
Tap to shoot when the ball lines up. Score as many of 5 penalties as you can.
About Penalty Shootout
Penalty Shootout gives you five kicks from the spot and one goalkeeper to beat. There is no build-up play, no team mates and no excuses. The ball slides back and forth, you pick your moment, and the keeper dives. Five times.
How to play
A white ball moves steadily from side to side below the goal. That is your aim. Wherever the ball is when you tap or click, that is where your shot goes. It sweeps from one post to the other and back again in about two seconds, so every part of the goal comes round regularly.
The moment you shoot, the yellow keeper throws himself to one side or the other, or stays near the middle. If he ends up close to your shot, it is saved. If not, it is a goal. The result flashes up, there is a short pause, and the aim starts moving again for your next kick.
After five penalties the game shows your final tally out of five. Tap to start a new shootout.
Where should you aim?
Your shot is always on target. You cannot blaze it over the bar or drag it wide, so there is no risk in going for the corners. That matters, because of how the keeper works.
He does not watch your aim. He picks a spot somewhere along the goal line at random, and he covers a certain width either side of it. If you shoot down the middle, he can reach you from positions on both sides. If you shoot right by a post, he can only get there from one side, because he cannot stand outside the goal. So a shot tucked inside the post is saved less often than one down the centre.
The difference is not enormous, but over many shootouts it adds up. Corners are the percentage play, just as they are on a real pitch.
Timing the tap
The aim does not move at a constant speed. It slows down as it nears each post, turns round and speeds up again through the middle. That is helpful. The ball lingers near the corners, which gives you a longer window to hit them, and it rushes through the centre, where you do not want to shoot anyway.
Watch one full sweep before your first kick to get the rhythm. Then tap just as the ball is easing towards a post. If you wait until it has stopped, your tap may land as it starts back the other way.
Luck, and how to live with it
Because the keeper guesses, a perfectly placed shot is sometimes saved and a poor one sometimes goes in. Real penalties are like that too. Over five kicks, three or four goals is a normal result. Five out of five is a small triumph and worth a second attempt to prove it was not a fluke.
Good for a quick contest
A whole shootout takes about fifteen seconds, which makes it ideal for settling arguments. Take turns with a friend, best of three shootouts, and keep score on paper. Or play it properly: one kick each, alternately, first to miss loses.
Penalty Shootout runs free in your browser on phones, tablets and computers. There is no download and nothing to sign up for.