The Game

Pitch is turn-based tactical soccer on a 15×10 grid. Two teams of three — cyan vs orange — face off with 5 action points per turn. Walk, run, shoot, pass, or defend. First to 3 goals wins. Solo against AI (easy / medium / hard) or pass-the-device 2-player.

Actions & Costs

Action	Cost	Effect
Walk	1 move	One cell in any of 8 directions (orthogonal or diagonal). Can carry the ball.
Run	2 moves	Two cells in a straight line (orthogonal or diagonal). Faster than walk but costs double. Can carry the ball.
Shoot	1 move	Ball flies 3–6 cells toward goal with random lateral spread. Can be intercepted by defended cells.
Kick	dist moves	Kick ball to any cell 1-3 away. 1 cell = 1 move, 2 cells = 2 moves, 3 cells = 3 moves. Can be intercepted by opponents on the path.
Defend	1 per square	Protect your cell + adjacent cells (up to 4). Intercepted enemy shots/passes deflect away.
Tackle	Walk/Run cost	Walk or run into an enemy ball carrier's cell. 50% steal, 30% miss, 20% foul (ball scatters). Commentary announces the result.

Turn Flow

1. Select a player (click/tap or Tab)
2. Choose an action (click/tap button or keyboard shortcut)
3. Target a cell (click/tap on grid)
4. Repeat until you've spent your moves
5. Submit — actions animate in sequence
6. Opponent takes their turn
7. First to 3 goals wins · 30-turn limit = draw

Timer

Each turn has a countdown timer that shrinks as the match progresses:

• Turn 1–2: 30 seconds
• Each round: −2 seconds
• Minimum: 15 seconds
• Timeout: auto-submits queued actions, or skips turn if empty

A colored bar at the top of the screen shows time remaining — green → yellow → red.

Undo & Cancel

• Undo (↶ button or Backspace): removes the last queued action and refunds its move cost
• Clear All (↩ button or Escape): clears the entire queue and restores all moves

Actions only commit when you hit Submit. Until then, everything is reversible.

Controls

Mouse / Touch

Action	How
Select player	Tap/click your player on the grid
Choose action	Tap/click action button (Walk, Run, Shoot, Pass, Defend)
Target cell	Tap/click destination cell on grid
Defend count	After selecting Defend, choose 1–4 squares from inline buttons
Undo	↶ button
Clear All	↩ button
Submit	✓ button

Keyboard

Key	Action
WASD / Arrows	Walk selected player one cell
Shift + direction	Run 2 cells (no ball)
Tab	Cycle through teammates
Space	Shoot (if player has ball)
Enter	Submit turn
Backspace	Undo last action
Escape	Clear all actions
M	Toggle mute

Action Previews

When you select an action, valid target cells light up on the grid:

• Walk: adjacent cells glow cyan
• Run: 2-cell destinations glow with a directional arrow
• Shoot: yellow cone shows the 3–6 cell landing zone
• Pass: eligible teammates glow green with pass cost overlaid
• Defend: cells that would be protected glow purple

After queuing actions, ghost markers show projected positions — dashed lines from origin to destination, ghost circles at landing spots, ghost ball at projected location, and a queue counter at the bottom of the field.

Modes

Mode	Details
Solo vs AI	Easy / Medium / Hard. Easy walks only and shoots from close range. Medium adds run + pass. Hard adds defend, longer shoot range, and smarter positioning.
2 Players	Same device. Players alternate turns. Turn indicator shows "PLAYER 1 TURN" / "PLAYER 2 TURN". Timer applies to both.

AI Difficulty

Tier	Smart %	Actions	Shoot Range
Easy	15%	Walk, Shoot	2 rows from goal
Medium	45%	+ Run, Pass	3 rows from goal
Hard	70%	+ Defend	4 rows from goal

Match Rules

• First to 3 goals wins
• 30-turn limit — draw if no winner
• Conceding team kicks off after a goal
• Defended cells persist until that team's next turn starts
• Ball scatters to empty cells on interception (never lands on players or in goals)
• Walk-in goals count (dribble into the opponent's goal to score)

Visual Design

Dark neon aesthetic matching Pulse — black background, glowing green grid lines, color-coded goals (orange tint at top, cyan tint at bottom), player circles with role labels (D/M/F), ball carrier glows brighter. Interceptions trigger a red flash overlay. All audio is procedural via Web Audio API — no audio files.

Design Notes

The game is entirely self-contained — single HTML file, vanilla JavaScript + Canvas, no dependencies, no backend. The redesign from real-time drag-to-play to turn-based grid was driven by the finding that tactical decisions need deliberation, not reflexes. The action-point system creates strategic tension: do you spend all 5 moves advancing one player, or spread them across positioning, passing, and defense?

The shrinking timer prevents analysis paralysis — early turns give you 30 seconds to think, but by turn 8 you're down to 14 seconds, forcing instinctive decisions. The per-action undo lets you experiment with plans without commitment, while Clear All provides an escape hatch for bad plans.

Walk (1 cell for 1 move) and Run (2 cells for 2 moves) both allow carrying the ball — the tactical choice is precision vs speed. A tackle from an opponent strips possession, so running through traffic carries risk.

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▶ Play Pitch

Second release in the Apps & Games monthly series — a new game every month.