HEADMASTER
Cech it out
You’re not very good at football. Not you specifically, dear reader, just the unfortunate new student at the Football Improvement Centre. 1 You’ve been sent there because your inability to head footballs into nets needs fixing, and that’s done via a mix of skill games that involve MDF keepers, bombs and portaloos. All you need to do is swing your noggin in the direction of a flying ball and make it land in the onion bag. Think that’s simple? Ha!
Developer Frame Interactive does an ace job of keeping levels fresh. Early stages have you simply aiming at score targets, while later ones put you on a plinth high in the air, demanding you bullet your headers at drones or ’celebrate’ passing an exam by breaking a piñata.
Just don’t mistake it for easy; there’s a constant challenge that’s pushed a little too far towards the end, where levels require the sort of accuracy that you’ll struggle to achieve consistently. Headmaster’s other problem is the physicality of your actions. While motion sickness is non-existent, the constant swaying means sweat will start pouring. 2 Despite a recommendation to play while sitting, it’s easier and comfier to stand.
Yet even when you hit a wall on certain levels, it’s easy to stick with it through all the teeth-grinding due to witty dialogue and intelligent world-building. This is a footy game that begins with you coming face-toface with a crash test dummy called Robert and only gets weirder, proving to have more personality than you expect. A game that could only work in VR (even if the unique setup is also the cause of its drawbacks), Headmaster’s a fun skill puzzler that just about achieves its potential. Ben Tyrer