Melding the intensity of a hard-fought soccer game with chess-like positional play and the drama of an uncertain die roll, this German-designed board game finds that perfect balance of being easy to learn yet hard to master...

StratoFootball, or Brettfußball as it's known in its native Germany, is played on a rectangular soccer pitch that's been divided into squares. Both players field a team of 11 players and begin each turn with the roll of a die. That die roll determines how far you can kick the ball or move one of your 11 players. Like the rook in chess, all moves are in a straight line. If your opponent has the ball, you can land on that space with an exact die roll to apply pressure and force him to kick it away on his next turn.

With those simple rules and a few extras to capture the specifics of kick-offs, throw-ins, and other details of the sport, designer Walter Müller has invented a classic soccer game whose remarkable strategic depth continues to reward fans today.

Every StratoFootball tactical soccer dice game includes the following:

• 1 game board
• 10 red outfield pawns
• 1 red goalkeeper pawn
• 10 yellow outfield pawns
• 1 yellow goalkeeper pawn
• 1 soccer ball token
• 1 official rulebook (English)

Walter Müller has played many roles in the world of board games - he has been a player, a publisher, a game store owner, an organizer of tournaments, and a teacher of games. But his first role was that of a game designer. He invented StratoFootball at the young age of 15 as World Cup fever swept through his small town of Kempten, Germany in 1974. It was raining outside so instead, he drew a soccer pitch on a piece of paper, made soccer teams out of his father's chess set, added a 10-cent piece for the soccer ball, and began rolling a die to move the little men about.

On that first day in 1974, Walter didn't how deep the tactics and strategy were within his simple game. It was something he and his friends discovered over many years as they crafted their own handmade copies. Before long, a tournament formed among the youth of Kempten, one that continues to this day, and they soon found that those who wanted to reach the championship round needed more than luck on their side.

Strategies developed and, after a decade of play, Walter decided to launch Spielewerkstatt in 1984 to publish the game in its original German. Other games followed, including multiple Spielewerkstatt titles that were nominated for the prestigious Spieles Des Jahres award. A 34-page StratoFootball Tactics booklet was published in 2003, outlining all that Walter had learned in his 30 years of playing the game. An English edition of StratoFootball was launched in 2005 and I'm proud to introduce the game to English-speaking audiences here on Famous Games Co. 

This product ships separately from Germany. Shipping costs will be determined during the checkout process.

• Size: 10.2" x 8.5" x 2.1"
• Weight: 1.1 lbs

StratoFootball Tactics Book (English)
[PDF - 2.22Mb]