⚽️🎮 Bang Average Football
I picked up Bang Average Football from itch.io yesterday (mainly so that other family members can play on their own computers in the future), although the Steam version is the canonical and most regularly updated version. It's super fun even though I'm terrible and hampered by my poorly recognized controllers in the version I have. The latest version may resolve this, but I've since realized that it's a game that must be played with a gamepad with analog controllers for best results. We have a couple of Nintendo Gamecube controllers, so I bought a cheap USB adapter, and we'll see if that will work for my purposes. If not, I'll eventually spring for a couple of newer dedicated USB controllers with analog sticks.
The simple arcade-style gameplay is quite fun and keeps the barrier to entry low. The storyline adds some fun depth and allows you to keep upgrading your player-manager character as you complete various little quests and skill challenges. My first season started rough, had a good patch in the middle, then completely petered out, and I finished last in the league. Switching my character out of defensive midfield to the 8 was probably a mistake. It didn't yield any more offense, and we still gave up a few more goals. I'm hoping to upgrade my squad a bit in the transfer market going into season 2, but I still need to unlock that functionality.