Overview
The game
Poly Strike is a football game played by robots, where your level depends on no hidden statistic. You steer the torso with WASD and command each leg with the mouse. The power and direction of the ball come out of no prior calculation: they depend on the angle and force of the impact, and on nothing else.
Total coordination
The principle rests on a split. The body moves on one side, the limbs fire on the other. You steer the torso with WASD while commanding each leg independently, one mouse command per leg.
The constraint that gives the game its shape is that you cannot fire both legs at once. Running, dribbling or stringing moves together means alternating the rhythm yourself — closer to learning a machine than to pressing a button. The game calls this the "single nerve" system.
No automatic statistics
There is no "shot power" or "accuracy" value deciding for you. The ball’s trajectory is computed from the real position of the shin and foot at the moment of contact.
The consequence is direct: two players with the same robot do not shoot alike, and improving means acquiring genuine command of the gesture rather than unlocking an attribute.
Three pillars
- Absolute fluidity
- No fouls, no falls, no pointless stoppages. The robot stays on its feet and the action does not break.
- Rules rewritten
- A dynamic offside that rewards attacking, and an automatic throw-in in 5v5 so the rhythm never drops.
- Asymmetric roles
- The field player has everything in the legs; the goalkeeper is the only character with articulated arms, and sacrifices leg mobility for it.
Two pitches
5v5 is fast and urban: the pitch has boundaries but no walls, and if the ball goes out players have two seconds to fetch it before it is thrown back automatically.
11v11 is tactical: throw-ins are taken with the foot, futsal style, and ties are settled on penalties.
Where and when
Poly Strike is a multiplayer PC game. It is developed by Axperia Studio, is not out yet, and no date has been announced. The Steam wishlist will be the most reliable way to hear about the launch.
Not to be confused with two other games with a similar name, both of them shooters: POLYSTRIKE, a 5v5 tactical top-down shooter, and Poly Strike: Gun Shooting Game, a mobile FPS. No connection with either.