(Text) The gist of Rocket League: more than car soccer

**Rocket League is in a free weekend on steam. I wrote this quick script for people who somehow haven't played it yet, but decided not to go ahead and make the actual video. Sorry.**

If Rocket League were just driving cars into a ball, it’d suck. The game has two things that make it fun – one is the rockets. Launch up into the air, point your bum down, hit the rocket boost, and steer towards glorious victory or an embarrassing miss. But aerials are advanced, if you’re new and looking to try it out in the free weekend, the second thing that makes rocket league fun is the kick.

The kick’s fun at all levels, from the high skill ceiling, to the low skill floor. Press the jump button, then while in the air, press jump and a direction and you’ll flip that way with a quick boost of speed. You can punt the ball miles if you hit it just right on the half-volley, you can kick it sideways for a quick sneaky goal, and you can even smack a pass with your bum right into the back of the net.

Your timing and the geometry of the car are really important: you get more power on your shot during the beginning milliseconds of your flip than later on, the hard front bumper hits more powerfully than the soft wheels, and timing it just right you can hit shots in at right angles. You’ll screw it up a bunch too, but when you get it just right it feels amazing – and it’s chasing that satisfaction that’ll have you wanting to improve your skills, leave the floor, and climb towards that ceiling.

Don’t worry, the game has tons of players and great matchmaking, so at the start you’ll be playing against other floor people like yourself. Plus matches are only five minutes long, which is awesome for sneaking some quick gaming into your busy life.