Strategy

Penalty Bluff with friends

The computer learns your habits, but a friend knows them already. Here is how to run a fair match on one phone or two, which house rules to try, how to turn an evening into a small tournament, and how to film it.

Updated 6 November 2026 · 5 min read

One phone: taking turns

Tap Two players on the home screen, enter both names, choose the rules and tap Kick off. A coin toss decides who shoots first. On each kick one player picks a zone and confirms with Shoot! or Dive!. A "Pass the phone" screen then covers everything with the next player's name on it, and stays there until that player taps It's me. Both picks are revealed together once the second player has chosen.

The game does its part: picking a zone or a trick makes no sound, only a short vibration, so nobody can hear where you went. The phone also stays with whoever picked last, so that player starts the next kick and nobody has to pass it back. The rest is up to you:

• Look away properly. Turn your head, or turn round. A finger near the left edge of the screen gives as much away as a peek.
• Wait until they look away. If the other player is still watching, don't touch the screen.
• Hand over on the cover screen. Pass the phone while "Pass the phone" is showing, and let the next player tap It's me themselves.
• Talk is fine, peeking isn't. "I'm going left, honestly" is part of the game. Looking at the screen is not.
• Want total silence? Every tap gives the same short buzz, but if you'd rather nobody counted your taps, switch Vibration off in Settings.

Matches on one phone pay coins and XP to the phone owner's profile, and they don't feed the computer's picture of how you play, so a friend's habits won't muddle your career rivals.

Two phones: online rooms

When you are not in the same room, or you just want a phone each, open Online, type your name and choose Play a friend. The game creates a room with a six-character code made of letters and digits. Tap Copy the invite and send it however you like. The link opens straight in a web browser, so your friend doesn't need to install anything. Your friend can also open Online, choose Join by code and type the code. The match starts as soon as you are both in.

Online rooms always use the standard rules: Classic three zones, a shootout of five, tricks on. Each pick has a clock of about ten seconds that keeps running if you pause. If it runs out, the server picks a random zone for you, and three missed picks in a row count as a defeat. For a rematch you both tap Rematch, and the other player shoots first. A code stops working about an hour after the room goes quiet. There is more in online play.

House rules

On one phone you choose the rules yourselves: Zones (Classic 3 or Pro 5), Format (a shootout of 5 or 3 kicks, or first to 3, 5 or 10 goals) and Tricks on or off. The formats section of How to play explains each one. Some combinations that work well:

Pro mode changes the feel more than you might expect. With five zones a keeper who simply guesses saves one kick in five instead of one in three, so goals come easily and every save feels huge. The long reach then covers two zones out of five, not two out of three; the tricks guide covers when to spend it.

A small tournament

Every match is one against one, so a group needs a format. Three that work:

• Round robin, three or four players. Everyone plays everyone once. That is three matches for three players and six for four. A win is worth a point. If two players finish level, their head-to-head result decides it.
• Knockout, four or eight players. Draw the pairings, play semi-finals, then a final. Shootout 3 keeps things moving; make the final a shootout of five.
• Winner stays on. The winner keeps the phone and the next challenger steps up. Short formats keep the queue moving; note the longest winning run.

Write the results on paper as you go. Swap seats between matches, so nobody spends the evening where a mirror or a dark window reflects the screen.

Filming a match

Penalty Bluff is made to be filmed. Before you start, open Settings and turn on Clean frame for filming. It hides the hints and buttons around the goal so the shot shows only the scene and the score. With the clean frame on, you tap a zone once to choose it and tap it again to lock it in. Leave Slow-motion reveal on: the last moment of the ball's flight is the shot you want.

• Hold the phone upright. The game is designed for a vertical screen, which suits short-video formats.
• Film the faces as well as the screen. The reaction to the reveal is the best part. A second phone pointed at the players does the job.
• Use the result card. After the match, tap Share for a card with the final score and a row of goals and saves for each player. It makes a tidy last frame for the clip.
• Ask first. Check that everyone in the shot is happy to be filmed, and happy for the clip to be posted.

Forfeits for the loser

A small forfeit makes a match feel bigger. Keep it silly and harmless. Some ideas:

1. Commentate the next match in your best radio voice.
2. Read out a three-sentence match report in praise of the winner.
3. Act out the winning goal in slow motion, standing up.
4. Wear a paper captain's armband until you win a match.
5. Make the next round of tea, squash or hot chocolate.
6. Let the winner choose the next house rules, or the music.
7. Explain out loud how you think you got read. It is often the funniest forfeit and the most useful.
8. Learn the winner's goal celebration and perform it after your next goal.