When I booted up the demo for Nutmeg!, I was instantly interested. Not only does it look fantastic, it has plenty of cool systems that all work well together. The tell of a great deckbuilder is how it holds your intention and keeps you invested. I was dropped into helping a struggling Blackburn Rovers in the early 90s, less than five years before they became Premier League champions in the 94-95 season. There’s a lot to take in, but once you’ve got a grasp on your various roles and how the matches play out, Nutmeg! is so addictive.
The nostalgia is in every facet of Nutmeg! The sticker album where you sign coaches, accountants, and marketers; the television with updates via teletext; a chunky mobile phone with an antenna. Everything reminded me of a simpler time when football wasn’t tarnished by millions of pounds. There’re various jobs you have when not playing matches. Each one helps to improve your team and the foundation behind the club; thankfully, everything is pretty easy to understand after the initial tutorial info dump.
The sticker album lets you sell merchandise and hire various personnel for your club. New coaches allow you to focus on single players to improve their skills. It also allows you to check your own team out as well as sign new players to improve your squad. When signing players, bonuses, better wages, and a guarantee of personal training and first-team football improve the odds of signing. When I got Gary Pallister to join my defense, it definitely improved the back four.
Phoning various members of the club like the board and the marketing team provides insight and help. Checking teletext lets you know about other matches, as well as cultural highlights during that specific year. I was informed about the Miami Twice episodes of Only Fools and Horses, as well as the sad passing of Freddie Mercury. It helps to immerse you in the era of when you’re playing, and adds a nice touch to proceedings. Everything takes place at your desk, and two of the key features are training and match preparation.
Training lets you use your coaches to focus on key areas of your team through the cards you can select during matches. Specific skill training can be offered to individual players as well. This helps to improve matchday performance when diving into the bread and butter of Nutmeg! gameplay. During each month, teams participate in around five matches. Most of which are simulated, but you can choose one to be on live television that gives you extra funds. It is also where you actually get to play through the matches.
I’ll try to explain in the simplest of terms. There’re tons of variables and opportunities, but the fundamentals see you pick cards from your deck and increase the probability of certain actions. Each run is split between ‘us’ and ‘them’. The clock switches to important moments of the game. When it is them in control, you can drop a defensive card to increase the percentage of a successful tackle or a shot save. If you’re on the break, picking cards can allow you to make a long ball, cross, and even a shot higher in probability.
It can be a little confusing at first. Learning about stacking cards for a better success rate and additional perks; managing stamina to not affect performance; making that important substitute at the right time; and not throwing away important moments in the game because you’ve used all your key cards to early. As I said, there’s a lot to get used to and understand. However, the tutorial is always available. I found I learned as I went and simply by playing. It became highly addictive and a lot of fun.
When Nutmeg! releases in full, I will be diving in with both feet. The matches can be difficult to get used to, but it doesn’t take long until you’ve grasped the fundamentals. From there, everything falls into place. All the additional tasks like transfers, merch, stadium improvements, and more will be fun when playing a full career. For now, I got a pretty good idea for what to expect. Old school football fans will love the aesthetic and layout. Strategy fans will love the way it’s mechanics have been crafted. All in all, this could be a real hit on release.
Nutmeg! is coming to PC on March 26th.
