Golden Touch: Ball Juggling

A ball drops out of the floodlights. There is nothing between it and the grass except your thumb.

Golden Touch is one-handed keepy-uppy. Tap where the ball is coming down, hold to load power, and let it land on the boot. Every touch is a point. Drop it once and the run is over — one run, one number.

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◆◆◆ THE GOLDEN TOUCH ◆◆◆

A gold band runs across the middle of the boot. Catch the ball on it and you get a Perfect: two points instead of one, and the ball goes almost straight back up. Catch it on the edge and it flies sideways — there are no walls out there, and the touchline is the end of your run.

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◆◆◆ THE STREAK AND THE RINGS ◆◆◆

Three Perfects back to back and the ball turns gold. Three, six, ten in a row: every rung puts another point on what a Perfect is worth, up to five. Miss the middle once and it goes out.

From five points on, gold rings hang above the boot and sink while you play. Put the ball through one and that is three points — the most any single touch is worth.

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TWO WAYS TO PLAY
– Classic: a still pitch, a ball, and how long you can keep it up
– On the Run: the same juggling with the pitch running underneath you, counting the metres as you go

WHAT MAKES IT HARD
– Gravity climbs as your score does
– Past 20 points the wind picks up and pushes the ball across the pitch
– Every kick you load is a kick you have to time

BUILT TO BE PICKED UP
– One thumb, portrait, no tutorial to sit through
– No timers, no lives, no waiting between runs
– Your best score is kept, and there is a worldwide leaderboard
– Sound and vibration off in a tap

SOMETHING TO COME BACK FOR
– Three missions a day: a score, a count of Perfects, a golden streak, rings, touches
– None of them tied to a mode, so play the one you like
– A run of days that forgives one missed day

Keep it in the air.