Puckoff: Reloaded is now available on Xbox Series X|S, offering a different take on hockey in which scoring goals is only one way to win. Developed by a five-person team from Finland, the game draws inspiration from the frozen ponds where its creators grew up playing.
Matches can include scoring, assists and precise passing, but also brutal fights and takedowns. Fighting is integrated into the sport and the game’s underground culture rather than treated as a separate activity, creating a chaotic style of play built around experimentation and unexpected moments.
The game also puts storytelling at the center of its structure. Between matches, a visual-novel-inspired presentation develops a broader journey filled with characters, rivalries, friendships and mysteries. The hockey games are presented as part of that story rather than as isolated challenges.
The main objective is to find Dominator, an underground hockey legend who has played for decades and is said never to have lost a game. The player character hopes to track him down and eventually play alongside him, but reaching that goal requires meeting the people in this hidden hockey world and proving their worth.
Some of the toughest encounters take place in the Cage. These boss matches differ from standard games because each opponent has a distinct identity, abilities and approach to play. Players must overcome these characters to move closer to Dominator.
Kuura Playhouse Oy describes Puckoff: Reloaded as the beginning of a broader ambition to create story-driven hockey games in which players remember the characters as much as the matches. The studio says the project grew from childhood memories of outdoor hockey and combines those memories with an exaggerated amount of fighting and an ongoing narrative.
Sources: Xbox Wire.