Hello! I have been doing these gaming posts for a while, introducing some of the games and projects I believe in or am playing. We've had Astral Entities, Rising Star, Hashkings, BANG! Defense.. Quite a lot of stuff. All that with some Skyweaver and Splinterlands posts weaved in every now and then (although I had to stop with Skyweaver due to technical difficulties). While I liked all these projects and found them fun to follow, with amazing communities around them, the one I will be talking about here is something more to me.
I will preface this by saying that I haven't yet played the game properly - this is a first impression post where I want to share some of my excitement of beginning my journey. The game in question is Rabona and the reason it is special to me is that I am a huge fan of football (or as they wrongly call it here and there - soccer) and management games in general. This means I get to play a game that is set in a world that is very close to me and I am passionate about - I hope I'll love it!
Oh, one disclaimer before I start - all of this is based on the regular Rabona version, as the Beta V2 is not working very well for me for some reason - I will certainly write an update once that one works better, as it definitely looks prettier!
What Is Rabona?
As said before, Rabona is a football management game that lets you take care of every aspect of running a team - except you get more power than anyone in the real world could ever hope for. Not only do you get to choose the squad and train it, you're not just a coach or a team manager. You are everything! From an owner and president, through a board of directors and a sporting director, all the way to a coach!
For me, this is really exciting as you get to blend multiple aspects of managing a club. It also means that the game isn't just for football fans but data and stats freaks in general! I personally love the fact I can set up my ticket prices and see how that affects the amount of supporters who decide to show up during home games - isn't it just amazing?
As for the real deal and the money.. Don't expect to make it big for now! It is a game to be played for fun and that warning even comes up. Over a few months you can probably start being profitable and make a few good bucks each week, but that's not yet the focus of the game. To start playing, you will also need to pay the equivalent of $10 in HIVE - not too expensive and if you play it smart, you'll get it back soon enough!
The main token of the game is RBN and the game also has a PEG.HIVE token which you can trade with RBN and then get in or out of the game as you please, which is how you can take your profits!
Here's a screenshot of the market of RBN and PEG.HIVE.
First Impressions
The first impression for me was a little overwhelming - the game is in closed beta and obviously looking the sleekest isn't so crucial, but between all the small icons, tons of numbers and the fairly rough visuals of the game, it can feel like a lot - first instinct was to look for any kind of help.
Luckily for Rabona, the resources they have are extremely helpful and friendly and they explain the first steps simply enough that I got hooked. There are tasks that you can complete for some extra RBN, which also let you get a feel for the game: it gets you to upgrade some of your facilities, train your team (which also makes you look at your team and understand all the stats), scout and sign a player and so on. Because of the small extra RBN that you get for completing each of the tasks, you can spend the money on upgrades and even scouting a single player without really losing anything - a great way in!
That is the team I was given + the player I scouted to finish the tasks. Even though I paid only net 10k RBN after taking into consideration the task bonuses, the scouted player was not exactly a rising star. That is to be expected when your Youth Academy is non-existent, of course - but Ruben Rivas really isn't cutting it, even next to the free players I received randomly.
I have followed pretty much every step in the official Rabona guide (except naming my team, I can't come up with a good one for now it seems) - not sure if it's a great thing, but it sure gave me a nice insight into the basics of the game, making me excited to see what happens during my first season! I ended up joining the game right after a season has started, so I have a whole 6 days to train my team and upgrade my facilities until I get to see my team play (and likely give me some grey hairs) in a real league.
My only problem with the game so far is that in the guide, I am told I should shoot for players in the lowest possible salary range - 400 to 500 maybe. When I go to the market or free signings, however, every player is at least 1k RBN. This would mean I should be scouting only.. although I also read the salary that free agents want goes down over time.
Here's a snippet of the guide!
So far, following the guide, I have started to upgrade the stadium and catering capacity, as well as the hotel. It is quite difficult to gauge what is going to happen to my club financially, as I am playing it sort of dry, waiting for the season to start - hopefully I can prepare in the best possible way! For now the plan is to have a 13-14 player squad to be ready for any injuries and card suspensions, while also constantly training these players, so I don't have to randomly get a new signing whenever something bad happens.
Closing Words
Overall, I am really excited to be playing Rabona. With the game still being in beta, I am hoping for improvements to be made, as I can tell it is still a little rough around the edges - but my first impression is still very positive: there is a clear guide, the seemingly overwhelming amount of stats and icons becomes manageable extremely quick. If you are a football fan, you should certainly give it a try - it is not expensive to get into and it really gives me the same feeling old browser manager games like Freekick or Hattrick gave.
All images are screenshots from Beta V1 of Rabona.
Since it's a gaming-related post, here is a bunch of referral links of mine - if you're not playing any of the games I've written about, give them a try! I wouldn't write about bad games.. well, not without saying they're bad anyway. So, here they are:
RABONA - Join the football management game through my referral link to receive a small RBN bonus!
RISING STAR - Here's the referral link to Rising Star. Start your way to mega stardom now!
SPLINTERLANDS - Splinterlands is the poster child of the HIVE blockchain. Join now through my referral link to get a few cards from me!