Ice League Hockey

I feel like this game has better attention to details for a dynasty-style gameplay than others you’ll find on the App Store. Sadly, the gameplay mechanics are just…bad. I feel like there were times when my players would automatically perform actions that I would then override by simultaneously tapping trying to perform said action. For example, they would take away the puck from the CPU automatically as I would tap to try and do so, which would result in my player immediately passing the puck away down the ice. I felt like this was inconsistent too, so I never was able to get the hang of timing actions (especially on defense). The passing mechanic is also impossible to manage, and playing on any difficulty above Rookie makes it impossible to actually move the puck around the CPU and get decent shots off. I never seemed to target any players that I wanted, and when I would the game would swap to another player at the last second who wasn’t remotely open. I ultimately deleted this app because I felt like any games I won were because of totally lucky shots that I got on breakaway opportunities. I played a total of five games.

I’ve played pretty much all of the popular retro sports games, and none come close to the depth available in this. The trade system is the only truly fleshed out one I have seen in this genre, with practically as much freedom as you would expect from a AAA sports game; the contract system is well done; players have more attributes than many similar games and tons of archetypes. I do not consider myself a hockey fan, even some of the terminology was new to me, but this game is just made with so much care that it sucked me in. The gameplay itself is not perfect — other players on your team mostly just stand around when you have the puck, I think the mechanic of aiming your shot could be improved (like increasing the length of the arrow for players with a better shooting rating), and I think there are way too many options to use coins on in the Staff page, especially with how expensive each of them are (a full season’s worth of coins will afford you a little rest). I also think adding in small random elements that affect players’ mood would add a lot to the game. Overall, though, it is clear that this game is much, much closer to being perfect than any other retro sports game right now. All of the suggestions I have would only add more polish than anything — there is nothing that I feel like is truly missing from the game.

This game is actually really fun. The gameplay is fun and fast paced. The controls are easy to learn and I strongly recommend the touch controls. The game is very well put together and the interface is great. However, something’s could be added or changed. I think there should be some instruction on faceoffs and fighting as those are not in the tutorial. I also think there should be a guide taking us through season mode as some things are confusing and you have to figure it out. Something else that needs to be changed is penalties, specifically tripping. Sometimes I will be skating down the ice and a random tripping call will be happen. I think that tripping should only be allowed to happen from stick checks. Also, there is just too much fighting and therefore 4v4’s, unlike real life. Overall Ice League Hockey is a very good game and I look forward to what they bring in the future. Thank you.