Online league now on iPhone too — plus automatic iCloud backup

KICKER is now a real iPhone game: you found, join and manage online leagues right on your phone — the entire league form is built for iPhone. And so your rise to the top is never lost, the app now backs your savegame up to iCloud automatically and restores it on any of your devices with a single tap.

▸Found, join and manage online leagues — fully built for iPhone.
▸Automatic iCloud backup of your savegame, in the background, no account hassle.
▸Restore with a single tap — continue on iPhone and iPad from the same point.
▸Flip through several online leagues comfortably (league pager).
▸Lots of polish across menus, statistics and the transfer market.

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Where we stand

With version 0.0.9 the free sandbox era ended — KICKER was playable from start to finish for the first time. Since then, every release pulls a single system at a time into faithful alignmentwith Dirk Weigand’s GFA-Basic source.

We’re now at version 0.6.3. Finances, cup flow, card handling, injuries, player development, team morale — all of it now follows the same formulas as the 1991 Atari ST original. On top of that: hot-seat multiplayer, football scenarios and dozens of detail fixes.

From here on it’s polish, bug fixes, and — crucially — your feedback.

Previous versions

v0.5.0Beta

26 May 2026

KICKER now runs on iPhone too — the whole manager in your pocket

The biggest step since online mode: KICKER used to be iPad-only — now you play the full manager on iPhone too. Every screen — lineup, transfer market, stadium, finances, tables, statistics — was rebuilt for the small display, in the signature Atari-ST look with CRT flair. Before kickoff «Der Kicker-Kurier» flips through the headlines like a tabloid sports paper, and on game night you talk to each other live via voice chat.

▸The full manager now runs natively on iPhone — every menu and screen rebuilt for the small display.
▸Dedicated design system in Atari-ST style with CRT scanlines and a tab bar.
▸For matches the iPhone rotates to landscape — with a friendly rotate prompt.
▸«Der Kicker-Kurier»: a tabloid sports paper with headlines before every match replay.
▸Voice chat on game night — talk live while the matchdays play out.

v0.4.0Beta

23 May 2026

The first truly playable online mode — bring your friends to the pitch

You can now play KICKER with friends across multiple iPads. A full season together: everyone manages their own club, the server simulates the matchdays, and everyone sees the same match replay in sync. Season finale with champion celebration, DFB cup with final-day drama, manager statistics and lots of love for the details. Plus the first feedback from real multi-player testing: every human club gets unique players, all co-players show in their own jersey colour, and the home-menu button reliably shows the same current matchday for everyone.

▸A full online season with friends across multiple iPads — synchronised match replay for all.
▸Season finale with the classic closing screen and a DFB cup with final-day drama.
▸Unique players per manager club — no more duplicate squads.
▸All human co-players in their own home-jersey colour in tables and results.
▸Home-menu button reliably shows the same current matchday for everyone.
▸Many fairness fixes: bench players don't score, gift players have real names.

v0.3.0Beta

14 May 2026

Online multiplayer milestone — a whole season together, in sync across several devices

Online mode comes into its own. Game night is stable, the DFB cup runs through online from start to finish, and a clean lobby flow with an «all ready» splash is part of it. Plus a season finale with champion celebration like the original, manager results and tables in real jersey colours, form and energy curves in the player detail, new defensive and offside statistics, and far more life on the pitch.

▸Stable game night and a clean lobby flow with an «all ready» splash.
▸DFB cup runs through online completely — from the round of 16 to the final.
▸Season finale with champion celebration, final tables and team of the year like the 1990 original.
▸Manager results and tables in every co-player's real home-jersey colour.
▸Form and energy curves plus new defensive and offside statistics in the player detail.
▸More life on the pitch: offside, blocks, tackles, one-twos and DREAM-GOAL long shots.

v0.2.0Beta

10 May 2026

Hot-seat multiplayer, cups down to the penalty shootout — and the first online leagues

The solo game becomes a multiplayer experience. Hot-seat multiplayer on the same device, the UEFA Cup with an animated final and penalty shootout, the DFB cup online, more financial and cup depth, living players with form and energy — and the first online steps: optional cloud backup via Apple Sign-In and the first playable online-league alpha against real opponents, including Toto, training camp, tactics and sponsors.

▸Hot-seat multiplayer on the same device, including selling your own players on the transfer market.
▸UEFA Cup with an animated final and sprite penalty shootout.
▸DFB cup online: announcement, animated highlights, penalties and an outcome screen.
▸Optional iCloud backup via Apple Sign-In — the groundwork for online mode.
▸First online-league alpha against real opponents: Toto, training camp, tactics, sponsors.
▸Themed pixel-art backgrounds plus lots of UX and bug-fix polish.

v0.1.0Sandbox

12 April 2026

The playground — from the first TestFlight build to the first fully playable season

The beginning: KICKER returns as a faithful tribute to the 1990 Atari ST classic. In this early phase the game grew from the very first TestFlight build into the first season playable from start to finish — with a complete game engine, finances, cards, injuries, save & load and countless lovingly rebuilt original details from Dirk Weigand's BASIC code.

▸First TestFlight build — KICKER runs again, in the original Atari-ST look with original sounds.
▸Full game engine: season, league, cup, finances, random events.
▸Finances, cards, injuries, save & load.
▸Hundreds of original details ported from the BASIC source code.
▸For the first time a full season is playable from start to finish.

What’s next?

Next steps: gather structured feedback, prioritise bugs, polish. If you want to help — the TestFlight is waiting for you.

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