What happens when five Finnish developers take the hockey they grew up playing on frozen ponds and turn it into a story about the greatest underground hockey player who ever lived?

When I think about my childhood, some of my best memories aren’t from school, holidays or birthday parties.

Growing up in Finland, I spent enormous amounts of time on frozen outdoor rinks and ponds, playing hockey with friends. You didn’t need to organize it weeks in advance or check everyone’s calendar. You just went to the rink. Games happened. Friendships happened. Some of the people I met through hockey back then are still my friends today.

There was something special about those games. The rules could be flexible, teams could change, and somebody would inevitably try something ridiculous. That feeling became one of the starting points for Puckoff.

When we created Puckoff: Reloaded, we wanted to bring some of that feeling back. Many of the game’s rinks are frozen outdoor ponds inspired by the places where we grew up playing.

Then we asked ourselves a simple question: What if winning didn’t mean scoring more goals?

In most hockey games, you know what you’re supposed to do: Get the puck. Score goals. Win the game. In Puckoff: Reloaded, there are a few more options. You can score. Set up a teammate. Make the perfect pass. Or you can knock someone out.

And nobody in this world seems particularly bothered by that last option.

That’s the world we wanted to create: a story-driven hockey game where fighting isn’t a random side activity, but part of the sport and its strange underground culture.

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