Is Pass Puzzles free?

Yes. There is nothing to buy, no advert and no account to create. Like every arcade game, Pass Puzzles need no coins: every puzzle is free to try as often as you like.

Does Pass Puzzles work on a phone or a school Chromebook?

It runs in a web browser with nothing to install, and it is built for phones first. It also works on tablets and on computers, so a Chromebook is fine as long as the school’s filter allows futbolisland.app. On a computer you draw the pass with the mouse or a trackpad.

How do you play Pass Puzzles?

Drag from the player with the ball to a team-mate, or to the goal to shoot. If no defender can reach the line, the pass arrives. Link the passes until you score. A line that turns red is blocked: look for another lane.

What age is Pass Puzzles for?

Futbol Island is made for children aged 7 to 12. The first puzzles need one pass and no reading; the later ones are a real test for older children and for adults.

Does Pass Puzzles teach the offside rule?

Yes. Several puzzles draw the offside line on the pitch and flag a pass to a player beyond it, so children see when a run starts too early. The offside guide on this site explains the rule with diagrams.

How many levels are there?

There are 46 authored puzzles in packs, and Endless Run has no last level: it remixes the puzzles (mirrored, shifted, with extra defenders) and gets harder as you go.

Soccer passing puzzle game: Pass Puzzles

A tactics puzzle game. The match is frozen: you read where the defenders and your team-mates are, draw the pass with one stroke, and watch whether it gets through.

Soccer is called football in most of the world. This game is part of Futbol Island, a free football learning game for kids aged 7 to 12.

Play Pass Puzzles

Pass Puzzles on a phone: a pass is drawn from player 10 to player 9 near the goal, with Scan, Auto, Ground, Lift and Shoot keys — Draw from one player to the next; the keys choose a ground pass, a lifted pass or a shot.

Pass Puzzles Endless Run at level 7 with three lives, a caption that says keep it low in the wind, and a pass drawn between numbered players — Endless Run: level 7, three lives and the idea of the puzzle in one line.

What is Pass Puzzles?

Each puzzle is one moment of a football (soccer) match, set up by a coach: a few attackers in yellow, defenders in blue, a goalkeeper, and a goal to reach. Nothing moves until you draw.

There are two ways to play. Endless Run serves one puzzle after another, a little harder each time, until three lives are gone. The authored levels are 46 puzzles in packs, each with stars to earn.

How to play Pass Puzzles

On a phone or tablet

Hold the phone upright (sideways works too). Put a finger on the player with the ball and drag to a team-mate or to the goal, then lift.
The keys at the bottom choose the kind of pass: Auto, Ground, Lift or Shoot.
Scan shows the open passing lanes and Undo takes back a pass.

On a computer

Click the player with the ball, drag to a team-mate or the goal, and let go.
The same keys sit under the pitch: Scan, Auto, Ground, Lift, Shoot.

The rules

The line you draw changes colour: clear, tight or blocked. A defender who can reach the line will cut the pass out.
Many puzzles need two or three passes in a row. A pass can go to feet or into space for a team-mate to run onto.
The offside line is drawn on the pitch when it matters: a pass to a player beyond it is flagged.
Aim your finish by drawing onto the net: low in the corner is safest, top corners risk the bar.
In Endless Run a failed puzzle or a Skip costs one of three lives, and a failed puzzle is served again.
Stars in Endless Run: one for solving, one for using the move the puzzle teaches, one for solving at the first try.

What it teaches

Good passers see the lane before they see the team-mate. Pass Puzzles makes the lane visible: where a defender can step in, the line turns red; where there is a gap, it stays clear. After a few puzzles children start to look for the gap first.

The puzzles are named after real ideas, each explained in one line: the give-and-go, the third player, the switch of play, the through ball, the pull-back. The offside puzzles show why the timing of a run matters more than its speed.

Read and practise the same idea

Tips to score higher

Before you draw, find the defenders. The pass that looks shortest often runs straight through one of them.
Use Scan on the early levels to learn what an open lane looks like; from level 5 of Endless Run it is no longer offered.
Solve at the first try when you can: it is worth an extra star, and every fifth first-try solve in a row adds a bonus star.
When the direct route is blocked, look for a third player or play backwards to go forwards.
Keep the ball on the ground in the wind, and lift it only when a defender stands in the lane.

How the difficulty grows

Endless Run opens with two gentle puzzles with Scan switched on.
From level 5 Scan is gone and only the hint key remains. From level 6 there is a thinking clock: 45 seconds at first, shorter at each level, down to 15.
From level 7 an extra defender is added beside the lanes; from level 10 there are no hints; later the extra defender presses, and then there are two.
Every remixed puzzle is checked by the game before it is shown, so there is always a solution.

For parents and coaches

Free, with no ads, no account and no open chat. The high-score board takes a few arcade-style letters, never a full name or a message.
Skill: reading space and passing lanes, patience, and the offside rule. It is the calmest of the six games: no timer on the early levels and soft sound.
Session length: a puzzle takes ten seconds to a minute, so it fits any spare moment. No coins are needed to play.

Questions about Pass Puzzles

Is Pass Puzzles free?
Yes. There is nothing to buy, no advert and no account to create. Like every arcade game, Pass Puzzles need no coins: every puzzle is free to try as often as you like.
Does Pass Puzzles work on a phone or a school Chromebook?
It runs in a web browser with nothing to install, and it is built for phones first. It also works on tablets and on computers, so a Chromebook is fine as long as the school’s filter allows futbolisland.app. On a computer you draw the pass with the mouse or a trackpad.
How do you play Pass Puzzles?
Drag from the player with the ball to a team-mate, or to the goal to shoot. If no defender can reach the line, the pass arrives. Link the passes until you score. A line that turns red is blocked: look for another lane.
What age is Pass Puzzles for?
Futbol Island is made for children aged 7 to 12. The first puzzles need one pass and no reading; the later ones are a real test for older children and for adults.
Does Pass Puzzles teach the offside rule?
Yes. Several puzzles draw the offside line on the pitch and flag a pass to a player beyond it, so children see when a run starts too early. The offside guide on this site explains the rule with diagrams.
How many levels are there?
There are 46 authored puzzles in packs, and Endless Run has no last level: it remixes the puzzles (mirrored, shifted, with extra defenders) and gets harder as you go.

More free soccer games

Futbol Island is a free football (soccer) learning game for kids aged 7 to 12. The arcade is one room of the island; the lessons, quizzes and the museum teach the rest of the game.

Play Pass Puzzles