Game Modes
There are 8 different game modes in Head Soccer:
Arcade
In the Arcade game mode, you select an unlocked character to play as and an unlocked opponent* to play against. The first opponent you are able to select is South Korea. Beating South Korea unlocks the next opponent, Cameroon, but only for the character that was selected to play as to beat South Korea; by beating an opponent with a character, you unlock the next opponent for that character only (not others). The Arcade is the simplest game mode, so beginners should start with this game mode.
*not to be confused with unlocking a character, 'unlocking an opponent' means being able to play against that character, not as that character.
Tournament
In the Tournament game mode, you are put in a group with 7 other random characters. The only limit is that there can't be two of the same character. It is a three round single-elimination Tournament. The opponents are random.
Survival
In the Survival game mode, you try to beat as many opponents as you can until you run out of goals to concede. Each match, you and your opponent have a limited amount of goals you may concede. If you concede too many goals, you lose and your run ends.
Survival mode is an exciting way of earning a great deal of points. Survival mode offers all kinds of costumes as rewards for reaching certain milestones. The later stages of your run are especially difficult, so it's typically recommended to upgrade skills, notably the Survival skill, before you try to seriously play Survival mode. For detailed information on the rules and rewards, see Survival.
League
In the League game mode, you get ranked out of a list of 9 other participating characters. You play 18 matches in total. After each match, you get a certain ranking based on your relative performance. The Final Round is the deciding match between the characters in 1st and 2nd place. The winner of this match wins the league. The League is the only game mode with unlock-requirements. See League for details on the ranking system and unlock-requirements.
There are three types of leagues you can play: Amateur, Minor and Major. Each has a different level of difficulty.
Multiplayer
In Multiplayer mode, you can play against your friends online on Android, or using Game Center or Bluetooth on iOS. Both players choose a character and play like in the Arcade. The winner gets 200 points and the loser gets 10 points. Trivially, the character-selection-screen is designed as in Tournament.
Head Cup
Head Cup is a game mode introduced in the 3.0 Update. It is like the real World Cup, starting with 8 groups (A - H) of 4 characters. You play 3 games in your group and if you place 1st or 2nd within your group, you go to the final rounds. They consist of the Octo-Finals, the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals, and the Grand Final. In the Octo-Finals, there are 8 match-ups of characters that made it to the finals. Octo-Final winners goes on to Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Final Winners makes it to the Semi-Finals, and then the Semi-Final Winners make it to the Final Round for first place. The Semi-Final losers will have a third-place match. Head Cup is the only game mode with draws, which happen during the group stages. It costs 5,000 points to play (but you can watch a video for free entry), but at a return of 30,000+ points if you successfully win (60,000 points for Mon-K).
Death Mode
Death Mode is a Game Mode that was added in the 5.0 Update. It costs 5,000 points to play. You must play 30 stages, each consisting of several matches against different opponents. Each stage ends in a boss-fight, preceded by matches against the boss' henchmen. In stages 1-10, the bosses have 2 henchmen. In stages 11-20, the bosses have 3 henchmen and in stages 21-30, the bosses have 4 henchmen. Every match, there are obstacles that will block you, stun you or otherwise disrupt the course of the match. They get progessively worse to deal with. When you win Death Mode, you unlock PumpKill and get a reward of 100,000 points. Story-wise, you have three options after completing the last stage. In all three scenarios, the characters you save will give you a kick. In the left one, you will be kicked by both characters. In the middle one, only the character on the right will kick you. In the scenario on the right, the character on the left will kick you.
Note: Update 6.20 changed most bosses
You get several chances to continue playing after losing a match in exchange for points.
Fight Mode
In Fight Mode you select a character and pay 5,000 points to play. You will get eight random opponents from all around the world playable before Update 6.0. To win a match, you have to hurt your opponent enough for a K.O. Hurt is achieved through costumes, Power Shots, Power Button Effects, and through scoring goals. Every two matches, you can play bonus game. Completing these with a perfect score can get three characters of the Update 6.0 unlocked (Bolivia, Senegal and Silicon Valley). After beating all opponents, you have to play four secret boss level, where you play all new characters of Update 6.0 (the Philippines, Senegal, Bolivia, and Silicon Valley). After you have beaten them all, you unlock a new pet and a Headball that can give you a new character, points or a Body. When you win Fight Mode for the first time, you unlock the Philippines.
You get several chances to continue playing after losing a match in exchange for points.
