Pro Jank Footy Packs 150 Power-Ups Into Aussie Rules

Pro Jank Footy arrived on every major console and PC on 12 August, and it does something no officially licensed footy game would dare attempt: it hands you a deck of cards halfway through a match and lets the whole contest come apart at the seams. The Adelaide-made arcade title ships with more than 150 power-ups, fields two teams of 18, and hands the commentary duties to a sketch comedian.

It's the work of two South Australian studios, Powerbomb Games and Tinker Town, with creative direction from David Ashby — the same person who co-created the cult comedy series Danger 5. Broden Kelly of Aunty Donna calls the action. The project drew funding from the South Australian Film Corporation, part of a push to get more games made locally, and it doubles as the first release from film distributor Umbrella Entertainment's new games arm.

Early numbers suggest the gamble has mostly paid off. On Steam the game sits at "Mostly Positive", with 72 per cent of its first 81 user reviews landing on the thumbs-up side. The AU Review gave it four stars out of five. A ten per cent launch discount runs until 26 August, which puts it firmly in the impulse-buy bracket rather than the full-price sports-sim tier.

What Pro Jank Footy Actually Is

Think NBA Jam, not a simulation. The developers have named NBA Jam from 1993 and NHL '94 as their touchstones, and it shows in everything from the chunky pixel art to the CRT scan lines laid over the picture. Matches are short, the ball moves fast, and nobody is asking you to learn a slide rule of tactical settings before you can kick a goal.

There's a straight mode called Normal Footy for anyone who wants the sport without the nonsense, a standard match option, and a single-player season run. Local split-screen supports both co-operative and versus play, and online versus is listed on Steam — though reviewers at launch reported the servers weren't live yet.

Where the 150 Power-Ups Come In

The roguelite layer is the whole point, and it only activates when you're losing. That single design decision is what separates this from every other novelty sports game that's tried the same trick.

Three Cards Every Time You Concede

Give up a goal and the game offers you three randomly drawn cards to choose from. Pick one, and it stacks onto whatever you've already collected. Over a season you're effectively building a deck, which means a run that starts as a straightforward footy match can end up as something closer to a physics experiment. It also means comebacks are structural, not accidental.

Shopping Trolleys and a Bouncing DVD Logo

The catalogue runs from the merely silly to the openly ridiculous: giant players who blot out half the forward line, shopping trolleys loose on the ground, and a floating DVD screensaver logo that drifts across the field as a distraction. The comedy lands because it's specific — this is Australian suburban humour, not generic wackiness bolted onto a sports template.

The Bits That Wear Thin

Reviewers have been consistent about the weak spots. The modes are broad but shallow, and the season structure — a Mortal Kombat-style ladder climbed by a side called the Cactus Sharks — reveals its edges quickly. The AI also rubber-bands hard, becoming unreasonably sharp the moment it falls behind, which turns some matches into a slog rather than a scrap.

There's no ground selection either, so you can't stage a grand final at a venue that means something to you. For a game built on local flavour, that's a genuine miss, and an obvious candidate for a post-launch patch.

How It Compares to the Officially Licensed Game

Big Ant Studios holds the real AFL licence, and its most recent instalment carries all 18 clubs, AFLW players, a rookie career mode and an ultimate-team-style Pro Team setup. That's the game to buy if you want Gather Round recreated properly, with the right jumpers and the right names on the back.

This is the opposite proposition. No licence, invented clubs, and no interest in accuracy — which is precisely why it can put a shopping trolley on the wing. Australia has had licensed footy games for decades; it has had almost no footy games willing to be genuinely funny. That's the gap being filled here, and it's a bigger one than it sounds.

Should You Buy It This Week?

If you've got a couch, a spare controller and a couple of mates who'll shout at a screen, this is an easy yes — the consensus from reviewers is that it's best in short bursts with company, not long solo sessions. The PC requirements are tiny: Windows 10, a 2.5GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and 2GB of storage will run it, so an ageing laptop is no barrier. There are 32 achievements and eight language options, which hints at ambitions beyond the domestic market.

If you're mainly a solo player, wait. Watch for a patch that switches on online versus and softens the catch-up AI, and keep an eye on whether ground selection gets added. The launch discount expires on 26 August, but a game this cheap will be discounted again — there's no rush.