NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager · published
Can you believe it’s already been a week since NUTMEG! kicked off?
Today we want to introduce you to three of the key players in the early development of NUTMEG!, a nostalgic deckbuilding football manager where getting cards is a good thing! ⚽
When the Sumo Academy started working on NUTMEG!, Programming Apprentice Ricky-Lee Carpenter was heavily involved in the prototyping stage for NUTMEG!, initially as an apprentice and then later as a Junior Programmer!
"I worked a lot of the game, but I guess my most visible work would be the in-game animations like the match results and the placards flying around when the league ladder updates all the team positions."
"We all naturally fell into our own niches of interest pretty quickly in the academy, and we complement each other quite well."
Take a look at the video below to see the division board and trophy animation Ricky helped create.
Ensuring you keep the eye on the ball is Oliver Smith, graduated Junior Programmer and part of the original prototyping team from the he Sumo Academy.
"Most of my work has been managing the parts of the game related to the stats of players. This includes things like determining the stats players should have, loading, modifying and saving player stats, and writing the match engine that takes all the stats of players in a match, doing some maths to them, and spitting out a result.
I've also been involved in writing the UI system that allows you to interact with UI embedded on other objects, such as the computer and the chalkboard."
Take a look at the video below that shows the fully realised functionality of the computer and chalkboard that Ollie helped to bring to life alongside fellow apprentices.
From classic board game The Game of Life to the 80s magazine culture of Shoot! and Smash Hits, the nostalgic deckbuilding football manager game NUTMEG! draws inspiration from many places.
David Wilson, Academy Art Director at Sumo Academy, is one of the key players in the early development of the original prototype of the game.
"I’d describe NUTMEG! as tactile, nostalgic, and collaged. It’s a world pieced together from old sticker albums, magazines, and romantically remembered experiences—a collage of everything that made 80s and 90s football culture feel not like 2025. The visuals feel assembled rather than designed, full of deliberate imperfections, texture, and irreverent charm."
"Normally, my job as an Art Director is to create a vision that helps to reduce visual friction and create consistency for the player, but NUTMEG! is deliberately the opposite. We wanted to celebrate the analogue, hands-on nature of the period. Every object in the game has to be operated; none of them work quite the same way. It’s kind of a Deleuzian assemblage—each object makes sense on its own, but together they form a patchwork of personality and help shape the culture. The charm comes from those small inconsistencies—the quirks that make the world feel lived-in and believable rather than overly polished.”
“It’s a tightrope we’ve walked to make the game look and feel good - engaging without being frustrating or too contrived."
Only one glance at the video below is needed to see the retro flair that NUTMEG! brings from its initial inspirations!
Every team needs a team behind it to make things tick, and NUTMEG! is no different. Thanks to the incredibly talented superstars like Ricky, Olly, and David, we’re able to deliver outstanding games such as NUTMEG! to your digital doorstep.
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