Play your cards right in NUTMEG!’s Matchday Experience demo, available now

[IBJamon]

Play your cards right in NUTMEG!’s Matchday Experience demo, available now

Rewrite the annuals in four classic matches from football history

Publisher: Secret Mode | Developer: Sumo Sheffield
Formats: PC | ETA: 2026 | Players: 1

Sheffield, UK – 15 October 2025: It's all kicking off! As revealed at IGN Fan Fest, retro card-based football management game NUTMEG! has launched its Matchday Experience demo, giving football fans a chance for a kickabout with some of their favourite English league teams.



Get stuck into four classic matches from across the 80s and 90s, with six scenarios to choose from. Relive the 1986 Milk Cup final and either remake Oxford’s 3-0 victory or snatch the glory away as a certain squad of royal Park Rangers. Take on the pressure of a play-off final with a 1998 battle between Charlton and Sunderland – and try not to take it to penalties. Become a giant killer and take down the might of Liverpool as Wimbledon, or the devils of Manchester as Grimsby. It’s all football, all the time.

The NUTMEG! Matchday Experience demo focuses exclusively on the card-based matches, where you’ll be tilting the scales in your favour with well-timed decisions in fast-paced, card-based matches. Further details on the game’s wider management systems, such as player transfers and stadium building, will be revealed on the road to launch in 2026.

About NUTMEG!
Deck-building goes in two-footed on football management!

Become the gaffer of a classic football team and embark on a 20-year journey up and down the English football Divisions through the 1980s and 1990s.

A Game of Two Halves
Pick your line-up and formations, and challenge the opposition in a fast-paced card battler with three points on the line in every match.

Move the Goalpost
The only football game where getting cards is a good thing! Earn card packs by completing challenges. Combine cards to enhance your deck and bully the other team off the pitch.

Get Your Head in the Game
Route one? Tiki-taka? Counter-attacking? Refine skills and strategies in training to earn extra card packs and humble your opponents when Saturday comes.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Pick your club, manage player transfers, scout and develop youth talent, and scrap for every place across four Divisions.

Get Stuck In
Oversee the entire club from your desk. Control the finances, talk with the press, and hire and fire backroom staff.

Big Game Player
Immerse yourself in some of the most iconic eras of English football. Unlock new clubs each season and decide whether to be a journeyman manager or a one-club hero.

NUTMEG! will launch on PC in 2026. The free Matchday Experience demo is available on Steam now.

About Secret Mode
Secret Mode is an independent publisher and the winner of the MCV/Develop Indie Publisher of the Year 2025 award, Ukie Best UK Publisher 2024 award, and the Debug Indie Game Best Influencer Marketing 2025 award. Our titles include triple-BAFTA-winner Still Wakes the Deep, A Little to the Left, Wobbledogs, Loddlenaut, and Empyreal. We believe that games are for everyone, and that creativity has no limits. We believe quality and fun are everything.

For more information visit: wearesecretmode.com
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About Sumo Sheffield
Founded in 2003, Sumo Sheffield was the first of Sumo Digital’s studios. Firmly established as the premium development partner of leading publishers, the studio is trusted to deliver high quality games associated with some of the most iconic and valued properties in the industry, or by generating innovative new IP. With a highly skilled body of over 300 developers the studio works across all platforms, on a selection of AAA games covering multiple genres including Sports, FPS, and platform adventure.

For more information visit: sheffield.sumo-digital.com

About Sumo Academy
Founded in 2020, the Sumo Academy is a talent development programme creating new pathways into the games industry in the form of the Level 7 Game Programming Apprenticeship. Rated “Outstanding” by Ofsted, the Academy teaching team has over 100 combined years of game development experience, but they still can’t beat the apprentice’s high score on Zool.

For more information visit: www.sumo-academy.com