The notebook
Long-form stories from behind the game: how things are built, what broke along the way, and what we learned about tabletop football. Written by Miguel Ángel Villar Alarcón, who builds the game — one article at a time.
🇬🇧 EnglishThe Manchester United box in your loft is worth about a fiver. The odd little Continental side next to it might be worth two hundred.
🇬🇧 EnglishA 22 mm ball, figures under 4 cm tall, and one principle that quietly explains the entire rulebook.
🇬🇧 EnglishTen card teams were on the first price list in 1947. Everything Subbuteo became was already in that decision.
🇬🇧 EnglishSubbuteo sold the grandstand first and the corner unit second. Everything about stadium-building is in that order.
🇬🇧 EnglishAsk one question before handing over the tablet: when does this end?
🇬🇧 EnglishSomebody pays. If it is not the child, who is it?
🇬🇧 EnglishThe empty slot does the work. Everything else is decoration.
🇬🇧 EnglishThe goal is not to protect the loser. It is to protect the next match.
🇬🇧 EnglishThree ideas: how hard, which way, and what it slides on.
