New deckbuilder Nutmeg is yet another retro nod to classic Football Manager

Sega and Sports Interactive’s Football Manager may have been forced into an unexpected hiatus this year, but there is no shortage of attempts to provide a management experience more reminiscent of simpler times.

Last week, we told you how the author of the original 80s Football Manager, Kevin Toms, was bringing back a homage to his classic game that had many a kid, including me, dreaming of days at Wembley Stadium, and now Nutmeg has crossed our paths, and this, if anything, is even more retro than Toms’ offering.

Nutmeg is a football card game that feels as though it was invented long before the term Deckbuilder.

Scan through the video below and, beyond the guy pretending to be legendary manager Brian Clough, the card game reminds me, big time, of similar games I played as a kid, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was called.

Based entirely over a 20-year period of the 80s and 90s, you start with a team in Division 4 (look it up, kids) and try to unlock teams further up English football’s ladder by using your football knowledge to snap up legendary players before they make it big time.

Coming from Secret Mode and Sumo Sheffield, Nutmeg isn’t going to arrive until 2026, and that’s a shame because I want to play it right now. It looks like there is even a Panini sticker book type thing in there if you look at the images below. I. Can’t. Wait.

The PR for Nutmeg explains it thus:

“It’s a game of two halves – manage your team by setting training schedules and transferring players, answering calls from the press, buying merchandise, and adjusting ticket prices for home games. Combine cards generated from training to develop new tactics and build a deck that even Fergie couldn’t sniff at.

Then head onto the pitch for fast-paced card battles, diving into the match at key points to ensure the boys do good. Stop an attack, gain control of the ball, and prove your bouncebackability with a well-played card to shift the odds in your favour and get one in the back of the net.

Nutmeg looks super slick, and while you might think its audience is a bit niche to say the least, I think we are going to find that this one is challenging for the top spot come the end of the season Jeff.

Wishlist Nutmeg on Steam right here.