As both a board gamer and video gamer, the concept of deckbuilders has literally exploded like a spilled deck of Magic: The Gathering cards. Case in point – my recent (and many others at GSC) obsession with Slay the Spire II. It truly does seem like there are a plethora of deckbuilders out there for all kinds. Including a title that was handed over to me a few weeks ago – Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager.

Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager, or just Nutmeg, is a deckbuilder inspired by the football clubs of England from the 80’s and 90’s. Sumo Digital and Secret Mode launched this entry into the deckbuilding sphere in late March 2026 to positive reviews on Steam.

Despite receiving this title just before my adventures at PAX East 2026, I was able to sink my teeth into an extensive amount of what Nutmeg has to offer. So without further ado, let’s get lost in a world of football club management, with the sleek, dazzling veneer of the 1980’s.

The World & The Story

The World

As the name implies, Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager is set in the 1980’s and 1990’s, amongst the football divisions of England. Now, while I am a complete novice when it comes to the world of English football, I am well acquainted with club names like Chelsea, Hartlepool, and Tottenham. Shoutout to my buddy from college who is a die-hard Spurs fan. You start as the humble manager of the small club in Hereford, set-up in a tiny, and era-appropriate, office.

As the years progress, so does your office! Which is a cool little touch to the passing of time. But despite the progression of the years, the core of the story remains the same.

The Story

So – I guess there really isn’t much in terms of story when it comes to Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager. You manage your football club and all the various tasks that are associated with it, and with each season, you can either stay with your current club, or look for greener pastures with another club. Interestingly enough, not all clubs are available from the get-go. You need to collect Kit Points, which are earned at the end of each season. Kit Points allow you to unlock access to new clubs. After two seasons, I left the lovely chaps at Hereford and sought the greener pastures of Bournemouth.

Now, let’s talk about that gameplay because there is a LOT to look at!

The Gameplay

So, there are a plethora of things to do when it comes to managing a football club, before we even begin to talk about the actual deckbuilder. Let’s talk about all the management stuff first!

Club Management

Backroom Management

With any management of a football club requires managing your staff! You’ll need to recruit coaches, support, as well as office staff. Each individual brings their own unique perks to your club.

Team Management

Any manager needs to also ensure what their squad is composed of, which includes checking on status, injuries, skills, as well as putting them up for trade deals.

Coupled with managing your club is also keeping your eyes out for new and promising stars to snatch up! The unique process of recruitment also boils down to enhancing your odds of closing a deal. Will you promise them a sign-on bonus? What will their base pay be? Are you going to promise your new star starts in the first few games with your franchise? All of these pieces will determine whether or not you succeed in recruitment.

Merchandise

Any club offers merchandise, to allow fans to show support – as well as make a few bucks!

Accounts & Finances

The REALLY fancy stuff – how much are you bringing in at home matches and how much are you making on ticket sales and merch! All with the green DOS vibes we all remember.

Fun fact: you can also play Snake!

Networking via Telephone

You’ll have a phone at your disposal to contact:

• Bank Manager – Tells you about your finances when it comes to club management.
• Merch Shop – Allows you to place orders for new merch to sell.
• Commercial District – Allows you to review sponsorship offers, which will help (or hinder) your relationships with the team, the board, and the fans.
• The Board – Judge you ?
• Head Coach – Gives advice on how to plan out your matches and playstyles

Facility Management

You’ll utilize this area to expand your stadium, as well as build amenities that will help in various aspects of your club management.

Notice Board

This is where you’ll get into the nitty gritty of each month of the season, as well as see your current line-up for matches and league standings. Yes, I was having a rough go with Bournemouth this season.

Training

You’ll be visiting this area to plan out your Coaching strategies (which will determine your cards for the actual matches), as well as building the Skills of your stars. You can also use this area to assess team injuries and recovery time frames.

To-Do Marker

Each month of gameplay will generate special to-do’s. If you successfully complete all your tasks, you’ll get some fancy bonus cards for gameplay in the matches. Failure? You just don’t get the cards sadly.

Now, you might notice on the Notice Board an area that says “Make a Game Plan”. Here’s where we get into the actual deckbuilding of Nutmeg!

Match Gameplay

Game Plans

Each weekly match will require you to set-up a fame Plan if you’re Delegating the Match. Delegating means…you won’t actually play it and you’ll let the odds of you winning play out, based on your Orders and Formation guidelines. I’m going to be honest, this is where I started to get lost in the sauce, as I don’t have much knowledge of football and the gameplay styles of a match.

Each month, you will have the option to Broadcast one match. Broadcasting a match allows you to actually play the deckbuilder facet of Nutmeg itself, as well as possibly earn a boost in income to your club. You only get to Broadcast once, so choose wisely and make sure you can secure a win for it.

Broadcasted Matches

Drafting Cards

Here is where we can finally talk about the gameplay of the deckbuilding. Each Broadcast match will allow you to select your deck of cards. Certain cards will help with certain things like Attack, Defense, Control, Stamina, and Goalie. There’s tons of other cards that do unique things in specific scenarios. And what’s important to note – each card drains Stamina from your players. The lower the Stamina, the higher likelihood of injury.

Cards can also be merged together to increase their effectiveness, which does however, raise the Stamina cost too.

Setting the Squad

When starting a Broadcast match, you’ll have the option to tweak your squad to best fit your needs, as well as ensure who is available for substitution.

Playing the Match

During the actual deckbuilding component of the Nutmeg, you’ll be drawing from the Event Deck, which ultimately determines the events on the pitch. Depending on the progress of the deck, you’ll have your squad members intervene, along with your Tactical Cards, to sway the outcome. All of the events are based on percentages. The higher the percentage on the card, the more likely this will be the next in the Event Line. Your Tactical Cards can tip these percentages in your favor, or go against the other club.

The match lasts the standard 90 minutes, with a halftime at the 45-minute mark. During the half, you can substitute someone from your bench, along with doing a full change on your formation.

If you win your match, you’ll see the approval rating of the club’s fans increase. Lose – you’ll see the opposite happen.

*takes a deep breath* OK – that’s all when it comes to the gameplay. Now, what did I like and what did I not like when it comes to all that Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager.

The Good

Design Aesthetics

Kudos to the team at Sumo Digital, as they nailed the aesthetics in Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager. The colors, the actual technology, the random tidbits of information you get on your computer – all relevant to when and where we are in the course of human history.

Match Announcements and Coverage

Real talk – I loved the announcing that occurred during the gameplay of the match. While I’ve never been to a football match, I would hazard a guess that any Premier League fan would attest to how alike it is to an actual match. Who would have thought that one could actually get hyped when it comes to playing cards!

Oh, The Things You Can Do!

You can never fault Nutmeg for lacking in things to do when it comes to the club management aspect of the game. That, in and of itself, is a whole game on its own! If this is something that is right up your alley and you want something that is maybe different from, say, the most recent iteration of Football Club Manager, then this might be the game for you!

The Bad

Overload on Mechanics

While I did just praise Nutmeg for having such a wide variety of things to manage, to the new to this world, like myself, it might be an overload of things to do – leaving you at a loss of where to even go. I’ll be honest, after a while, I just focused on the matches and not much else when it came to the club management aspects.

Being a Fish Out of Water…and On a Pitch

I’ll be honest, a lot of the mechanics of football are lost on me. I played two “seasons” of youth soccer (sorry, rest of the world) as a wee young lad. I…didn’t love running that much to be honest. But that being said, it’s a sport that I have never dipped my toe back into. Consequently, much of the mechanics in the actual matches were completely foreign to me. My fellow co-editor Harry, AKA KnavishCrayfish, had to explain what “nutmeg” even meant with regards to football.

I feel that Nutmeg very much expects that you already know the inner workings of football and are looking to include deckbuilding into that equation. Maybe it’s just me.

Detachment from Gameplay

During the actual deckbuilding aspects of the game, I’ll be honest – I just…felt like I was clicking the Event Deck to progress the gameplay and not doing much else. It doesn’t really pull you into the game itself, save for those moments where you’re nearing the other team’s goal.

Outside of those times, it was truly just…rhythmic clicking from my office (if you were outside the door). Being a deckbuilder, I do understand that at the end of the day that there is an element of detachment from the game. But given that many other deckbuilders require an element of strategy, I found it somewhat lacking in this title.

The Overall

Despite my complete lack of understanding of football and how to manage a club, Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager was not a bad game by any means. It definitely sucked me in at moments and honestly had me losing track of time at a few points. But I do get the sense that if you are not well-versed in the nuance of football, this game is not for you.

That being said, though, if you happen to both love management-type games and deckbuilders, but are also a massive football fan, then I do think that this is the title for you! If you’re anyone like myself, give it a try – you won’t immediately become a fan of Arsenal, but maybe you’ll be curious to check out more of what football has to offer.

Nutmeg! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager is currently available on PC (Steam).

Gamer Social Club was provided an early access copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This review was played on PC (Steam).