You want to play football. Your parents want good grades. Your coach wants results. The club would like to see your paperwork first.

China Youth Academy combines a young player's coming-of-age story with grassroots club management in a world of football and dark comedy. Live three formative years in a child's pursuit of a dream, or take charge of an academy with three squads depending on you. There is the joy of scoring a goal, and the less celebrated challenge of getting one form approved.

#### 01 | Twelve Years Old. A Chance Still to Earn.

Begin in the summer after primary school. Choose your talents, flaws and path through school football, community training, a professional academy or a sports school. Balance study, training and rest, seek your family's support and attend trials. Time and money are limited. Your future depends on more than your attributes: it depends on how you spend your days.

#### 02 | Looking Good in Training Is Not the Same as Playing Well

Work on your fundamentals and fitness, or explore stranger routines, including football calisthenics and the fine art of standing with your hands on your hips. Different approaches bring different benefits and trade-offs. Better stamina may come with clumsier footwork; a well-practised pose may at least improve your composure. The match will test what your training record is really worth.

#### 03 | Your Decision. Your Moment.

Matches unfold in real time, pausing at key moments for you to choose between three actions. Take on a defender, make the pass or risk something bolder? Movement, challenges, fouls, offside and set pieces shape the contest. Watch your chosen action play out and become part of the match record. You are competing for more than a goal: you are earning the chance to be trusted again.

#### 04 | Some of the Toughest Defences Are Off the Pitch

How do you ask for training money or explain slipping grades? Can you earn the trust of your coach and teammates? Conversations at home, at school and around the team let you argue your case, use humour or compromise, with consequences for your relationships. Football may be your dream, but the people helping you pursue it have hopes of their own.

#### 05 | One News Story a Day. Business as Unusual.

Daily youth-football news brings sudden announcements, public controversies and impressive-sounding statements into your routine. Repeat the official line, question the facts or stay silent: your response can affect reputation, relationships and public pressure. Sometimes the hardest call of the day is not offside. It is working out what a notice actually means.

#### 06 | Before You Play, Read the Contract

Training fees, registration requirements, transfer conditions and the cost of leaving can turn an opportunity into another obstacle. Clubs, parents and intermediaries may tell very different stories about the same offer. Decide which promises deserve your trust and which terms demand a closer look. Your signature may shape how much freedom you have later.

#### 07 | Take Charge of the Academy

Club-management mode puts you in charge of U13, U16 and U19 squads. Recruit players and coaches, plan training and tactics, manage lineups and injuries, and balance wages, fees and transfers while competing in city leagues and national tournaments. Rivals keep recruiting. Parents keep negotiating. Your budget does not grow simply because you love the game.

#### 08 | More Than One Future. More Than One Kind of Success.

Pursue a place in a professional academy, aim for the youth national team or find another balance between education and football. Your choices lead to different endings, with story illustrations, achievements and career records marking the path you took. After three years, will you be closer to your original dream, or will you have found a different answer?

Football is never just about winning. But a real chance to step onto the pitch is still worth fighting for.

### Fictional Content Notice

The game's cities, clubs, characters, competition organisers and stories are fictional. Its portrayal of institutions and industry practices uses exaggeration and satire and is not intended to depict specific real-world organisations or individuals.