The football game where you're not the star - you're the law. Officiate full matches: whistle fouls, wave off divers, run VAR, survive the press. In 1-4 player online co-op your friends run the lines - and every blown call has a name on it.
Twenty-two players. One whistle. Yours.
In every other football game, you play. In THE REF, you're in charge. You're the referee. Two teams play a full 3D match around you, and every call is yours - fouls, dives, cards, penalties, VAR. Stand in the middle as the referee, or run the line as an assistant. You never really know.
Was it a red card, or a great tackle? A penalty, or a dive? You don't get a replay. You get a gut feeling - and sometimes your gut is dead wrong. You make the call, and you live with it for the rest of the match. You're the ref
Whistle the fouls. Wave play on. Catch the divers - and book them for it.
Show yellows and reds. Give the penalty when it's in the box. Play on, and show the card at the next break.
Send a player off and the whole team feels it - they change shape, and if it's the keeper, someone else pulls on the gloves.
Not sure? Run to the pitchside monitor. Watch it back in slow motion from five angles, draw the offside line, then make your call — cancel a red, or rule out a goal.
Every whistle is marked. Blow up for nothing and it costs you. End the half on time. Add on the right number of minutes.
A career that remembers
Start in the Sunday league mud and climb four leagues to the top.
36 clubs and hundreds of players who feel real. They grow old, drop off, and retire — and young stars come through to replace them.
You take one match a week. The other results come in around you and fill the table. Cup runs, a Champions Cup, and an international tournament all wait up the ladder.
Six newspapers rate every match, each with its own attitude. Mess up and they remember. Face the press well and they'll cut you some slack; get defensive after a bad night and they'll bury you.
Clubs hold a grudge. Give a team too many penalties and reds, and they keep a file with your name on it.
Fifteen rival refs want the same big games. Slip behind them and they get the cup final - not you.
Spend your match fees: a better whistle buys you more time to make a call, good boots keep you up with play, the right gear makes your assistants sharper - and a flashy watch the fans will love to hate. Bring your friends - up to four of you, online
One of you runs the middle. Two run the lines. A fourth sits in the stands as the assessor - the one who marks everybody.
The Overrule. Your mate's flag goes up for offside. You've got about four seconds. Trust them, or wave it down. After the match, the game shows the offside down to the centimetre - and whose name was on the right call.
Your assistants aren't just watching. They get their own gut feeling - and the further they are from the action, the less sure they are - and they can flash you a tip while you're deciding.
Crew VAR. Everyone watches the replay and votes. You decide. The papers remember who disagreed.
Once a half, an assistant can drag you to the monitor whether you want to go or not.
Two press rooms, one each - before anyone knows the truth. Back your mate, or throw them under the bus and read about it in the morning.
A friend has to drop out? The AI takes their line, and they can jump back in.
Everyone's marks feed into the same career. Rise together. Fall together. Argue about it the whole way.
Matchday, all of it
Grounds that grow with you - from a roped-off park pitch with a dog barking somewhere, to a packed cup-final stadium with fireworks and an anthem.
Weather that changes the game. The ball skids in the rain and drags in the mud, tackles land late, and you've got more to judge.
Walkouts and a coin toss you flip yourself. Managers who lose it - send them to the stands. Players who crowd you after a big call. Fakers rolling around. Time-wasters you can book.
In Early Access
THE REF already has career, cups, co-op and all - and it's growing. Jump in now, and help shape where it goes.
Take the whistle. Every call is yours.
Official site
On Steam
Details