This or that: two players, one question, a quick decision

Guide · This or that

This or that is Goal Bonito's single-player stats mode. Two footballers and a question appear, and you tap the one with the higher number. The rule fits in one sentence; going on a long run means knowing what drives each number.

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How a question works

On the home screen tap Single player, then This or that. Choose a club pool and an era, then press Start. A short "How to play" walkthrough opens on the way in; tap "Don't show again" and it stays away. Each question shows a line at the top such as "Who scored more goals?". Below it are two cards, each with the player's name, year of birth, nationality and a number box. Tap the card you think has the higher number.

The mode runs on a "winner stays" basis. Get it right and the player with the higher number stays on his card, now with his number showing, while a new player arrives with a "?" in his box. So on most questions you already know one number, and the only thing to decide is whether the newcomer beats it. When the player who stayed gets close to the top of that category, or survives five questions in a row, a fresh pair starts in the same category with both numbers hidden.

A category lasts between 7 and 11 questions. Then a "New category" screen slides in with the next question. The same category never comes up twice in a row, and the ones used least so far are picked first.

The categories and what they mean in the game

The numbers are career totals in the game's database: a player's records at all of his clubs are added together. These are the main categories, worded as the game asks them:

The "Earliest" column shows where a category unlocks; once unlocked, it can appear at the next change of category. So a run opens with intuitive questions about goals and matches, and the hard-to-guess ones such as cards and penalties come last.

How the questions get harder

Difficulty follows the question number and does not reset when the category changes. Early on there is a clear gap between the two numbers; as you go, they move closer together. At each stage the game aims for a certain ratio between the two values, and harder questions are worth more:

For small numbers such as clubs and red cards a ratio would mislead (2 against 1 is already "twice as many"), so the game uses the difference instead. When the clubs category opens, the gap is usually two clubs, dropping to one at the hardest stage; red cards start with a gap of one or two and then drop to one. If no suitable pair exists, the game settles for the gap of an easier stage. The challengers in the first questions also mostly come from the best-known names in the pool, and lesser-known players turn up more as you progress.

Time, lives and scoring

• Time: you get 12 seconds for each of the first five questions. Every five questions you lose a second, and from question 36 it stays at 5 seconds.
• One life: the first wrong answer or timeout ends the run. There are no three lives as in Classic ladder.
• Points: a correct answer earns the base points from the table above, plus a speed bonus of 10 points for every second left on the clock.
• Length: a run lasts at most 80 questions.

When the run ends you get a result card: your score and how many rounds you got right, "The one that got you" with the question that ended the run and both players' numbers, and "Did you know?" with a short career summary (matches, goals, number of clubs) of the player whose number was higher. Beat your best and it says "New record"; you can share the card with friends.

How right and wrong answers are shown

The moment you tap a card the timer stops and both numbers are revealed. The correct answer lights up with a thick green frame, and a wrong pick gets a red one. After a correct answer the highlight stays for nearly a second and a half, and that pause is added to the next question's time, so it never eats into yours. The "New category" screen is added the same way. After a wrong answer or a timeout the correct card lights up green, the numbers stay a little longer, and then the result card opens.

What scope and era do in this mode

Before you start you make two choices: the club pool (All clubs, Top flights, Big 5 leagues or One league) and the era (80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s or All; you can pick more than one decade). In Classic ladder the scope decides the clubs; in This or that it decides which players appear. The note on the screen says exactly that: players whose career passed through it at least once. Pick the Premier League as your one league and you get players who spent some part of their career at one of its clubs; they don't need to have played their whole career there.

The important detail: scope only chooses who appears, it doesn't change the numbers. Even with the Premier League selected, the number in "Who scored more goals?" is the player's whole-career total. Era works the same way: you get players with at least one appearance in the decades you picked, but the numbers still cover the full career. With the era set to All, the pool is built from players born in 1965 or later.

The names aren't random either. They come from the 400 best-known players that fit your choices, and every one of them has at least 120 league matches in top divisions. That is why picking a league you follow pays off: your guesses are far more reliable for players whose careers you watched.

Rules of thumb for quick decisions

These are not data claims, just general football reasoning. They point you the right way on most questions, but there are always exceptions.

• Anchor on the number you can see. You already know the stayer's number. Don't try to estimate both; just ask "does the newcomer beat this?"
• Matches mean career length. Check the year of birth first. Someone who played into his late thirties usually beats a young star in mid-career. Long-serving goalkeepers and centre-backs are strong here.
• For goals, position comes first. Striker against centre-back: pick the striker. Between two forwards, the one with the longer, steadier scoring career tends to win.
• Assists belong to wingers and playmakers. Crossing wingers, creative number tens and attacking full-backs can spring surprises in this category.
• For big 5 league goals, ask "where did he play?" A prolific striker who spent his career in Turkey, the Netherlands or Portugal will have a low number here. A forward with years in the Premier League or LaLiga usually comes out on top.
• A single season measures the peak, not longevity. A striker with one explosive season can easily beat a midfielder who was steady for fifteen years.
• For clubs, journeyman or one-club man? Players who moved often or were sent out on loan win; loan clubs count, a return to the same club does not.
• Cards are about position and temperament. Defensive midfielders and centre-backs lead on yellows. Red card numbers are small, so lean towards the player known for his edge.
• For penalties, who was the team's taker? A striker who never took penalties can lose to a midfielder who took them for years.
• Treat numbers from long ago with care. The game's records may be missing some very old seasons, so a player from long ago can show a lower total than you remember.

Three examples: number of clubs

The numbers in real questions come from the game's own data and can differ from other sources, so here we show the reasoning with obvious cases instead of figures.

1. Zlatan Ibrahimović or Paolo Maldini? In the game's data Maldini has a single club: AC Milan. Ibrahimović wore the shirts of Malmö, Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy. His two separate spells at Milan still count as one club, and the gap is huge all the same.
2. Emre Belözoğlu or Volkan Demirel? Volkan's record shows two clubs: Kartal and Fenerbahçe. Emre played for Galatasaray, Inter, Newcastle United, Fenerbahçe, Atlético Madrid and Başakşehir. He joined Fenerbahçe in three separate spells, but Fenerbahçe counts as one club.
3. Nicolas Anelka or Ryan Giggs? Giggs spent his whole career at Manchester United. Anelka played for a long list of clubs, among them Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Fenerbahçe, Bolton, Chelsea, Juventus and West Brom, and his loan at Liverpool adds to the count as well.

In the real game this category opens midway through a run and the gap is usually one or two clubs. That is where the same logic needs fine-tuning: remember the loan spells and count returns to the same club only once.

Speed or accuracy?

With a single life, accuracy always comes first. The speed bonus is 10 points per second left, while one wrong tap costs you the rest of the run. In the early questions there is plenty of time and the gaps are wide, so answer fast and collect the bonus. At the later stages the gap drops below 10% and the clock gets shorter; there, a moment's thought and one of the rules above is worth far more than a rushed tap. If a name means nothing to you, look at the year of birth and nationality: age hints at career length, and nationality often hints at which leagues he played in.

Where next?

For the other single-player modes, read the Classic ladder and Career path guides; for online matches, see the 3-2-1 strategy guide. The rules in brief are on the About page and short answers in the FAQ. If you think a number or a record is wrong, write to destek@goalbonito.com.