77 features
Take over a club. Change its course.
You join an ongoing sporting story. Clubs without a human manager are run by AI, so the competition has a life of its own before you arrive. Taking charge puts recruitment, preparation and the club's direction in your hands.
45 days to compete. 15 days to rebuild.
The competition phase lasts 45 days. A 15-day transfer and squad rebuilding period follows, then a new season begins. Think beyond the next fixture: the choices you make now become the foundations of your next campaign.
From your league to the continental stage.
Build a reputation in a world spanning 64 countries. Domestic leagues, promotion and relegation, national cups and continental competitions give your club different routes to success — and different demands on the same squad.
A place in the wider game.
Your club belongs to a national handball ecosystem. Federation finances, development support and presidential elections sit alongside country coefficients and continental qualification. Your ambitions can grow beyond a single league table.
See the player beyond the rating.
Balance positions, attributes, fitness, morale and contracts. A strong starting seven is only the beginning: rotation, injuries and a crowded calendar put the whole squad to work.
Win the negotiation before the match.
Send scouts to find players who fit your plan. Negotiate with clubs and players, manage incoming offers and weigh immediate quality against future commitments. When managers compete for the same free agent, sealed bids raise the stakes.
Build tomorrow's starting seven.
Set a weekly training plan, choose individual priorities and balance intensity with recovery. Develop academy players through youth competition and mentoring, then decide when a prospect is ready for senior handball.
Assemble your backroom team.
Recruit staff whose expertise supports your approach. Coaches, medical specialists, scouts and a sporting director influence the work that happens around the squad, from player development to negotiations.
Balance the books. Earn the board's trust.
Matchday income is only part of the picture. Manage ticket prices, sponsorship, wages and infrastructure while watching cash flow and board confidence. Supporters react to results and decisions; the board expects progress.
Give your team a plan.
Study your opponent, choose the starting lineup and set an approach that suits your players. Training and preparation feed into tactical familiarity, so a system becomes stronger through the work you put into it.
Build a system around your players.
Combine defensive shape, attacking system and tempo with your preferred way to create chances. Width, passing risk, physicality and counter-attack risk let you refine the approach. A change of system also has to account for familiarity and player strengths.
The bench is yours.
Follow the match on a 2.5D court with a live event feed and statistics. Use substitutions, time-outs and tactical changes to respond to fatigue, momentum and your opponent's approach.
Every possession tells a story.
The match simulation brings player attributes and tactical choices together with the rules of handball. Goals, saves, exclusions and penalties shape the contest; knockout ties can carry the tension into extra time and a shootout.
Make derby day yours.
Local and historical rivals turn a fixture into a club occasion. Supporters expect more, the atmosphere intensifies and the result stays with them. Build a record against your rivals that your fans can be proud of.
Give the attack more than one answer.
Build a playbook from eleven set plays, with up to six selected for a system. Combine your chosen actions with the players and tactical approach that can execute them.
Use the right player for each phase.
Set specialist pairings to connect attacking and defensive roles. The match engine applies these changes at the relevant phase, adding another layer to your lineup and bench planning.
The world keeps playing. Your plan still matters.
Assistant coaching and autopilot provide support when you are away. Autopilot can select the strongest lineup, set ticket prices and renew important contracts. It follows your tactical plan, but incoming transfer offers can expire unanswered.
A rival can become a friend.
Find managers by name, send a friend request and stay in touch through private messages. League and world chat connect you to the conversation around your regular campaign.
Give your group an identity.
Create or join a manager association with a name, tag and colours. Membership can be open or application-based, with leadership roles to organise the group while each member continues their own club career.
Build something together.
Association goals give members a shared weekly target. Victories, matches and trophies connect individual club activity to the group’s progress, with goal rewards recognising the members’ contribution.
Try the idea you have been thinking about.
Challenge another club and arrange a kickoff time. AI clubs accept automatically; a human manager can accept or decline. Both human managers can take live decisions. Friendlies save the result and replay without changing competitive fitness, injuries, morale, finances or league statistics.
Make your own cup night.
Create a knockout tournament for friends or association members with four, eight or sixteen places. Choose a start time and the spacing between rounds. AI clubs can fill empty places, and the bracket advances until a winner is crowned.
Keep up with the managers who matter to you.
Follow managers and see trophies and achievements from friends and followed players in your news feed. Profiles and the Hall of Fame make it easier to discover a career worth watching.
One country. One cup. Your chance.
National cups bring clubs from the same country into a knockout competition. Follow the rounds, your own route and the next opponent as the distance to the trophy gets shorter.
Two competitions. A bigger stage.
The Euro Elite League begins with 16 clubs in four groups. The Euro Challenge Cup opens with 32 clubs in eight groups. Both lead from home-and-away group matches into two-legged knockout ties and a single-match final.
Handball belongs to the world.
Africa, the Americas, and Asia with Oceania each have their own continental champions competition. Eight clubs compete in two groups of four, with the group winners meeting in the final.
Earn your place among champions.
The WHU Club World Cup brings together eight clubs: the winners of the five continental competitions, with remaining places filled from the Euro Elite League according to how far clubs progressed.
A trophy is never just a result.
The domestic Supercup pairs the league champion with the cup winner. If one club wins both, the league runner-up takes the other place. Your club history keeps the wider story: titles, season summaries and records.
Eight clubs. Fourteen rounds.
League groups contain eight clubs. Play every opponent at home and away over 14 rounds. A league is defined by country, division and group, so your club has a clear place in the national hierarchy.
The table changes your future.
At the end of the campaign, clubs move between divisions. The number of promotion and relegation places depends on the shape of the neighbouring levels, keeping movement balanced across the pyramid.
Build for the whole campaign.
The Handball Rivals cycle gives you 45 days of competition followed by 15 days for transfers and squad rebuilding. The world continues to move whether clubs are managed by people or AI.
Some points mean more.
Derbies add a different kind of pressure. Supporters care about rivals, while results across the season influence the club’s reputation, finances and expectations. A manager has to think beyond a single scoreline.
Your league is the beginning.
Domestic performance sits within a wider system of national cups and continental qualification. Country coefficients influence continental places, connecting your league to the international game.
Find potential before the world does.
New intakes bring young players into your academy. Separate cadet and junior views help you understand the group. Look beyond a single overall rating: attributes, estimated potential and development history tell a fuller story.
Give talent a place to grow.
Academy players develop over time. Your academy investment and the opportunities players receive help shape their progress. Track the changes and judge whether a prospect needs more time or a new challenge.
Let the next generation compete.
Your juniors face seven AI youth teams from the same country in an eight-team league. Each opponent is played once. Players who take part gain a development benefit that week.
Experience has something to give.
Pair a young prospect with an eligible experienced first-team player. Mentoring links the senior squad to the academy and gives you another decision to make about how to support the next generation.
Know when they are ready.
Promote a prospect into the senior squad with a professional contract. At 19, the academy path reaches a decision point: a contract or departure. Leave room in the squad and in the wage budget for the players you believe in.
Your work can travel with them.
Follow academy graduates after they leave the youth setup. Youth development compensation can recognise your club’s contribution when eligible players move, giving development a place in your long-term club strategy.
Watch your players represent their country.
National squads are selected from eligible players by nationality, wherever their clubs play. Follow your own players alongside the wider tournament, from group standings to the final.
A different shirt. The same pride.
The international competition is simulated by the world. As a club manager, you follow the championship and your players’ contribution; the current feature does not give you a national-team coaching job.
Your club contributes to the national game.
Federation finances sit alongside the club economy. Contributions fund the national structure, while eligible academies can receive development support. Investing in young players connects club building with the wider handball system.
Build a reputation beyond your bench.
Eligible established managers can stand for federation president. Choose a programme and compete with federation candidates in a periodic election. The current system simulates club voting rather than asking every manager to cast a ballot.
Look beyond the headline rating.
Assign a scout to a country or continent, choose a position and set an age limit. Reports narrow the estimated rating range and add potential estimates, strengths and a price assessment. Better information helps you judge the fit; it does not guarantee a future star.
Agree the fee. Then win the player over.
A permanent signing from an AI club involves club negotiations followed by personal terms. Balance the fee with wages, contract length and promises. A sporting director supports negotiations, while deadline-day conditions add pressure to the conversation.
The price today is only part of the cost.
Instalments spread a transfer commitment into future payments. A sell-on clause exchanges some immediate value for a share of the next eligible sale. Track both alongside your wage bill before committing to another signing.
Improve the squad in more than one way.
Borrow a player to cover a need or loan out one of your own. The borrowing club takes the wage commitment. Player exchanges offer another route, with an additional cash payment where required and checks on squad balance and reputation.
Plan ahead. Protect your position.
Approach eligible AI-club players whose contracts are running down with a pre-contract. No transfer fee does not mean no cost: signing and agent payments still matter. Release clauses provide another route to a deal, and AI clubs can activate clauses on your own players.
There is another manager at the table.
Send a sale, loan or swap proposal to another manager and wait for their decision. When human managers compete to sign the same free agent, negotiations can become a sealed-bid auction, with offers judged by the player rather than a public bidding ladder.
Your rivals are building too.
AI clubs recruit, incoming AI offers give you decisions about your own squad, and transfer news records activity in your country. A sale can bring cash but also remove a starter, a mentor or a supporter favourite.
Build a week with a purpose.
Choose the focus and intensity of six training blocks. Physical work, shooting, attacking and defensive tactics, one-on-one play, goalkeeping, video analysis and recovery each serve a different purpose.
Different players need different work.
Use individual plans to focus selected players on the areas you want to improve. Development also reflects coaching, facilities and playing time, so a prospect’s plan belongs alongside their place in your rotation.
Push hard. Know when to ease off.
Higher intensity can accelerate development while increasing fatigue and injury risk. Recovery blocks restore condition and support morale. A crowded fixture list makes the balance between improvement and readiness a recurring decision.
Put the right people around the players.
Recruit staff for the work your club needs: coaching, conditioning, goalkeeping, academy development, scouting, medical support and analysis. Staff quality has practical effects, while contracts and wages make every appointment a financial choice.
Readiness is a team decision.
The medical centre shows available, injured and tired players with estimated return times. Medical staff and facilities influence recovery and injury risk; your rotation and training choices determine the load placed on the squad.
Make your system second nature.
Training supports familiarity with your attacking and defensive approach. Video work adds preparation for the next match. Combine those sessions with opponent analysis and the starting lineup you intend to use.
Know what ambition will cost.
Read income and expenditure by category, inspect transactions and use cash-flow planning to understand recurring commitments. Transfer fees are only one part of the picture: player and staff wages, facilities and future instalments all compete for resources.
Choose the expectations you can live with.
Sponsorship options balance safer returns against more demanding performance targets. The board evaluates your club through results and financial health. Low confidence can bring a warning and ultimately dismissal, turning your career into more than a series of fixtures.
Build a home for your ambitions.
Expand seating, adjust ticket pricing and invest in facilities. Projects take time and money, while ticket prices interact with demand and supporter mood. Growth is a decision about what your club can sustain.
Manage the people behind the numbers.
Appoint a captain, recognise leaders and keep an eye on unhappy players. The dressing-room model includes personalities and nationality groups, while atmosphere feeds back into morale. Individual conversations give you a way to respond.
Your choices reach the stands.
Results, ticket prices and the sale of a favourite can change supporter mood. Active supporter groups can stage choreography or protests. Press-conference answers ask you to weigh the reaction of the squad against that of the crowd.
Become part of the wider game.
National federation finances connect club contributions with development support. Eligible established managers can stand in presidential elections and choose a programme, adding another ambition beyond the league table.
Remember what you built.
Season summaries and club history keep results and records in view. The gala recognises standout players, while the trophy collection lets you look back at what the club achieved under your watch.
Make the bench your own.
Create a manager profile and choose an initial playing style. Browse available clubs by country and league, or look for a club in a city that matters to you. Reputation and the club-selection rules shape which challenges are available.
Every season teaches you something.
Gain experience through management activity and match achievements. The progression system spans 200 levels with licence ranks, rewards and skill choices. Daily tasks and weekly challenges give your routine additional goals.
Choose what kind of manager you become.
Spend earned skill points across five specialisations. You cannot fully invest in every branch, so your choices express what matters to your approach. Skill points stop at level 100; later levels continue the prestige journey.
Find a challenge beyond the table.
Achievements recognise different kinds of success: results, trophies, squad choices and community activity. Follow your progress across bronze, silver and gold tiers, then share the milestone through your manager profile.
A career other managers can follow.
Add friends, follow managers and discover their trophies and achievements in the community feed. The Hall of Fame compares accomplishments at world and global level, giving your career a place in a wider handball community.
Keep your club moving.
The world does not pause when you leave. Autopilot supports the club with lineup selection, ticket pricing and selected contract renewals while using your tactical plan. It can be enabled explicitly and also responds to inactivity. Offers that need a manager’s decision are not accepted for you.
Make informed choices before you buy.
Handball Rivals is free to play. The shop offers coins, cosmetics, a Manager Pass and optional preparation or convenience items. Some items affect training, recovery, scouting or construction, and every item shows its effect and price before you buy.
Know what needs your attention.
Use the club overview, upcoming-fixture countdown and notification centre to stay close to the team. Results, injuries, contracts, transfer activity and completed projects feed into your next decision.
Grow your next starting seven.
Combine academy investment, youth matches and senior mentors with a realistic route into first-team minutes. Use individual training and selective recruitment to fill the gaps that your own prospects cannot yet cover.
Turn information into a better fit.
Start with a positional need, scout the right region and compare reports before negotiating. Weigh a permanent signing against a loan, pre-contract or exchange. Use cash-flow planning to judge the commitment beyond the first payment.
Build the squad for the handball you want.
Choose a defensive system and attacking approach that suit your players, then support them through training and familiarity. Add rehearsed plays and attack-defence specialists where they fit, and review the result before changing the plan.
Keep enough in reserve for the next whistle.
A league run and a cup campaign ask different questions of the same squad. Track fatigue, plan recovery, rotate players and keep promises in mind. Recruitment and medical investment can support depth, but every extra wage needs funding.
Make progress the club can afford.
Combine a realistic sponsor choice with careful ticket pricing and staged facility improvements. Consider the effect on supporters before selling a favourite, and watch board confidence while balancing sporting ambition with financial health.
Make the game part of your circle.
Join an association, pursue shared goals and organise private tournaments. Use friendly challenges to try ideas against another manager while your regular club campaign continues in the persistent world.
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