MANAUS, Brazil – The folk at the Nokia Institute of Technology in Brazil (INdT) spend most of their time on very serious projects: industrial research, usability testing and creating new services for businesses and public sector concerns. But they’ve also got a sideline in creating free games – we imagine it’s what they do on a Friday afternoon when the lab is empty. The latest one is Pebol Beach.

Pebol Beach adapts the gameplay of artillery-type games to create a more family-friendly beach soccer session. You choose the angle and force of your kick in the hope of delivering it safely to your fellow player on the other side of the dunes. A changeable wind means there isn’t a single correct way to do this.

The game can be played by one or two people, using the same device. The two-player game is a lot more fun than singleplayer, to be honest – the computer opponent seems to kick the ball faultlessly every time, which makes it rather tough to beat.

You can get the game on Ovi Store for free here – it’s for S60 v5 touch devices and higher. In the meantime, here’s a video showing how the game plays:

We’d suggest that this one would be a good game to play with kids on a rainy afternoon. But have any of you managed to beat the computer opponent?