CARD FOOTBALL MSRP $24.99 purchased for 16.99 @ boardsandbits.com Players 1-4 Time: about an hour

I’ve been playing Pizza Box Football (and the expansion) for quite some time on and off over the past few months. While I like the game quite a bit my only complaints are the sort clunky laminated nature of the charts and you need quite a bit of space to play it. Second the fact that it is pretty expensive (I think have something like $45 invested in it) for a pretty simply chart and dice game with just okay bits. In fact the charts have kept some people from getting into it and I really felt the expansion should have been part of the original game for the $30 I paid for it.

Well there is a new contender on the block and for roughly the price of what I paid for PBF expansion…I got a heck of a lot of chrome bits, great game play and a new king of the grid iron!

So what do you get for you hard earned gaming dollar? Quite a lot actually! * Full color very nice glossy box about 8.5 x 10 inch game box roughly 2.5 inches deep. (nice and portable!) *A little well painted referee (we call him “the dude”) 4 fold game board, nice layout full color glossy, 2 12 sided dice (1 for fumbles, 1 for field goals) Quick play sheet Full color rule book Solid plastic scoreboard with wheels for downs, score, ball position, quarter, it is GREAT! A lot of small pog sized playing disks (representing teams and special players) And a deck of 54 special playing cards (the heart of the system) It all comes in a nice clam shelled plastic package! Did I mention this was only $16.99?!

The Cards The heart of the system is the deck of cards. Each card has an offense play and a defense play on it. Red cards are running plays, black cards are pass plays. Plays are also rated for the red zone (inside the opponents 20 yard line) with more limited yardage potential.

Now beyond the simple play calling, each card also has results for special teams plays as well: kick off, field goals, punting, punt blocking, and returns of kick offs and punts.

That seems like a lot of stuff on just one card…but it is cleanly and elegantly laid out in a clear logical fashion…in full color on a clip board image!

So as you have guessed by now hand management is the key to the game. A card with a great offensive running play for you is also: a great defensive play to stop your opponent AND it’s a great punt…great kick off …or long field goal…or big punt return! So when to use a card is critical, just like good play calling!

The cards also have special Icons like blitz, or fumble, penalty, and injury! Then some cards even have special abilities depending upon which team you are playing with AND even special bonuses if you have star players at a certain position. (Note, just the cities are named for teams and players are simply via a number like WR87, QB12, DE90)

I know it seems like a ton of stuff on one playing card, but I cannot stress enough how clean, easy to read, and well designed these cards are.

The Game Play: You each have a hand of 5 cards. The offense player puts 1 card face down, the defense puts a card face down and then both reveal. Like the classic card game war…the highest number wins and executes their selected play. That’s it nice and easy! All the play results are on the card!

Now let’s twist it up a bit and toss a little poker into the mix! Let’s say you both reveal and your opponent has a better card..well you could lay down another 7 on your 7 for a pair and now you win the play…unless your opponent can beat your pair! Yes you can use your hand to execute poker hands which allow for you to best your opponents play card. Certain combos (power hands) like a flush, straight or a full house create a 50 yard gain or an automatic turn over!

After each play is resolved you discard all played cards and each players draws back up to 5 cards. A quarter ends when you go through the draw deck once. Half time occurs after the second deck run through and players have played all their cards. 4 times through the deck and its game over once each player has played all their cards.

Time outs (3 a half) allow you to discard up to 2 cards from your hand and draw 2 new cards.

The dice: 2 dice are used occasionally in the game to determine the success of a field goal/ extra point attempt and another die determines fumble out comes and injuries.

The team and player chips Optional rules allow you to select star players which can influence the outcome of plays. Secondly each player can pick a team, and if they play a card with their team on it the play automatically succeeds.

The dude helps mark ball position, first downs and who is offense and defense.

So how "football" is it? It really feels like a football game where the play calling matters! Game play is quick and there are enough variables to make it challenging without feeling like the game is just random and luck based. 2 point conversions have decided our games, key interceptions, big runbacks, clutch 43 yard field goals, and bad timing fumbles have turned the tide. A blitz was pulled off when I was back on my 3 yard line causing a safety and my losing the game! If it happens in football, it can happen here. ‘nuff said!

Sounds great but…My only qualm with game is the penalty cards. If you play a 2 (all 2’s are penalty cards) for a offensive or defensive (not special teams) play you get a penalty called on your team. So 2’s rarely if ever get played outside of special teams. It’s the penalty mechanic which in my opinion stinks. Basically there are no penalties as I have yet to have anyone play one so that they can get called for a penalty. So it’s football…without penalties. Not a big deal to me really but some may have an issue with it.

So should I buy it? No, no you shouldn’t if you fall into either of the following categories: 1. You hate sports 2. You are a die hard stat head and feel that only die hard stat games are good sports games

For everyone else: If you enjoy football, or at least want to have a fun portable sports game in your collection-this is a must buy! If you own Pizza Box football-do yourself a favor and buy this immediately! If you want to play a football game with your kids or signifigant other…buy it. (yes my girlfriend who hates football loves this & street soccer! The only 2 sports games she will play!) If you want to play solitaire football…buy it. If you want to play with 4 players (one offensive and one defensive coach per team) buy it! If you like having players and teams influence the outcome of a game…buy it! If you don’t like rolling dice and looking at charts for an outcome, buy it! If you have ever wasted $16.99 or more on a game that stunk and had lousy parts, well my friend karma has smiled upon you and brought you this little hidden gem to make up for it…buy it!

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