Game Review: Card Football

By Tom Vasel
August 2, 2006

Publisher: CSE Games and Sports FX International / www.csegames.com
Designer: Michael Levitt and Fabio Del Rio
Players: 1-4

Rating: 6.5 / 10

I often talk about the unlikely combinations that some designers come up with - “Let’s mix Risk with Monopoly!” (actually happened). Therefore I’m getting less and less surprised with the new combinations that I see. But when I received a copy of Card Football: Premiere Edition (CSE Games and Sports FX International, 2006 - Michael Levitt and Fabio Del Rio), I still was a bit startled to see Poker mixed with football. I just couldn’t put the two together in my head - and wondered if this wasn’t just some crazy ploy to pull off the popularity of both subjects.

After playing the game, I must say that it’s fairly charming. It has less of a football feel than other games, such as Pizza Box Football, and also really doesn’t do much justice to poker. However, Card Football is enjoyable enough in its own right, as it is simply a fun little game in which players attempt to play better cards than the opponents. As long as players know what they are getting themselves into, it can be a very enjoyable time. Just don’t expect the total football/poker experience.

A deck of cards is shuffled and placed on the table - a deck which is the heart of the game. It is a standard deck of playing cards with two jokers added. Besides the typical suit and number, each card also features an offense play, a defense play, and some special teams play, as well as a special icon in the top left-hand corner. A board representing a football field is placed on the table, and each player selects a city chip representing their team. A scoreboard showing game statistics (down, yardline, score, etc.) is also placed on the table, and the game is ready to begin - each player being dealt five cards from the deck.

After the kick-off, which involves the playing of a card by both players, a referee piece is placed on the board to show what yard line the ball is at. From this point onwards, the game follows the rules of basic football (touchdown is seven points, there are four downs, etc.) However, each play of the game occurs like this:
- Both the offensive and defensive player play one or more cards at the same time from their hand.
- The player who has played the higher poker combination is the winner of the round. For example, if one player plays a “6” and the other a “10”, then the player who played the “10” executes the play on their card. A pair of “6“‘s will beat a “10”; however, while two pair will beat a pair, three-of-a-kind beats that, and a “power hand” (flush, straight, or full house) will beat that!
- The two jokers in the deck act as the single highest cards but cannot be added to other cards to form a pair, etc.
- Usually, players execute the play on the top card of the ones that they play, but “power hands” do special things, such as an automatic turnover on defense with a Royal Flush or Four of a Kind giving an automatic touchdown!
- The special icons on the cards indicate if anything else happens on the play, such as a fumble, injury, blitz, or penalty. Special rules are followed in each circumstance.
- If the defensive player plays the same number AND color card as their opponent (i.e. you play the “10” of clubs, and I play the “10” of spades), then an interception occurs.
- If a player plays the single card with their team icon on it, that card trumps anything the opponent plays accept a “power hand”.

After each play, the referee piece is moved accordingly, and players draw cards to fill their hands back to five cards. Each player can call three “timeouts” per half, which allows them to discard and replace up to two cards from their hand. Each time the deck is gone through one time, one quarter of the game is considered to have gone by, and the deck is reshuffled for the next quarter. There is a “two-minute warning” after quarters two and four, in which players must play out all five cards in their hands to see if someone can score.

There are other rules in the game, which allow players to attempt a “long bomb”, “onside kick”, penalties, and more. There is also an advanced game in which players can draft players for their teams which allow certain plays to give additional yardage. Either way, after four quarters have gone by, the player with the higher score is declared the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The game comes in a small, sturdy box with a picture of the game on the cover. Yet inside this unassuming box are some incredible components, with high quality stuff included in a plastic insert. First, the board itself, while small (and not the easiest thing to keep track of yards on) represents a football field with a magnetic strip down the side that keeps the plastic referee piece in place. The scoreboard, which is a better place to keep track of where the ball is, is a plastic piece that stands up next to the board, having many dials to keep track of the different statistics. The cards themselves are of superbly high quality, each showing a different play on them, along with any relevant information. There is actually a bit of information listed on each card; and while it may be too small for some eyes, I found it fairly easy to read. Two special twelve-sided dice are included with the game, one for fumbles and the other for Field Goals. The team chips and player chips are thick, laminated cardboard chips that are brightly colored and easy to handle; and everything about the game has a slick, professional feel.

2.) Rules: The rules are reproduced three times in the game: in a twenty-four, full-color rulebook that explains everything about the game, on two sides of a single sheet of paper - the basic rules, and on a series of cards included in the deck. For the most part, even if one knows nothing about American football, the rules are pretty self-explanatory. A few rules details were a bit unclear, such as how to play cards and resolve defense cards; but after a careful study of the rules, we were able to figure everything out. Clearer instructions would have been nice. Still, I can easily teach this game to someone, provided they either know poker rules or American football rules. I haven’t tried someone who knows the rules to neither, but then again - why would they be interested in the first place?

3.) Football: Okay, I’ll get one thing out of the way right now. Even though Card Football is based around American football, and moving the referee piece back and forth simulates a football game to a degree; do NOT expect pure football here. There is virtually no difference between passing plays and running plays; penalties are wonky and random, field goals have a strange rate of success, you see many more high yardage plays than low ones, and more. If you’re looking for a pure football experience, I would suggest a different game, as this one - while interesting, may frustrate football fans.

4.) Poker: The addition of two joker cards may be a bit offsetting to some; but I really enjoy the poker aspect of the game, even though it may not satisfy fans of that bluffing game. Since the entire deck is gone through, a player with good memory will have an advantage, as they can remember what cards have already been played. Jokers seem a bit powerful but can be beaten even by the lowly pair of “2"s. I’m not sure that I like that the higher numbered cards are also the higher yardage plays (I think it would be neat to see it the other way around), but the game still works.

5.) Fun Factor: I’m sticking this point in here because it’s vitally important. Regardless of the fact that Card Football isn’t pure football OR pure poker, there’s something about it that will draw in a lot of people. And that’s the fact that it’s a lot of fun to play! Call it “War”; call it whatever you want - and I’m not really sure how to classify it myself, but the game is simply a blast to play. The fact that a game can easily be finished under an hour has a score that is similar to football, and incorporates poker elements, somehow combines to be something that people enjoy quite a bit.

6.) Luck: The game initially seems rather lucky. A player who gets high cards will assume that they will win; and when you get a handful of low numbers, the outlook doesn’t seem so bright. Yet there is a degree of card management in the game, as players can play poor plays, attempting to get one of the wonderful “power play” hands. I still have yet to see someone get a Royal Flush; but as I don’t see that even in regular poker, it isn’t a big deal. It’s incredibly satisfying to lay down a straight or a flush, or play your team card at the right time. I initially thought of the football game as a backdrop, and that’s probably a correct assessment, but it makes for an interesting way to decide when to play your best hand. It’s more interesting to me than playing for money - that’s for certain.

7.) Player chips: I won’t play without these in the future. Each player drafts a certain amount of players from different categories and positions with a numerical ranking that goes up to “100”. If a player plays a play and has the matching player for the position that is mentioned on the card, and whose ranking is higher than the listed number, they receive an additional bonus (usually extra yards). This allows a bit of strategy when building the initial team and when playing cards.

8.) Teams: The teams are from random cities (although I’ve been told that college teams might be in the future), so don’t get your hopes up to find your beloved Eagles in the game. Teams are basically window dressing, but they do add a bit of variety to the game.

9.) Players and time: Okay, you can play four player games, but I would never attempt such a thing (solitaire rules are even included!). The game for me is a two player game; one that plays rather quickly, which is great considering the game’s weight and fun factor.

I was all set to compare this game to other football games and see where it ranked. And I find that I really can’t do so, because Card Football seems to be more about the cards than it is about football. I’m not a huge poker fan, but the combination here makes for a light, very fun game. When I’m in the mood to play a football game, I’ll probably still pull out Pizza Box Football. But when I’m in the mood for a fun two-player game, one that combines card management with a football theme, Card Football really comes through. The designers remembered to package fun in with the incredible components; and while possibly not as strategic as some would like, Card Football delivers an enjoyable experience. And isn’t that what we’re all looking for?

Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version
	The Game

© 2006 Tom Vasel

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