iPhone App Reviews

PlayFootball

Michael (Admin) | Aug 13, 2009 Games

User rating: (5 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)

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Jebudas Communications, aka Destroy Objects, Inc., knew that porting a Madden clone to the iPhone would be pretty impossible to pull off so they did the next best thing: they kept the play calling and got rid of the players! Well the players haven’t been ditched completely, but they’re now reduced to little dots that make very Madden-like grunts while they’re executing plays called by you, their offensive and defensive coordinator.

PlayFootball is a funny little game that’s boiled down to making coaching decisions rather than trying to figure out how to run, catch, and throw. Just call your play and watch the little dot people run into each other until the whistle blows and it’s time to huddle up again for the next down.

The game rules are simplified, as in no 2-point conversions or coach’s challenge (aww geez!) but otherwise it’s all the same as in actual American football with four quarters and four downs and kicking extra points and all that. You’ll even see an occasional fumble or penalty being called. The core of the game, though, is in your play calling… if you’re on defense and the other team is looking at 3rd and 10, you probably want to go with a 3-4 formation which is pass defense. I couldn’t tell you what the difference is between Dropback Zone and Pressure Zone, but as long as you call a pass defense play when you know the other team is gonna throw the ball you should be more or less ok. Just like in real football, though, you don’t always know what’s coming so if you put up pass defense and they run for it then you might be screwed.

Your football team starts out at the high school level and you can eventually progress to college and pro levels. As your team plays and gains experience you’ll get rewarded with new plays to run which is a cool feature. Also included in PlayFootball is some pretty funny text commentary from booth announcers who seem just slightly more coherent than John Madden ever was but are way more entertaining.

iPod music can play freely during your game, and to turn off game sound just tap the scoreboard and go into Setup. The one problem I encountered with this game is in customizing team names… changing the Home team name is easy enough but, when trying to change the Away team name, the text field gets covered up by the keyboard.

With most games I’m pining for a global scoreboard, but since PlayFootballl is just you vs. a pretty random computer I don’t think it would do much good. If Destroy Objects ever decides to implement a tournament mode or head-to-head online play then global bragging and trashtalking would be an absolute must. Right now PlayFootball is fun but it’s also got a fairly limited shelf life because there are no multiplayer options.

Overall this is a quality game that most armchair quarterbacks will get a kick out of. Even if you like to be an idiot and “go for it” when it’s 4th down in your own endzone this can still be a fun way to pass some time. $3 is probably on the high end of what I’d pay for a game like this, but if some kickass global tournaments become possible I’d gladly pay it and maybe even a little more.

iTunes Link – PlayFootball
Version 1.1
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.0.1

Tags: $2.99, american football, Sports