Two Similar Free Card-Based NFL Games Arrive on Mobile Platforms

Management games are nothing new to mobile but with an uptick in player interest, due in part to the success of Ultimate Team mode in EA Sports console titles, more attempts are being made at creating them in the one place that the exclusivity of the NFL license doesn’t reach to. Within the last week two new games launched – one is isolated to iOS while the other is also featured on Android – carrying with them both the NFL branding and real active players. 

While NFL Quarterback 13 is a more interactive experience, and only has the NFL licensing and none of the players, NFL Shuffle and NFL Matchups instead take on a card collection-based team management focus. There is no traditional gameplay rather the “game results” are based on the skill level of the teams and players that have been constructed when put up against those from other NFL teams in the quasi-career mode or user-teams in PVP mode. Of course they also offer the opportunity to advance faster by spending money on cards and upgrades.

Both games have fairly strong user-ratings with a spattering of complaints regarding the need to shell out cash to advance past a certain point and lack of variety in players obtained (Shuffle) or the game prematurely ending after rolling through the first eight NFL teams (Matchups). Though they have their own unique touches the general design of the two games is near identical.

NFL Shuffle is free and available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. NFL Matchups is free and available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as well as Android devices.