First, some disclaimers: 1) I love football 2) I love any game I can get my wife to play 3) My wife likes, but does not love football.

I decided to pick up Card Football because of disclaimer #1. That being said, I assumed, like many other games, I would struggle to find someone to play with. I was also a little unsure at the concept of a poker oriented game crossed with football. Well, what a great surprise I found! Not only does this game capture a lot of the strategy and the excitement of football, but it is also a game my wife loves to play!

Card Football is built on the foundational rule of high card wins. Each card has the potential to be used for Offense, Defense, or Special Teams. So, when you are on offense, if you play a 6 of hearts and the defense plays a 4 of spades, you get to go 6 yards. Conversely, if you play the 4 and the defense plays the 6, you will be stopped for no yards. This is obviously a simple example and the game has the potential for long bombs, fumbles, interceptions, field goals, safeties, blitzes, etc., but it is all based on this simple concept. All that being said, this game requires a lot of strategy. Managing your high quality cards requires a lot of thought. Should you use them to cause a turnover on defense but then have no power for offense? Should you try for big plays on offense but then leave yourself open when it comes time to play defense?

The game comes with very high quality components and almost anything that happens in football is simulated in the game (up to and even including injuries). If you love football (or, even if you are like my wife and only "like" football) I can not recommend this game enough. Great fun!!