Gridiron Solitaire Football - Coming Soon

Grim.Reaper · January 08, 2014, 06:50:27 PM

I know someone mentioned following this upcoming American football game in another thread, based on the developer's comments below, looks like we can see it on steam soon. I also included links to the steam page and the developer's blog page if interested. This actually was a game listed in the RPS 2014 game preview article. No idea what it is going to cost and how long it will take for steam to make it available, but does look interesting. I thought I read in the past it might have some "interesting" rules/gameplay mechanics in it that might not correspond 100% with NFL football, but could be fun anyways. Looks like it also not really based on real teams, but that is OK too.

I am a sucker for all American football games so this likely is the game to make me break my resolution for 2014:)

Developer's Comments (posted on 1/7)
"I'm getting up early in the morning, putting in about two and a half hours of final testing, then submitting to Steam."

Blog
http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/

Steam Page
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=195337612

KyzBP · January 08, 2014, 06:59:23 PM

If I remember correctly, the developer used to work for Sports Interactive...the fine people who bring you Football Manager ;).

Grim.Reaper · January 08, 2014, 07:09:01 PM

Quote from: KyzBP on January 08, 2014, 06:59:23 PM
If I remember correctly, the developer used to work for Sports Interactive...the fine people who bring you Football Manager ;).

Not sure if he did or didn't....if I remember correctly, this is actually his first programming experience on a game. I know he is known in the sports gaming circles for reviews and being involved in forums of sports games since I have seen his name around....but for some reason, not sure he had any in depth experience anywhere else...but I could be wrong.

Grim.Reaper · January 08, 2014, 07:12:15 PM

Here is the article I was referring, to me seems like this is his first game...

http://www.reddoorbluekey.com/features/interviews/moving-chains-talking-gridiron-solitaire-developer-bill-harris/

KyzBP · January 08, 2014, 07:31:51 PM

My bad. There's another American Football Manager game that just started development. If I can remember where I saw it, I'll post a link. I bet someone beats me to it though.

Grim.Reaper · January 08, 2014, 07:42:35 PM

Quote from: KyzBP on January 08, 2014, 07:31:51 PM
My bad. There's another American Football Manager game that just started development. If I can remember where I saw it, I'll post a link. I bet someone beats me to it though.

I bet you meant this one....
http://footballgeneralmanager.wordpress.com/

This one has promise if he sticks with it....

KyzBP · January 08, 2014, 08:20:36 PM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on January 08, 2014, 07:42:35 PM
Quote from: KyzBP on January 08, 2014, 07:31:51 PM
My bad. There's another American Football Manager game that just started development. If I can remember where I saw it, I'll post a link. I bet someone beats me to it though.

I bet you meant this one....
http://footballgeneralmanager.wordpress.com/

This one has promise if he sticks with it....

Yep, that's the one.

Nefaro · January 08, 2014, 11:05:46 PM

Aww man.

I got all excited but it looks to be a game of solitaire playing cards with a football theme. :-[ I was hoping for a full-on text sim manager thing.

I suppose the other game linked in this thread is the only other text sim football game that has some screenshots and progress posted lately?

I like FOF7 but they really need to change the play-calling setup next year (or next version whenever that will be). Right now the AI only chooses the same style of offense and defense, to small varying degrees, so there isn't much in the way of AI playcalling variety since it just falls down to the same percentage die roll calls in each situation. Maybe we'll see an overhaul in the coming years. *fingers crossed*

Bison · January 09, 2014, 12:18:02 AM

Yeah I don't know about this one. I must be missing the appeal of it given the video on Steam.

Grim.Reaper · January 09, 2014, 05:50:41 AM

Just something unique and a little different. Certainly won't replace replace fof or the other games out there. But with limited American football options out there, always good to see at least something new. No idea how it will turn out in the end.

bbmike · January 21, 2014, 01:18:37 PM

Just saw this is now available on Steam. Anyone playing it?

tgb · January 21, 2014, 01:43:03 PM

Bill Harris moderated GoneGold when it was in it's death throes after Rich vanished. Lots of people over at Octopus Overlords (including myself) are buying this for that reason alone.

BanzaiCat · January 21, 2014, 02:30:52 PM

It looks interesting, and I'm always down for American football, but I'm not purchasing anything until I can see a gameplay video of some kind and have more info on how the game plays other than vague references to solitaire and NFL data.

BanzaiCat · January 21, 2014, 02:34:56 PM

This article sheds some more light on GS:

http://www.reddoorbluekey.com/features/interviews/moving-chains-talking-gridiron-solitaire-developer-bill-harris/

This has me more intrigued, actually. I'm on the fence now.

spelk · January 21, 2014, 05:01:58 PM

I've been following Bill for ages on his development blog, so I've got the game and have played a little of it.

Basically its a game of solitaire.

Each play, you select cards from the field in alternating colour and numerical order (eg. black 2, red 3 or red 12, black 13). You only select in pairs, and each successful pairing gains yardage on the field (or on defense takes yardage away from your opponent). You have a Big play button that allows you to "roll" for an extra card, but there is a chance of a text event - that usually doesn't end well. So you can't keep stabbing away at this button.

You also get a card penalty (ie.you lose a card from the field) if your opponent reads you next play (pass or run) and puts up an appropriate defense. There are also Wild Card cards that match up with any other card - useful for getting rid of one of a pair of single colour duplicates (eg. two red 13's).

On defense you have a Big Play button, but its only stacked with a finite number of presses - whereas on offense you can chance your luck with it endlessly (but don't forget the nasty text events that crop up, such as fumbles and turnovers etc).

The initial play is 1st and 40 (rather than the usual 1st and 10) to help keep the game pacey and make it about 15-20 minutes long.

Knowing when to cut your losses and End a play, rather than try for another Big Play seems to be the key. The team stats seem to affect certain elements of the game, but I haven't quite fathomed that out yet. Just make sure you have reasonable scores in both offensive run/pass and defensive run/pass stats.

Successful Run plays gain less yardage (4 yards per card pair I think), whereas pass plays gain 8, but needs three in a row to complete the pass. Pass plays run the clock slower though, somehow.

Its very much a football themed casual card matching game, nothing too deep or stat heavy. I kind of like it, but I'm not sure about the pairs mechanic. Fairway Solitaire allows for very long chains, whereas this doesn't, it allows for long pair match chains to a touchdown. If the card draw is with you.

If you're looking for something deep and tactical, I don't think you're going to get it here. If you want something similar to Fairway Solitaire, although a little more homebrew and attached to a Football theme then you might enjoy it.