Quick
-N- Dirty
These Quick
‘n Dirty Rules are designed to get you up and playing your first game right
away. More in-depth play and examples
are covered in the Official Rules.
Upper Deck
Gridiron Fantasy Football (GFF) follows the basic rules of football -- if
you’re unfamiliar with football, refer to Appendix A in the Official Rules.
In this
two-person game, each player will need his own GFF Starter Deck and you’ll
share one Playing Field (on the opposite side of these rules). You will also need a number of coins or
similar small markers to keep track of the Score, the position of the ball,
etc.
Success in
the game requires winning Challenges between the players. In a challenge, each
person plays cards with the appropriate Key Ability symbols and whoever plays
the most symbols wins the Challenge.
The Key
Abilities are:
Power (an arm)
Speed (a foot)
Skill (a football)
Mental (a helmet)
Setup
Game Length
Each game consists of a set number of Drives towards your
goal. You should first play a short game of four drives.
A normal game consists of two five-drive halves.
Sort Cards
Sort your cards into five piles.
Each type can be easily identified by its card back:
Team cards
Offensive Play cards
Defensive Play cards
Offensive Action cards
Defensive Action cards
Build Teams
Select three Team cards (five in a normal game). These represent the Star Players and other
advantages of your team. No team can
have more than one Coach and one Team Franchise, and no duplicates of any Team
cards are allowed. Lay your Team cards
face-down on the table between you.
Create Playbooks
Both teams also have Offensive and Defensive Playbooks. These represent the plays that your team has
practiced to perfection.
Select up to six Offensive
Play cards and six Defensive Play cards and set them face-down on
the table. Set any remaining Plays aside
for future use.
Prepare Action Cards
Both players also have Offensive and
Defensive Action Decks. Each deck is
composed of a minimum of 15 different Action cards (if you have fewer than 15
Action cards, just play with what you have).
Don’t use more than two of any specific Action card in your first
game. Shuffle
your Offensive Action Deck and your Defensive Action Deck. Place them face-down on the
table.
Reveal Team Cards
Turn all of your Team
cards face-up. If both of you reveal an identical
card, flip a coin to decide who gets to keep his card and who has to call up a
replacement.
Prepare the Playing
Field
Set the Playing Field
between both players, off to one side. Put markers on
each of following parts of the scoreboard: the “1” in the Down area, the “1” in
the Drive area, and start the team scores at zero.
Starting the Game
Overview
Your first game of GFF will begin
with a coin toss and a kickoff, followed by four drives.
In a normal game you’ll play ten
drives, separated by a halftime during which you may revise your Playbooks and
Action Decks.
A Drive consists of one or more
consecutive Plays while the same player is on offense. A Drive ends when the defense gains
possession of the ball or the offense scores.
Coin Toss
Flip a coin: the winner will be the Home Team
and will receive the opening kickoff.
In a normal game, the Home Team will
kickoff to start the second half.
Kickoff
For your first game, all kickoffs
reach the end zone and the receiving team takes possession on their own 20-yard
line.
There are complete kicking rules for
a normal game in the Official Rules.
Put a marker on the
receiving player’s 20-yard line: this is the current location of the ball.
Put another marker 10
yards down-field indicating
the distance to a first down.
Starting a Drive
Pick up your Playbook (the Offensive Playbook for the
offensive player and vice versa).
You may exchange one card from your Playbook for one of your
unused Play cards.
Draw five cards from the top of your Action Deck (Offensive Action Deck for the
offensive player and vice versa). If you
run out of cards in your deck, take only what remains and reshuffle the
discards to create a new Action Deck.
You’re now ready to call the first Play.
Playcalling
Select your Active Team cards.
Turn any Team cards you’d like to use face-up, making them Active. If you are on Offense, you should turn any
defensive Team cards face-down and vice versa.
Choose a card from your Playbook, laying it face-down on the
table. These are the plays you and your
opponent are calling.
Reveal the Play cards and determine who has the
Advantage. If both are Run plays or both are
Pass plays, the defensive player has called the Play correctly and has the
Advantage. Otherwise, the offensive
player has the Advantage. You announce
that you have the Advantage.
Determine the Dominant Ability for the play. The Dominant Ability is the Key Ability on the Play card
revealed by the player with the Advantage.
You can announce this as well.
Determine your initial Ability Total. Count the Dominant Ability symbols on your Play card. Add any Abilities from appropriate Team
Cards. Ignore other Ability types for he
rest of the play unless a card states otherwise. Mark your current Ability Total using the
colored dice.
If both players have the same
Ability Total, the player with the Advantage has the higher Total.
Playaction – The Challenge
If you have the lower Ability Total, play
Challenge Action cards with the Dominant Ability until you have
the higher Ability Total.
Remember, if both players have the
same Ability Total, the player with the Advantage has the higher Total.
You may not play additional
Challenge Actions if you have the higher Total.
If you do not have sufficient cards
with the appropriate Ability, you must skip.
You may also skip if you would rather retain your Action cards.
Change the dice to reflect the new
Ability Total.
Take turns until one player skips. Action cards with no Ability symbols have
immediate effects and can be played at any appropriate time.
Certain Team cards have effects that you may apply at
anytime.
Play Results
If the offensive player has the higher Ability Total, the
play is successful. Apply the
Objective stated on the Offensive Play card.
If the defensive player has the higher Ability Total, the
play is stopped. Apply the
Objective stated on the Defensive Play card.
If the last Action card played by the winner of the play was
a Challenge Action card, apply that card’s
Special Result, even if it doesn’t benefit the winning side.
Your first game should be a friendly game, ignoring
Penalties.
When you play a normal game, consult
the Official Rules for complete Penalty Results.
Advance the Down marker to the next Down
or reset it to First Down when one is achieved.
Return any used Play cards to the appropriate Playbooks.
Discard all used Action cards.
You may discard one
unwanted Action card from your Action Hand.
Draw Action cards until you have five cards in your
Action Hand.
Finishing a Drive
A Drive ends when one
of the following occurs:
The Official Rules contain additional
normal game rules for all of the following.
You may choose to Punt instead of calling a normal
Offensive Play.
Advance the ball 40 yards and the defense takes
possession. If the ball enters the end
zone, the defense takes over on their 20-yard line.
You may choose to kick a
Field Goal instead
of calling a normal Offensive Play. If
you are within 25 yards of your opponent’s goal line, the kick is good. Score three points
and kickoff to your opponent.
If you attempt a
Field Goal and it fails (as the result of a card played by your opponent), the
defensive player gains control of the ball where the play started.
If you fail to achieve a
First Down after four
If a Fumble occurs (as a result of a card used during a
play), the defensive player gains control of the ball at the end of the play.
If a Pass is Intercepted (as the result of a card used during
a play), advance the ball as if the pass had been completed. The defensive player gains control of the
ball at the end of the play.
If a normal Offensive Play
ends with the football reaching or passing the defensive player’s 0-yard line, the offensive player scores a
Touchdown, receiving six points.
After a Touchdown, you may
either kick an automatic extra point, adding one point to your score, or you can go for two. Attempt
one play from the defensive player’s 2-yard line, adding two points to your
score if you cross the 0-yard line. Whatever the result, kickoff to your
opponent.
If a normal play ends with
the football reaching or passing the offensive player’s 0-yard line (as the result of pushing the
offensive player back through a successful Defensive Play), the defensive
player has achieved a Safety and scores two points.
After a Safety, the
offensive player must kickoff.
At the end of a Drive:
Advance the Drive marker
to the
You may discard
any number of Action Cards from your Action Hand.
If you have completed four Drives,
the clock has run out.
End the game.
Ending the Game
The player with the most points wins. If the game ends in a tie, you may play Sudden-Death Overtime. Start it with a Coin Toss and a Kickoff – the
first Player to score in Overtime winds the game!
Congratulations! You
have triumphed (or perhaps been horrifically slaughtered) in your first game of
GFF!
To enhance the game, the Official Rules contain complete
rules on Kicking, Secondary Challenges, Doubling, Penalties, and more!
In a normal game the Official Rules always take precedence
over the Quick -n- Dirty Rules.