NFL Rivals: A New Challenger to Madden

Regarding American football games, the Madden franchise has long been the cream of the crop. But now it has some competition, not just from EA Sports' own College Football game, but also in the form of the mobile game NFL Rivals, which incorporates NFTs.

While NFL Rivals isn't trying to top Madden when presenting a lifelike simulation on your game console, it's a free-to-play, arcade-style mobile football game with the same official licenses from the league and players. This game offers bursts of entertainment on your smartphone or tablet.

It also features player-based NFTs, which, should you get lucky, you can list on the secondary market to earn some cash. Or, if you want to gain a competitive advantage, you can drop some dollars to buy the NFT player cards you need to improve your lineup.

Gameplay and Mechanics

NFL Rivals is a mobile game available on iOS and Android that challenges you to build a team of NFL players from digital cards you get from store packs. You'll instantly know whether you've ever played Ultimate Team mode in any EA Sports title, like Madden or FIFA.

Once you have your team, you can play offense-only matches against the AI or take on challenges that put you in a scenario—usually, one in which you are losing in the fourth quarter and have to win to earn some rewards.

There are also limited-time events, leagues to progress through, and thousands of NFL players to unlock as you progress through the game.

Upcoming updates promise to add live player-versus-player (PvP) matches instead of just playing against the AI team someone has built. However, the lack of defensive play, at least for now, could limit the excitement of PvP play.

Easy to Learn, Hard to Master

Once you've downloaded NFL Rivals onto your iOS or Android device, it's very easy to learn, and there is a strong tutorial that teaches you the basics.

When you get on the field, you'll only be playing offense—and every snap, you will be given a choice of three plays to run, none of which are particularly complicated.

If you select a running play, you'll tap the screen to snap the ball, which is automatically handed off to the running back. From there, you'll use the virtual joystick and buttons to run away from the defenders as fast as you can, even incorporating jukes and dives along the way.

If you choose a passing play, your quarterback will take the snap, and the receivers will start their routes. When you spot an open receiver and want to throw, you'll pull down on the screen to set the power and angle the ball in their direction.

When you let go, the ball will fly in that direction—and if in range, they'll automatically catch the ball. You then control their run down the field, just like with the running back.

There are also kicks to deal with, where you'll need to stop a fast-moving bar within the green zone twice to make the kick.

The Web3 Aspect

The Web3 aspect of NFL Rivals is represented by NFT cards, which can represent the players on your team.

As you unlock or buy mystery packs of players to improve your team's abilities, some are LE cards that are NFTs, while others are base cards that aren't NFTs and thus aren't tradable via the marketplace. The NFTs are minted on the Mythos Chain, a gaming-centric blockchain built on Polkadot tech.

Suppose you get lucky or drop some cash to buy more expensive player packs. In that case, you can unlock rare players, higher quality versions of them, or limited-time event cards, all of which can be sold on the external secondary marketplace.

To do that, you'll need to get some Mythos (MYTH) tokens, which you can then use to make the actual transactions to buy cards or cash out your earnings.

You can also buy these cards using premium in-game currency that is not on the blockchain directly through the app, which circumvents the crypto restrictions that the App Store and Play Store have in place.

Future Prospects

NFL Rivals is already making waves with its unique combination of arcade-style gameplay and NFT integration.

The promise of upcoming updates, including live PvP matches, adds an exciting layer to its future. As the game continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how it holds up against established giants like Madden and EA Sports' College Football game.