Quarterback
Call every play · Product design, Game design, UI design · MoveUp Media · NFL fans · Web · Mobile
An NFL game that takes fans from the first snap to the Super Bowl in about two minutes, true to the rules of the sport.
Context
Quarterback is part of MoveUp Arcade, a collection of short games that MoveUp Media places across its sports sites so readers can play as well as read. The collection rests on a simple idea: a good game holds a reader’s attention longer than a banner does. Every game in it explains itself without a tutorial and stays true to its sport, and all of them use fictional chips as their currency. Quarterback is the collection’s NFL game.
Objective
Give NFL fans a complete game, from the first snap to the Super Bowl, that follows the real rules of the sport and still fits in about two minutes. Quarterback was also the collection’s test for a campaign of four rounds to a trophy, a structure its other games now use.
Process
Quarterback started as a single drive at the end of a game, with the clock running, points to make up and the real rules of downs and timeouts. It then grew into a short playoff run to the Super Bowl, where the fan calls every offensive play while the rival’s drives play out around them.
Identity
Quarterback shares the look of the whole collection, a printed, halftone feel of paper and ink with a sharp lime. Gold appears only as a reward, so in this game it belongs to the Super Bowl alone. The field looks like a coach’s chalkboard, and the scoreboard keeps its numbers large and easy to read.
Outcome
Quarterback is playable on MoveUp Arcade’s platform, and its campaign of four rounds to a trophy has carried over to the other games in the collection.