Tight Window

American football on a full field, eleven a side, four quarters under the lights. On offense, you begin as the quarterback. Pick a play from the playbook, take the snap, and find the open man while your line holds their rush. It holds as long as it can, and a blitz sends more than it can block, so the throw has to go into the window before it shuts. Hold Throw, point the stick at a receiver, and let go in the green.

Whoever has the ball is yours. A catch or a handoff hands you the man with it: steer him, spin out of a tackle, juke the man closing in. On their ball you make the call (Base, Blitz, Deep or Run) and play a linebacker, a safety or an end, or let the coach play your defense while their drives go by at three times the pace.

A touchdown is six points, then the try: kick for one, or run or throw it in for two. On fourth down the playbook opens on Special: a field goal in range, a punt if not. Every kick uses the throw's meter. The quarters are four minutes and each side has three timeouts a half. A tie in the semi-finals or the final goes to overtime, a possession each from the 25; in the weeks before, a tie stands.

A season is eight sides and seven weeks, every side once, then the top four to the semi-finals and the final. The other games of the week are real games, played by the game itself while you play yours. Between games, the league: the week's scores, the table, and practice, one part of your team a little better each week. Name your team, choose its colours and its crest, and keep your best games, your seasons and this season's leaders on your team in Records.

After most games, the result card offers the game's best play again, slowed at the moment. Photo stops it where you like, and you can drag the camera round it.

One player: your teammates and the other side are the computer's. Your season, your team and your records are kept in your browser on this device. The sound is made by the game as it plays, and it starts on; Settings, the gear at the top right, turns it off. No ads and no account.

HOW TO PLAY

In the huddle, the playbook runs along the foot: Run and Pass tabs, Special when there's a kick, a card for each play, and Again for the last one. With the ball, the stick is bottom left and the buttons bottom right, and they say what they do as the play changes: Throw, Next (it switches the receiver you're throwing to, and the ring shows who), Spin, Juke, and Kick or Punt. On their ball the four calls run along the foot, then Tackle, Break and Switch. Timeout sits under the score while the clock runs between plays.

How to play opens before your first game, and the ? brings it back. A phone held upright is fine; turned sideways it gives the wide view.

With a mouse, click as you would tap. Or, once you have clicked the game, use the keys: WASD or the arrows move; J or Space is the big button and K the other one; 1 to 5 pick a play, Q and E change the tab and Enter is Again; 1 to 4 make a call on their ball; T calls a timeout, H brings How to play back, and Escape stops play and asks whether you want to leave.

More free games from Launchway, playable in your browser:

https://launchwaygames.com