Madden NFL Mobile

Madden NFL Mobile is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League and published by EA Sports. Part of the Madden NFL series, the game was released for both iOS and Android platforms on August 26, 2014.

Gameplay

Madden NFL Mobile is essentially the mobile version of Madden Ultimate Team (MUT), with features like players and cards being available. To earn these, players participate in "Live Events", which can earn them card packs and coins. Another mode that is available is "Season", which allows players to play a full 16-game season, which extends to the Super Bowl.^[1] Being a freemium game, players can spend real-life money to purchase packs and "Bundles" that include a certain number of packs and a topper of an item. The game is also level-based, and featured like certain plays are restricted until one reaches a certain level.^[2] There is also another mode labeled "Leagues" where players may join or create a "league" alongside other players that face in Tournaments against other leagues, offering a chat box as well.

The game itself features standard football rules, such as scoring mechanics including touchdowns, field goals, and safeties. It also features real plays categorized as "long passes", "short passes", and "run" plays for the offense; "man coverage", "zone coverage", and "blitz" plays for the defense. It also features four special plays available at any point including punts, field goals, quarterback kneels and spikes. There are also up to four different styles for kickoffs, kick returns, punt, and punt returns (left, right, middle, duplicates, onside kicks, etc.)

The game is connectable with Facebook to allow for more social features, though players can also create anonymous accounts.

Season

Players may participate in a series of 16 regular season games before advancing to the post-season. During these games, the player competes against real players as characters matching their real team. If the player wins at least 9 games in the regular season, they advance to the post-season with two different games, before making it to the Super Bowl. The player may lose any games in the first sixteen games, but in the final three they automatically end their season (as the real post-season is the same.) During these games, the player may stumble across Spontaneous Challenges, granting them 1-3 NFL Moments cards which can be used in a set. They can also play as receiver or blocker (exclusive to Season mode, or rarely in Live Events).

Live Events

Live Events is a game mode in which players may participate in live events. Some could cost as low as 3 stamina, or as much as 10 stamina. Completing these events earn the player rewards, such as card packs, coins, and experience points. There are two daily events, one titled Scrimmage and the other Daily Warmup. Completing Scrimmage will earn the player a random scrimmage set player/collectible alongside a single gameplan set collectible (useful for the weekly Gameplan set), and the Scrimmage event occurs more than once a day, and could be completed more than once throughout the day. The Daily Warmup awards a single Daily Warmup and could only be completed once. Other challenges include Game Changers, Free Agents, Veterans, Road to the Ring, Domination, and more. There are also seasonal live events for things such as Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as well as Super Bowl and Playoff Recap events.

Head to Head

Head to Head is a social mode in which players may compete against other players in a turn-based style, with up to 6 regular drives (more in overtime.) A player may compete playing one drive, then allowing the opponent to play one. A player's drive ends in a turnover (interception/4th down/fumble), touchdown, field goal, or safety.

Leagues

Joining a League will give the player user interaction to other players inside the game. In a league one can match each other in a head-to-head match for bragging rights. There are League Tournaments that a league can play in as a team: all players participating in the tournament will have three drives to score as high as possible against another league. Winning the tournament will give the player three League-vs.-League collectibles; if it ends in a draw, one will get two collectibles, while losing will earn only one. These collectibles are used in the League-vs.-League set which guarantees a couple of gold players, silver players, and one League master collectible, which can be used for a 99 overall Madden Mobile Master Odell Beckham, Jr. There are also League achievements in the categories of rushing, passing, and season wins that unlock a 99 overall Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, and Devin Hester respectively. Finally, there are League Championships, in which players compete against each other in a championship tournament that will rank them based on their performances in the tournament.

Sets

Players can complete sets to get coins or players for their team. Sets require different amounts trophies or players from the 4 tiers (bronze, silver, gold, elite). Some sets also require collectibles that can be acquired from packs or by completing various live events. There are many different types of sets which organized into categories such as Captains sets. There are 32 Captains sets, one for each team in the NFL. Completion of these sets gives you an elite Captain player from that team. Other sets include NFL Domination which guarantees you a 99 OVR Rob Gronkowski and Road to the Ring sets which grant you different Road to the Ring edition elite players.

Some sets such as the weekly NFL Gameplan are timed sets that require to be completed within a certain amount of time (displayed when played), while others may be done at any time.

Auction House

The Auction House is a place where players may bid/buy cards sold by other players. Bidding allows the player to bid slowly against others with a slightly lower chance of winning the item. Buying the item allows the player to immediately end the bidding process and earn the item for the amount bought for. You may not buy the item if the buy price is less than the bidding price.

Packs

Packs are another key element to the game. Players can purchase various packs in the Store for 7,500-100,000 coins or numerous amounts of in-game cash. There are many different packs available for different times and lengths. Some packs such as the Pro Pack is available 24/7, while others (such as Super Bowl) are available for a few days. Packs could include rare collectibles, bronze to elite players, etc. and vary value.

Cover athletes

For the 2014 NFL season, star Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was the cover athlete for the game. In 2015, he was replaced by New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. for the 2015 NFL season. The cover athlete for the 2016 NFL season is not yet announced.

Launch

2015 season

The game received a soft launch on the Canadian App Store on August 12, 2014.^[3]

On August 26, the game was officially launched on the iOS App Store and on Android's Google Play, the same day that Madden NFL 15 was released on console. On August 17, 2015, the Mobile servers were shut down in order to prepare for the new and upcoming season.

2016 season

On August 21, 2015, four days before Madden NFL 16 was released, a mandatory update was released and required to play the game for the new season.

References