From the game mechanics to the creativity, Wild Card Football itself created a bit of charm that some might find to be addicting. It’s able to take elements from the EA’s Madden series and is able to put a little arcade spin on the title. Exciting, fun, and humorous and keeps my attention for a while.
Wild Card Football is a seven-on-seven arcade-style simulation game that is officially licensed by the NFL Players Association, meaning that actual NFL players are featured within the game itself. Players will have the opportunity to customize their teams, jerseys, and even build their own logo and home stadium. Not only that but if you ask me, the game vaguely resembles the EA Madden series but it’s actually enjoyable and not a pay-to-win mess, especially with Madden Ultimate Team.
Wildcard Football has players using special decks that they can build that contain different cards that grant specific abilities. These abilities can slow the enemy team down, have players become a giant, summon UFOs, and so much more. These abilities always keep every match interesting and fun making sure that no match is the same as the last one played. This is what draws me to the game in the first place. If you don’t like it don’t worry, there’s an option to turn it off. Each team has its own set of cards which plays heavily into the gameplay aspect.

There are three main modes in Wild Card Football. There’s Exhibition, Season mode where you pick a team and play through a football season, and Dream Squad which acts as Madden’s MUT mode. To be quite honest, I’ve had more fun in Dream Squad than I’ve ever had in Madden 24. It’s fun, exciting, and earning players and cosmetics has never been easier and doesn’t require you to whip out your wallet to do so. There are daily challenges that can be done to unlock packs as well. You can fully customize your team from the name, outfits, playbook, and more. The more you play, the more cosmetics and gameplay features you’ll unlock. You can even take your squad online and face other players.
At the end of the day, I found it hard to put down Wild Card Football. As simple as the game may seem, I enjoyed every match played and even enjoyed my time online. Compared to Madden, I found it very hard to get angry when playing against a real opponent. The game is just so goofy and silly that I couldn’t help but laugh when I was frozen in place just for touching the ball or when I fell into an ink trap.
Conclusion
Whether you’re playing alone, with randoms, or alongside friends, good times are to be had with Wildcard football. In my case, more fun than playing Madden if I do say so myself. While Madden does play into the realism aspect of the sports genre, Wildcard Football can still be on par with its game modes and mechanics.
This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox Series X/S. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.Want to keep up to date with the latest Xt reviews, Xt opinions and Xt content? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.