Physical game rules

Beta rules revision October 16, 2026. Both physical editions use the same two-player rules. This guide covers the current physical rules; the digital beta may differ while playtesting continues. The full 16-page playbook is available on Learn & Downloads. Booklet references below refer to that playbook.

1. Choose Your Game — booklet page 2

Your goal. Outscore your opponent through play calling, cards and dice. Each possession gives you four Approach downs to reach the opponent’s 20, then four Red Zone downs to score.

Choose a mode. Traditional uses shuffled team decks and hidden 7-card hands. Star Mode uses reusable Stars and single-use Events. Both modes use the same field, downs, scoring and match lengths.

Choose a length. Quick Match: 8 regulation possessions total, normally 4 per team; 2 possessions per quarter. Full Match: 16 total, normally 8 per team; 4 per quarter.

Count possessions. Count a possession only when it ends. A replay does not use another possession. Possessions normally alternate; the team that opened on defense starts the second half on offense.

Find a rule. Use the section index to find setup, Traditional play, results, downs, scoring, Events, special actions, hands, Star Mode, halftime and overtime.

2. Setup and Opening Possession — booklet page 3

Prepare to play. Choose different teams. Set out the field, football, possession arrow, down markers and score sheet. Each player takes two dice. Record teams, mode, length and scores. Both physical editions use the same two-player rules.

Traditional setup. Each player independently shuffles their complete team deck and draws 7 cards. No cards begin in discard. Keep each team’s draw and discard piles separate and face down.

Star Mode setup. Set aside regular Play cards. Prepare the reusable Stars and the correct Quick or Full Event allowance on booklet page 12. Do not draw a hand.

Opening roll. Both players roll two dice; reroll ties. Higher total chooses offense or defense. The other player chooses opening field direction. Set possession 1 at OWN20, Approach Down 1.

Read the field. OWN and OPP refer to the current offense. Keep one physical ball spot. When possession changes there, old OWN30 becomes new OPP30; midfield stays 50. Track score, possession, stage and down.

3. Traditional Play Sequence — booklet page 4

1 Choose. Offense secretly locks one eligible Offensive Play, Offensive Star or Event. Defense then locks one eligible Defensive Play, Defensive Star or Event without seeing offense’s choice. Wrong-role Plays and Stars remain in hand.

2 Reveal. Reveal together. Either player may use either Penalty or either Coach’s Challenge copy. Every revealed card is committed, even if its effect is overridden.

3 Check Events. Resolve Challenge before Penalty before a normal Play or Star. Controlling Events use no dice. see booklet page 8–9.

4 Roll. For a normal opposed play, roll two dice each. Calculate Final Margin and read the offensive card’s outcome table. see booklet page 5.

5 Apply. Move the ball and update the stage, down, score and possession. Discard committed cards face down, then refill to 7 before continuing. Halftime, overtime and game end take precedence over ordinary refill.

Cardless actions. Announce a legal Punt or Field Goal before defense locks. No defensive card responds. With no eligible normal card, use the fallback rules on booklet page 10.

4. Calculate the Result — booklet page 5

Final Margin. Offense dice total − defense dice total + Strategy Modifier + Defensive Family Modifier + Star Modifier.

Strategy. Compare both cards’ strategies using the printed strategy reference. Apply its exact value to the offense’s margin; the values are not all the same. Matching strategies give 0.

Defensive family. Apply −1 if defense is strong against the offensive family, +1 if weak against it, or 0 otherwise. Strategy and family modifiers both apply.

Stars. An Offensive Star represents its linked regular play and adds +2 when unmatched. An unmatched Defensive Star subtracts 2. Star versus Star cancels only those +2/−2 bonuses; strategy and family still apply.

Read the outcome. Find Final Margin on the offensive card’s outcome table. Apply the listed result. A normal Turnover uses the down-start spot, not a new yardage spot.

Example. Offense rolls 8 and defense rolls 6: start at +2. If the strategy modifier is −2, family modifier is +1 and neither card is a Star, Final Margin is +1. Read +1 on the offensive card.

5. Approach and Red Zone Downs — booklet page 6

Approach Stage. You have four downs to reach OPP20 or closer. There are no ordinary first downs before the Red Zone.

First Red Zone entry. The first Approach movement to OPP20 or closer grants fresh Red Zone Down 1—even on Approach Down 4. Flip to the Red Zone side of the down markers.

Red Zone Stage. You have four Red Zone downs to score. Once entered, this stage lasts for the rest of the possession, even if you are pushed back outside OPP20. Crossing the 20 again gives no new reset.

After a normal result. Apply movement, check touchdown or Safety, check first Red Zone entry, then otherwise advance the down. Do not advance after a replay or possession-ending result.

Fourth down. Failure to reach the Red Zone on Approach Down 4, or to score on Red Zone Down 4, causes turnover on downs at the resulting spot unless another result controls.

Example. Approach Down 4 begins at OPP30. A 10-yard gain reaches OPP20. Your next play is Red Zone Down 1, not turnover on downs.

6. Scoring and Turnovers — booklet page 7

Points. Touchdown: 7. Defensive touchdown: 7 to defense. Made field goal: 3. Safety: 2 to defense. There are no extra points, two-point conversions, kickoffs or free kicks.

Goal lines. Normal forward movement reaching or crossing the opponent’s goal line scores a touchdown. Backward movement reaching or crossing your own goal line causes a Safety unless a higher-priority rule controls. Forward Penalties cannot score touchdowns.

Turnover spots. A normal Turnover or defensive Challenge uses the down-start physical spot. Turnover on downs uses the resulting spot. A missed field goal uses the exact kick spot; do not subtract snap or hold yards.

Next possession. After a touchdown, defensive touchdown, made field goal, Safety or Punt, the next offense normally starts at OWN20. Ordinary regulation possessions alternate. At halftime, use the designated second-half offense; each overtime possession has its own start.

Transition order. Award points, end and count the possession, check quarter/halftime/game end, then establish the next possession at Down 1 in the appropriate stage.

7. Penalties — booklet page 8

Yardage. Minor Penalty moves 10 yards; Major moves 20. Offense playing one moves offense forward. Defense playing one moves offense backward. No dice or accept/decline choice.

Two Penalties. They offset completely, even if their sizes differ. Spend both, apply no movement and replay the same down from the down-start spot.

Forward movement. A forward Penalty cannot directly score a touchdown. Stop at OPP10 and discard unused yardage. If it first moves an Approach possession to OPP20 or closer, begin fresh Red Zone Down 1, including after fourth down.

Backward movement. A backward Penalty may cause a Safety. Award 2 points to defense and end the possession; do not replay after a Safety.

Replay. Otherwise, replay the same down from the new spot. If already in Red Zone Stage, a Penalty does not grant another first down. Traditional players discard committed cards and refill before replay. Star Mode Events stay spent.

Priority. A Challenge overrides a Penalty, but the committed Penalty is still spent.

8. Challenges and Replays — booklet page 9

Coach’s Challenge. The highest-priority Event. Offense playing a Challenge scores an immediate touchdown worth 7. Defense playing a Challenge causes an immediate Turnover at the down-start spot. No dice.

Challenge versus Challenge. Both are spent and their effects cancel. No touchdown or turnover occurs. Replay the same down from the down-start spot.

Challenge versus Penalty. The Challenge controls. Spend both Events. Do not apply the Penalty’s yardage or the normal Play/Star outcome.

Replay procedure. Discard committed Traditional cards and refill to 7 before selecting again. In Star Mode, return Stars to the available roster; committed Events remain spent. Choose fresh eligible cards. Keep the down number and the ball spot required by the controlling rule.

Finish the replay. A required replay must happen even on the last scheduled down or possession. Do not advance the period or declare the winner first.

Event timing. Traditional chooses Events before reveal. Star Mode uses post-roll PASS/FLAG (booklet page 13). Events add no dice roll.

9. Punt Prevent and Kicks — booklet page 10

Punt. Cardless; no response. On fourth down before OPP20, you may Punt with a normal card available. Earlier, Punt requires no eligible normal offensive card and no Event chosen. Never Punt at OPP20 or closer. Opponent starts OWN20. Traditional punter may privately discard 0–7 and refill; resets/game end take precedence.

Prevent. No normal defensive card and no Event chosen: use Prevent. Strategy/family 0; offense +2 plus any Offensive Star bonus. After normal resolution: privately discard 0–7 cards and refill. Controlling Events override both bonus and refresh.

Field goal. Cardless; no defensive card. Legal only at OPP20 or OPP10. Roll two dice each: offense minus defense, unmodified. Success: OPP20 at 0 or higher; OPP10 at −2 or higher. Made: 3, opponent OWN20. Miss: turnover at kick spot.

When to kick. Red Zone Down 4 at a legal spot: you may kick with a normal card available. Downs 1–3: no voluntary kick with a normal card. Without one, choose an eligible Traditional Event or kick; otherwise, kicking is required. Cardless actions have no FLAG window.

10. Hands and Decks — booklet page 11

Traditional hand limit. Maximum hand size is 7. After a completed play or required replay, discard committed cards face down and draw only enough to return to 7. Wrong-role cards stay in hand unless discarded by a refresh rule.

When the draw pile empties. Draw any remaining cards. Shuffle the entire concealed discard pile—including just-played cards already discarded—into a new draw pile. Continue drawing to 7. Never select which cards to recycle or mix team decks.

Private information. Both piles stay face down. Neither player may inspect discarded cards or search, preview, reorder or summarize a draw pile’s composition. Pile counts and reshuffle occurrence/count are public; identities and order are private.

Refresh exceptions. Punt and Prevent can allow a voluntary private discard/refill; see booklet page 10. Halftime and the first overtime reset replace ordinary refill. Do not rebuild the complete deck for either reset. No refill after game end.

Record keeping. No outside written or digital notes may track revealed-card history, discard composition or opponent tendencies. Official score/game-state records are allowed.

11. Star Mode Setup — booklet page 12

Same football rules. Star Mode changes card selection and Event timing. Field position, downs, scoring, possession structure, special actions, halftime and overtime follow the same rules.

Reusable Stars. Set aside all regular Plays. Each player keeps five Offensive Stars and five Defensive Stars visible and available. Reuse them freely, even on consecutive plays. Selections stay secret until simultaneous reveal.

Quick Match Events. Each team receives one single-use Minor Penalty and one single-use Coach’s Challenge. Exclude the Major Penalty and second Challenge.

Full Match Events. Each team receives one Minor Penalty, one Major Penalty and two Coach’s Challenges. Each Event is single use.

Keep Events private. Keep unused Events face down or in a private accessible area. Remaining count may be public. A committed FLAG card’s identity stays hidden until both responses lock.

No replenishment. There is no random hand, draw pile, refill or reshuffle. Return Stars to the roster after a snap. Every committed Event stays spent for the entire game, including halftime and overtime.

12. Star Mode PASS and FLAG — booklet page 13

1 Choose and roll. Offense secretly locks an Offensive Star. Defense locks a Defensive Star without seeing it. Reveal together. Roll two dice each, calculate Final Margin and read the offensive Star’s table.

2 Hold the result. Keep the result provisional: no movement, points, down advancement, possession change or winner yet.

3 Offense responds. Offense must say PASS or FLAG ON THE PLAY. FLAG commits exactly one available Event face down.

4 Defense responds. Knowing only offense’s PASS/FLAG status, defense must say PASS or FLAG and, if flagging, commit one Event face down. After both responses lock, reveal Events together. No retraction, substitution or extra Event.

5 Finalize. Challenge beats Penalty; Penalty replaces the provisional result. Same-type Events cancel and replay from the down-start spot. Both PASS: finalize the original result. Spend every committed Event; return Stars to the roster.

Example. Provisional touchdown; offense PASS; defense FLAG reveals Challenge. Instead, Turnover at the down-start spot.

13. Halftime and Overtime — booklet page 14

Halftime. After Quick possession 4 or Full possession 8, skip ordinary refill and Punt/Prevent refresh. Opening defender starts Q3 at OWN20, Approach Down 1. Switch direction at halftime only.

Hands. Traditional: privately discard hands; draw fresh 7 from existing deck/discard state. Reshuffle if needed; never rebuild decks. Star Mode: no reset; spent Events stay spent.

Tied regulation. After 8 Quick or 16 Full possessions and all replays, higher score wins. A tie goes to OT. Traditional resets hands once before OT1 instead of ordinary refill; no later full-hand reset.

Overtime start. Roll two dice each; reroll ties. High total chooses offense/defense; other chooses direction. Every OT possession starts at OPP20, Red Zone Down 1.

Rounds. Normally give each team one possession, then compare total game scores. Leader wins; tie means another round. Alternate first offense in later rounds, with no new roll-off.

Immediate defensive win. If a round’s first offense allows a defensive touchdown or Safety, defense wins immediately without its possession. Complete required replays first.

14. Quick Reference and Support — booklet page 15

Traditional snap. Choose secretly → reveal together → check Events → roll and calculate → apply result → discard and refill. Star Mode: roll first, then PASS/FLAG; see booklet page 13.

Priority. Challenge > Penalty > Play/Star. Two Challenges or two Penalties cancel and replay. All committed cards are consumed; Star Mode Stars remain reusable.

Drive and scoring. Four Approach downs to reach OPP20; fresh four Red Zone downs to score. Touchdown 7 • Defensive touchdown 7 • Field goal 3 • Safety 2. No extra-point attempts.

Spot reminders. Turnover: down-start spot. Turnover on downs: resulting spot. Missed field goal: kick spot. Scores/Punt: next offense OWN20, subject to halftime/OT.

Rules and extra scorecards. Visit www.firstandglory.com for detailed rules, clarifications and free printable scorecards. Print four scorecards per US Letter sheet (8.5 × 11 inches), following the download’s print settings, then cut apart.

Reference results and modifiers

The labeled rows below preserve each reference table value, with every column named for phone and screen-reader use.

Strategy modifier

Read the defense row and offense column. All values modify the offense’s margin.

Defense strategy: Conservative; Conservative offense: 0; Balanced offense: +1; Risky offense: −1.

Defense strategy: Balanced; Conservative offense: −2; Balanced offense: 0; Risky offense: +2.

Defense strategy: Risky; Conservative offense: +3; Balanced offense: −3; Risky offense: 0.

Defensive family modifier

Strong matchup: offense −1. Weak matchup: offense +1. All other matchups: 0.

Defensive family: Run Stop; Strong against (−1): Inside Run; Weak against (+1): Long Pass.

Defensive family: Man Blitz; Strong against (−1): Outside Run; Weak against (+1): Medium Pass.

Defensive family: Zone Blitz; Strong against (−1): Medium Pass; Weak against (+1): Short Pass.

Defensive family: Short Coverage; Strong against (−1): Short Pass; Weak against (+1): Outside Run.

Defensive family: Deep Coverage; Strong against (−1): Long Pass; Weak against (+1): Inside Run.

Offensive outcome reference

Read the column for the offensive card’s strategy after calculating Final Margin.

Outcome: Defensive touchdown; Conservative: ≤ −11; Balanced: ≤ −10; Risky: ≤ −8.

Outcome: Turnover; Conservative: −10 to −8; Balanced: −9 to −7; Risky: −7 to −5.

Outcome: Lose 10 yards; Conservative: −7 to −5; Balanced: −6 to −4; Risky: −4 to −2.

Outcome: No gain; Conservative: −4 to −2; Balanced: −3 to 0; Risky: −1 to 0.

Outcome: Gain; Conservative: −1 to +3: 10 yards; Balanced: +1 to +3: 20 yards; Risky: +1 to +5: 20 yards.

Outcome: Top result; Conservative: ≥ +4: 30 yards; Balanced: ≥ +4: 40 yards; Risky: ≥ +6: touchdown.

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