As the title suggests, although I've never really followed the game or know much about it apart from when matches turn up in TV shows or movies, seems a decent management game might be a chance to learn more about the sport and a bit of fun. So looking for something with decent match day graphics, not little stick men running around. A management process that allows you to go as shallow or deep as you can and will hold your hand while you get familiar with the culture. A while back I tried OOTP for Baseball and struggled with some of the concepts. Coming from Soccer or Cricket management titles I had a while getting my head round there was no training or fitness schedule for the players, they just get thrown into the arena. And I sucked at it, could barely win anything even in the Minors. Thought while the Steam sale remains on would be a good time to pick something up so if I don't get on with it, not wasted 30 or 40 quid. Thanks.
There are surprisingly few titles in the American Football theme. The best known is the Madden series, currently on sale on Steam. An alternative is Axis Football, also on sale on Steam. Two different games, I'd have a look at the gameplay on youtube and go from there. If you have Netflix, there is a fantastic series called 'Quarterback' which gives a fascinating insight into the years work of 3 top QBs last year.
I'll check out some of the reviews. Madden seems to get a few negatives though some of that might just be people hating on EA. To be fair the number of soccer management games also decreased over the years. Back in the late 90's and early 00's every studio seemed to be vying to put out their take on the genre but these days dominated by FM which is full price, the previous version always being withdrawn as soon as the new one comes out.
I don't think management type games really took off here in the states, at most they are usually a franchise mode slapped onto the side of a normal sports game.
I must check those out being a fan of Silent Hunter back in the day. As regards the American Football, I tried one of the Axis Games but it got as far as the main screen and would not respond to any KBM or gamepad inputs. So that went back...
If you want to familiarize yourself with US helmets-and-shoulderpads football, you could do worse than to get Madden and play in Coach mode via the season "team campaign" In Coach mode you handle the vital business of playcalling and personnel management, without having to get in there and carry the ball yourself; and understanding the chess game of X's and O's is at the core of the game.
Front Office Football Seven is the nearest thing to a managment sim, it's pretty old and spreadsheet-y but there isn't anything else scratching that itch as far as I know.
