Red Zone (1995)

A collectible card game (CCG) where players take the part of an owner/coach of a professional (United States) football team and play a football game vs each other.

It uses a built play deck reminiscent of other CCG games, and that same play deck is used as both a timer and an indicator of results for the games called offensive and defensive plays.

The opponents match decks versus each other, as well as a lineup of face-up starters on each side of the "ball."

Each coach calls a play simultaneously, and results of the combination of the plays and the performance of the individual player(s) involved are checked also.

The Play wheel chart makes this quite efficient. Base gamers, who do not have this wheel are left to consult a chart which cross-references the results. The Play wheel streamlines the game--and decreases the down time significantly.

The game is played in quarters like in regular football, timed by the use of a time-deck. Coaches can implement double-teams, and run trick plays versus the other.

The offensive plays available in the expansion set was significant to opening up the play books for each coach, including never-before-seen plays on both sides of the ball. Additionally, certain players were hybrid players.

The most notable of these was the Kordell Stewart card which we used to call "slash" like his on the field nickname: Because he is a QB/WR/RB, and has stats which are superlative for all three positions. This makes him a valuable asset to any team.

Special Rare and Ultra-Rare cards allowed special abilities or results to be played from the hand of either coach, assisting in particular offensive and defensive plays. Some cards also result in penalties, fumbles, interceptions, and big plays.