Then, if the catch was successful, you can let the player run to the endzone in a straight line or dart left/right to dodge defenders (at the cost of speed).
When you're on defense, the game automatically simulates the play. You're told a few sentences of what play the offense made and whether your defensive lineman or linebacker was able to stop it.
After each game, the press interviews you, and your answer to the question determines which player gets a small buff (or debuff if you lost the game).
You also get Coaching Credits (CCs), which you can use to upgrade your stadium, your training facilities, or your rehab facilities. Upgrading your stadium will increase fan enthusiasm so you can get more CCs. Upgrading your training facilities helps your players get more XP (and level up more frequently). Upgrading your rehab facilities helps your players recover from fatigue and injury faster.
You can trade away players in exchange for draft picks, sign free agents, bench players, etc., but I didn't want to deal with any of that management stuff. I just wanted to play the game. I played a season as the Arizona Cardinals, and chose Dynamic difficulty. On Dynamic, the game starts really easy. As you win more games, the difficulty gets harder. And if you are losing games, the difficulty eases up. In one game, when the difficulty had gotten pretty tough, the opposing team got six interceptions! (I'm not very good.) But even when the game was hard, I was able to rush 70+ yards pretty frequently.
I ended the season in third place, but was eliminated in the first round of playoffs.
NFL Retro Bowl '25 is a fun, easy-to-get-into game. Sometimes I was annoyed by how basic it was, but that basicosity made it accessible. With 2-minute quarters, I could play a full game during a quick break.
This game's only available on Apple Arcade right now. But it's the latest version of Retro Bowl, which is on iOS, Android, and Switch. I believe NFL Retro Bowl '25 is just Retro Bowl with official NFL teams, players, and logos.
