Retro Bowl Passing Guide: Bullet Throws, Running, Kicking

Retro Bowl's passing game is one gesture, and most people learn it in the first drive. Getting good at it is a different thing. Everything below uses the controls the browser build itself teaches in its tutorial, so what you read here is what the game will do.

The throw

The tutorial puts it in one line: "Click and drag in the opposite direction of the running receiver to aim, then release to throw." You are pulling back a slingshot. Hold the drag while the play develops and an aiming line shows where the ball is headed; let go and it flies.

The ball goes where you aimed, not to the receiver. Lead him: aim at the spot he is running to, a little ahead of a receiver going deep and a little short of one coming back toward the line. The first interceptions everyone throws are passes aimed at where the receiver was.

How far a quarterback can throw is a ratings question. In the game's help text, strength "relates to maximum throw and kick range" for quarterbacks and kickers, and stamina "determines how much their strength depletes with every throw or kick", so a tired quarterback late in a game has less arm than he did in the first quarter.

Bullet throw or lob

There are two kinds of pass. In the browser, clicking the right mouse button while aiming switches between a low, fast bullet and a high pass; on a phone or tablet the same switch is a tap with a second finger. Use the bullet when a defender is sitting underneath the route and the lob to drop the ball over him.

Reading the defense

• Defenders playing deep: throw short and take the yards. Short completions move the chains.
• Defenders close to your receiver: the high pass over the top, or a bullet to the receiver who has a step on his man.
• Pressure on the quarterback: if your line is weak, take the first open receiver rather than waiting for the best one.
• Nothing open: run it yourself (below). A short scramble beats a sack.

The running game

At the start of a play you can hand off by clicking the blue circle. To run with the quarterback, drag as if you were throwing the ball backwards. Once someone is carrying the ball:

• W or S side-steps up or down the field (swipe up or down on touch).
• A or D slows him up or dives (swipe back or forwards on touch). The game's tip: diving "can help you reach for a first down or touchdown. It also protects against a fumble."
• Stiff arms and hurdles are automatic: the loading tips say strong players produce more stiff arms and fast players are more likely to hurdle tackles.

Runs work best on short yardage. Keep them to a handful a game; the passing game is where Retro Bowl scores.

Late in a half

1. Throw quick and short; a long-developing route eats the clock you do not have.
2. Prefer receivers near the sideline, where a catch is less likely to end in a tackle in the middle of the field.
3. Do not run unless the run scores.
4. Know your kicker's range. Once the ball is inside it, a field goal is a decision you make on the next play rather than a hope.

Kicking

Every kick is two well-timed clicks (two taps on touch): the first sets power, the second sets direction. The game gives you two aiming aids in its own words: "the goal posts are the same width as the hash marks on the field", and "you can use the faint triangle on the ground as a guide". A kicker's accuracy rating "determines how fast the aiming arc moves", so a better kicker gives you a slower arc to stop, and his strength sets his range, which, like the quarterback's arm, drains with stamina over a game.