Tabletop Football Gets Penalized

With the launch of its popular new tailgating game in Sept. 2016, Tabletop Football will be adding a few exciting changes.  Tabletop Football is adding features and rules to include penalty cards, a timer and more.  "We really think this is going to enhance the playing experience even more that it already is", says Mark Van Zant, owner of Tabletop Football.  

The newly developed tilting tabletop will incorporate a slot in the side rail that will allow playing cards to be shuffled and inserted for game play.  The football game board will have several holes marked indicating a penalty flag if the ball lands in that hole.  A penalty card will be taken from the side rail slot to determine the penalty to be assessed on that play. The penalty cards will range from both offensive and defensive penalties commonly called on the field.  So the card may not always hurt the offense, but sometimes help.

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Sample Penalties

• Fumble (Lose immediate possession, opponent takes over)
• Interception (Lose immediate possession, opponent takes over)
• Holding (Go back to the spot of your previous possession, lose down)
• Defensive Pass interference (move forward half the distance to the goal)
• Defense Unnecessary Roughness (remove one defender for the next play)
• Delay of game (Go back to the spot of your previous possession, lose down)
• Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Go back to your 10 yard line, lose down)
• Tripping (Go back to the spot of your previous possession, lose down)
• Chop Block (Go back to the spot of your previous possession, lose down)
• Defense-too many men on the field (move forward 20 yards or half the distance to the goal)
• False Start (Move back 20 yards from start of possession, repeat down)
• Neutral Zone Infraction (Move forward 20 yards or half the distance to the goal

Extra Points

• After Scoring a touchdown (Worth 6 Points) you will then try to kick a field goal for the extra point
• To do this you will place the ball at the 50 yard line (we like a challenge) and try to maneuver the ball to land in the "Touchdown" circle in the end zone with no defenders on the board.  You get one chance only.  If successful add 1 point.  
• If you want to go for 2 points, place the ball on the 50 yard line and you must successfully maneuver the ball to land in the "Touchdown" circle, but this time your opponent may have 3 defenders on the board.

Timing & Score Keeping

• Every game will now be limited by time and not by possession.  Each game set will include a timer that can be set for the desired length per quarter.  We recommend 3 minute quarters.  No time outs.  Timer will also be used for many other game tops.
• The tabletop score keeping system has been modified to allow each player to keep any score from 00 to 99.  This may be used for multiple game tops to keep score.

Other Game Top Rule Changes

We are currently working on similar rule changes for Soccer, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball.  Stay tuned as we will update each gametop rules to include the use of playing cards, dice, and timers.