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Axis Football League
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Axis Football League is a top-down American football game from Axis Games where you call every play, throw passes with the mouse, and run with the WASD keys. You pick one of 14 city teams, set a difficulty, and play a Quick Game or a full 12-week season with playoffs. Each game has two five-minute halves, so a match fits inside a study hall or lunch break.
What is Axis Football League?
Axis Football League (the title screen shortens it to AFL) is an 11-on-11 Flash football game that runs here through the Ruffle player, so it works in a normal browser tab with no install. You choose a formation and a play before every snap. Then you control one player at a time: the quarterback on a pass, the ball carrier on a run, or any defender you click on.
Key features
- 14 teams plus a secret one: Arizona, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, New England, New Orleans, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego and San Francisco. The AFL All-Stars unlock only after you complete all 14 achievements.
- Five team ratings: Passing, Rushing, Blocking, Rush Def and Pass Def, each rated from 2 to 5.
- Real playbooks: five offensive formations and four defensive fronts, each with six named plays, plus goal line and special teams sets.
- Lob and bullet passes: tap the mouse button for a lob or hold it for a bullet pass.
- Four difficulty levels: Rookie, Pro, All-Star and Hall of Fame.
- Season mode with saves: 12 weeks, standings, team rankings and three save slots.
How to play Axis Football
- From the main menu choose Quick Game, New Season or Load Season.
- Select your team, then your opponent (Quick Game only), then a difficulty.
- Win or lose the coin toss and choose whether to kick off or receive.
- On offense, pick a formation and a play. Plays outlined in red are runs and plays outlined in purple are passes. You can flip a play to run it to the other side.
- Press Spacebar to snap the ball. On a pass, move the mouse to aim and click to throw. On a run, steer the back with WASD.
- On defense, pick a front and a coverage, then click during the play to take control of the player closest to the ball.
- Lead after two halves to win. If the game is tied, overtime is sudden death and the first team to score wins.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / Touchpad |
|---|---|---|
| Move your player | W A S D | - |
| Snap the ball | Spacebar | - |
| Speed burst (limited) | Spacebar | - |
| Aim a pass | - | Move the pointer |
| Lob pass | - | Tap the button |
| Bullet pass | - | Hold the button |
| Switch to the player closest to the ball | - | Click (defense and returns) |
| Aim a kickoff | - | Move the pointer |
| Kick the ball | Spacebar | - |
The in-game menu also has Call Timeout, Team Stats, Player Stats, Toggle Sound and Exit Game.
Axis Football League team ratings
These are the ratings stored in the game for each team, from 2 (weak) to 5 (best). Passing sets your quarterback's accuracy and your receivers' hands, Rushing helps your back break tackles, and Blocking powers your line. On defense, Rush Def drives tackling and getting off blocks, while Pass Def drives coverage.
| Team | Passing | Rushing | Blocking | Rush Def | Pass Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Baltimore | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Carolina | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Chicago | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Dallas | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Indianapolis | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| New England | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| New Orleans | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| New York | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Oakland | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Philadelphia | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| San Diego | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| AFL All-Stars (unlock) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Playbook
| Formation | Plays |
|---|---|
| I-Form | Pitch Strong, TE Cross, Misdirection, RB Lead, RB Screen, PA Rollout |
| Single Back | Tail Iso, Short Outs, Weak Sweep, Weak Dive, Zone Breaker, X Under |
| Shotgun | MD Quick Toss, Fly Away, Slot Shovel Pass, PA Box In, Overload, TE Under Slants |
| Spread | Inside Toss, WR Screen, Cross Right, Out and Up, Under Cut, Swing Outs |
| Goal Line (offense) | Off Tackle Lead, Quick Slants, Quick Pitch, FB Dive, PA Flood Out, Max Protect |
| 3-4 | Cross Fire, Max Cover, Safety Smash, Jail Break, Zone Blitz, Tilt |
| 4-3 | Base Zone, Max Blitz, Press, Safety Blitz, Fire Dog, Smash |
| Nickel | Deep Cover 3, Flats Cover 1, Zone Cover 2, Corner Blitz, Man Blitz, Base Man |
| Dime | Base Man, Base Cover 2, Punch Flats, Safety Rush, Corner Smash, Deep Quarters |
| Goal Line (defense) | Low Zone, Slug, All Out Blitz, Outside Burn, Stuff Gap |
Special teams include Field Goal, Punt Protect, Punt Return and Field Goal Block. Kickoffs can go Middle or Right, or you can try an Onside Kick, and kick returns go Left, Middle or Right.
Tips and strategy
- Do not spam one play: the game lowers your blocking when you call the same play again right away, and the penalty grows on higher difficulty. Leaning too hard on runs or passes also hurts your blocking on that type of play.
- Keep the white circle small: your pass can land anywhere inside the white ring. Throwing on the move makes passes less accurate, so set your feet first.
- Lead your receivers: aim ahead of the route. Receivers adjust their path to the ball.
- Save the speed burst: the burst runs out, so hit Spacebar only when a defender is close.
- Match your defense to the problem: switch to Nickel or Dime if passes are beating you, and to 3-4 or 4-3 if runs are. Mix zone and man coverages.
- Read down and distance: on 3rd and long, expect a pass. Do not manually blitz with a player whose job is to cover.
- Watch the clock: it stops on incomplete passes, changes of possession and runs out of bounds. You get three timeouts per half, a one-minute warning each half, and no more than ten seconds between plays.
Game modes
Quick Game
Pick your team, your opponent and a difficulty, then play one game.
Season
A season lasts 12 games (weeks). After week 12, the top eight teams make the playoffs, which are three rounds of single elimination. You can save in one of three slots and use Load Season to pick up later. The Season Menu shows standings with wins, losses, points for and points against, plus Team Rankings for yards, sacks and turnovers.
Achievements
There are 14 achievements, such as Ground & Pound (100+ rushing yards in one game), Air Raid (400+ passing yards), Lockdown (hold the opponent under 200 total yards), QB Skills (win with a QB rating of 150+) and Pep Talks FTW (come back from a 14+ point halftime deficit). Easy ones count on any difficulty, Medium ones need Pro or harder, and Hard ones need All-Star or harder. Finish all 14 to unlock the AFL All-Stars.
Versions and similar games
This page runs the original Flash version of Axis Football League. The menu also has a Play AFL 2014 button that links to Axis Games' own site. If you like calling plays, try Retro Bowl for team management and quick drives, 2 Minute Football for short clutch games, or Football Bros for faster arcade action. You can find more in our football games collection, and all of them can be played unblocked on retrobowl.me if your network allows it.
Developer and history of Axis Football
Axis Football League was made by Axis Games. The game's credits read "(c)2010 - Axis Games.com" and link to axis-games.com and axisgamesonline.com.
Frequently asked questions
Who made Axis Football League?
Axis Games made it. The game's credits read "(c)2010 - Axis Games.com" and link to axis-games.com.
How long is a game of Axis Football League?
Each game has two halves of five minutes each. The clock stops on incomplete passes, changes of possession and plays that go out of bounds, and overtime is sudden death.
How do you throw a pass in Axis Football League?
Press Spacebar to snap, move the mouse to aim, and click to throw. Tap the button for a lob pass or hold it for a bullet pass. The ball can land anywhere inside the white circle.
How do you unlock the AFL All-Stars?
Complete all 14 achievements. The All-Stars have the top rating of 5 in Passing, Rushing, Blocking, Rush Def and Pass Def.
Can I play Axis Football unblocked on a school Chromebook?
It runs in the browser with no download, so it works on a Chromebook as long as your network allows retrobowl.me. Follow your school's rules about when you can play.