Touchdown Rush — Play Free Online

What is Touchdown Rush?

Touchdown Rush is an arcade American football runner made by Code This Lab. You play a single ball carrier who has already got the ball and only needs to reach the end zone. Defenders charge at you from up the field, and one clean tackle ends the run, so the whole game is about reading the gaps, steering through them and jumping over the tacklers you cannot avoid. It runs in the browser on desktop, Chromebook and phone, with no download.

Key features

• 12 stages: the stage select has twelve stages; each one unlocks when you clear the one before it.
• More defenders every stage: stage 1 sends 16 tacklers at you, stage 12 sends 38, and they come out faster as you go.
• Jump to dodge: a well-timed jump carries you over a defender who is already in your lane.
• Two power-ups: a score bonus worth 100 points and a speed boost that doubles your acceleration and top speed for 10 seconds.
• Saved progress: unlocked stages are stored in your browser, so you can come back to the stage you reached.

How to play

1. Press Play, then pick a stage from the Select a Level screen (only stage 1 is open at first).
2. Your runner moves up the field on his own; use the left and right arrow keys (or the on-screen arrows) to change lanes.
3. Watch the defenders running at you and slide into the open space between them.
4. When a tackler is right in front of you and there is no room, press Space (or the Jump button) to hop over him.
5. Run into power-ups for bonus points or a burst of speed.
6. Cross the goal line to clear the stage; get tackled and it is Game Over, with Restart or Home to try again.

Controls

Action	Keyboard	Touch
Move left	Left arrow (hold)	Left arrow button
Move right	Right arrow (hold)	Right arrow button
Jump over a tackler	Space	Jump button

Stages and defenders

Stages	Defenders per stage
1–3	16, 20, 22
4–6	24, 26, 28
7–9	30, 30, 32
10–12	34, 36, 38

Your runner has momentum: he speeds up while you hold a direction and slides a little when you switch, so start moving early instead of waiting for a defender to get close. You cannot change direction in the middle of a jump, which means a jump commits you to the lane you are in.

Tips and strategy

• Move before the gap closes: because of the slide when you change direction, steer as soon as you see the hole, not when the tackler arrives.
• Save the jump: jump only when a defender is directly ahead and you cannot get round him; you are locked in your lane until you land.
• Take the speed boost on crowded stages: 10 seconds of double speed gets you past a wave of tacklers before they close in.
• Replay early stages for score: score bonus power-ups add 100 points each, so cleared stages are a good place to push your total.

Versions and similar games

Touchdown Rush is a pure running game: no passing and no play calling. If you want to throw the ball and run a whole team, play Retro Bowl or Retro Bowl College. For more dodge-the-tackler running, try Linebacker Alley 2 and Football Blitz, or see every unblocked football game on the site.

Developer and history

Touchdown Rush was made by Code This Lab, a studio that builds HTML5 games for web portals; its name is on the game's credits screen. The browser version is built in HTML5 with CreateJS, which is why it runs on Chromebooks and phones as well as desktop browsers.