New game, ‘Retro Bowl,’ becomes popular among student body

GAMING Online game catches students’ attention

By Cade Becker

23cbecker@usd489.com

The mobile game “Retro Bowl” has become a sensation among people across the United States and even the world.

“Retro Bowl” was produced by a British video game developer, called New Star Games. New Star Games started on “Retro Bowl” around July of 2019, and by January of 2020, it was ready to be released.

It is downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play. “Retro Bowl” is also soon to come to Nintendo Switch in early 2022. The game will be a “premium” title that is accessible with the premium membership.

“Retro Bowl” began with a slow start, featuring download numbers in the thousands, until September of 2021. The Apple App Store featured the game for the start of the football season, and then the eight-bit graphic styled football game, drawn on eight-bit squares like “Pac-Man,” exploded.

Now, it has more than seven million downloads and a solid 4.8 out of 5-star rating on the Apple App Store.

“I started playing ‘Retro Bowl’ like a month ago,” junior Eli Rohr said. “The game is very enjoyable and deserves popularity. It also does not use Wi-Fi, so it’s a good game to play in the car. I started playing when I saw a bunch of my friends playing it, and now I have about 15 ‘Retro Bowl’ titles.”

The popular game allows the player to experience the seat of the head coach of a National Football League team with a twist. They can draft players, maintain facilities, overview happenings, hire coaches, manage media and take control of the team on the field. Players can also purchase a premium version that allows them to create their own leagues, change jersey colors, change names and access other features.

It also has a microtransaction system with coaching credits, which are a currency that can either be earned randomly through winning games or through randomized events. These credits can be used to improve facilities, hire new coaches, get free agent players or maintain player stability.

“I think that the coaching credits are a good thing in ‘Retro Bowl,’” senior Jonathan Tate said. “It is how the game makes money and allows for the game to continue to update and become better.”

“Retro Bowl” even picked up some TikTok fame with #retrobowl having more than 113 million views and with the most popular video having nearly one million likes and more than 4.8 million views.

“I started playing ‘Retro Bowl’ a while back because I ended up bored,” junior Tony Arial said. “I enjoy it because it’s a good way to build progress and spend time. I am pretty good as I have won more than 30 titles. The game deserved the amount of popularity because it was simple, fun, quick pace and had an easy style.”

Infographic by Cade Becker

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“Sports have taught “Sports has taught me me a lot about leadership, to be thankful for every confidence and teamwork. I opportunity and to live in think sports are important the moment. Sports build to get people to be active the best relationships. and to have something to You get to play with your be competitive in.” family on the court and spend time with them off the court. It is a sweet blessing, because of who we have this year.”