Play John Madden Football on Msdos Online

John Madden Football came out in 1988 for MS-DOS, published by Electronic Arts. It was one of the first serious football games on PC, arriving at a time when most sports titles were still simpler arcade affairs. You loaded it from a floppy disk, and it ran in that crisp, blocky CGA or EGA style that defined the era.

You control the entire team, calling plays from a text menu before each snap. The main objective is to outscore the opponent by moving the ball downfield, either running or passing. Signature mechanics include selecting formations and specific plays, then executing them with timed button presses for actions like throwing or kicking. The pacing is deliberate, almost methodical, with a steep learning curve that punishes mistakes harshly. It feels raw and tactical, like you're actually thinking through each down instead of just reacting.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".