Gridledger

Gridledger is a football dynasty game you can finish in one sitting. Take over one club in a made-up 32-club league and run it for ten seasons. A whole run takes about 20 minutes, then your dynasty goes on a Hall-of-Fame card you can save as a picture.

Every season is four decisions. Scout: prospects show rating ranges, not numbers, and five looks a season narrow them; a second look shows a trait (late bloomer, bust risk, ageless), a third shows the truth. Draft: three rounds, and the AI clubs have their own scouts and make their own mistakes. Manage: one move a season (a contract extension, one trade or one signing from the open market), with the cap and roster limit to balance. Sim: the season plays out week by week. Your games run on a top-down field, snap by snap, with the drive line growing, down and distance, a live scoreboard and a caption for every play (1x or 4x, skip a drive or straight to the final); the other scores land on a ticker, the standings slide into place, and the playoff bracket fills in game by game. Box scores for every one of your games. Want the headset? Call plays yourself, offense and defense, snap by snap or only on key downs: the AI reads the situation, the matchups decide (a blitz against a screen, a stacked box against play-action), and a line after each play says why. Set your own lineup before kickoff, or let the best by rating start.

Stats for everyone, live as the season plays: passing, rushing, receiving, defense and kicking, filtered by club, position, minimum attempts and season, sorted by any column, with league leaders and club ranks. Every player has a card with his game log and season-by-season totals.

Players age on visible curves: young players grow toward their ceiling, veterans fade, some retire, contracts come due. AI managers value youth, rating and contracts, pay a premium for stars and want a small edge, so you can't fleece them with a pile of backups. Timing is everything.

Today's league gives everyone the same league and the same draft classes for a five-season sprint; copy your result and compare. Any league can be replayed from its code.

All clubs, players and the league are fictional. No accounts, no ads, no tracking, no network, no betting. Your progress stays in your browser, with one undo for your last decision.

How to play

- Startup draft: pick your core from a pool of veterans in the first eight rounds, keeping room under the cap; the league fills the depth.

- Each season: spend five scouting looks, draft three rookies, make your one move (extend, trade or sign), then start the season.

- Score dynasty points: 10 a win, 40 for a playoff trip, 40 a playoff win, 200 for the Ledger Cup, plus owner mood, young stars and a clean cap at the end.

- Tap any player for his card (age curve, contract, game log, season by season), any club for its roster, any of your games for its box score, or Watch to see it again on the field. The Stats tab ranks everyone; the Lineup button sets your depth chart.

Controls

- Mouse or touch: every action is a button

- Keys: N next step, A pick for me in drafts, U undo the last decision, 1-5 switch tabs, ? help, Esc close; on the field P pause, S speed, D end of drive, F final; calling plays, the number keys pick the call (0 lets the AI call it); Tab and Enter reach everything

Made by FitzTopPicks with AI help (Claude): the code, the writing, and the art and sounds, which the game draws and plays from code as you go. Plain JavaScript, with no image or sound files. More games and tools from us: https://fitztoppicks.com/games?utm_source=itch&utm_medium=game-page&utm_campaign...