New Baseball, Football
Card Games

NXT Games and Donruss have teamed up to produce Top
of the Order, a baseball card game licensed by Major League
Baseball and Red Zone, a football card game licensed by the
National Football League. Both games were shipping as InQuest
went to press.

Like ordinary sports trading cards, each card has a photo-
graph of a professional athlete. Unlike ordinary sports cards,
they also contain the information necessary to play a rich,
detailed game. Each card shows its player's skills, based on
actual statistics. Each also lists a defensive play, offensive play,
and random color codes for determining the results.

While Donruss handles most of the printing and distributing
concerns, NXT Games has committed itself to pleasing gamers.

NXT has launched a World Wide Web page at http://www.-
nxtgames.com. While the page will include frequently asked
questions, rules, and the like, there are also plans for contests
and games.

Eighty-card starter decks for both games cost $10. Twelve-
card booster packs cost $2.79. A deluxe edition, two-deck
starter pack costs $20, which includes a special outcome pin-
wheel (easier to use than the folding charts found in each
deck). The Red Zone set contains 366 cards, while Top of the
Order has 308.

NXT Games plans to release expansion sets each season, with
updated cards representing the players' new statistics. It's also
talking with the NHL about producing a hockey version.

- Rich Warren