What follows is Michael's verbatim description of how to play. He claims to have been drunk when he wrote them. I added one section. - Philip

Flick football broadly follows the rules of American football. The objective is to score touchdowns and field goals in greater abundance than your opponent.

Playing time

Each game is divided into 4 quarters, two quarters constituting a "half."

Playing surface

Ideally a flat, smooth surface of any kind. A desk works perfectly. There are not standard field dimensions, but something close to 1.5 to 2 ft in length and 1 to 1.5 ft in width is ideal. Each end of the table, length wise, must have a clear, somewhat exact edge (rounded table edges are problematic).

The Football

We strongly recommend the official LVP WTAW licensed football template. Otherwise, anything flat and light in weight will work. Folding a piece of copy paper into a small triangle works well.

How to play

At the beginning of the game, 1 player will place the football approximately 1 Š 3 inches in front of their end zone and "flick" it towards their opponents end zone using their finger(s). One player will flick first for the 1st two quarters, the other for the later two. Flicks can be executed with an finger (or really anything else on your body, we guess) as long as you donÕt move the football before the flick, and as long as you leave the football flat on the playing surface before you flick. You can not pick up or hold the football Š you must flick it from where it stopped on the previous flick.

How to score

Touchdowns

When you flick the football, it will slide across the playing surface towards the "end zone" (.i.e. playing surface edge) of your opponent. If any portion of the football is hanging over the edge of the playing surface (but still balanced on it, not fallen to the floor) you have just scored a touchdown, worth 6 points. After a touchdown, you will kick for an extra point (kicking rules covered in a second).

Field goals

In the event that the football slides off the playing surface (on any edge) because of excessive force applied to a flick, the non-flicker will be awarded a field goal attempt, worth 3 points should he/her complete it successfully.

Kicking rules for extra points (after touchdowns) and field goals

If you have been awarded a kick (for a field goal or extra point), your opponent must first form the "goal post" on his/her end of the playing surface. See the diagram below for an example. Note: thumbs must connect at their ends and not overlap. Index fingers must be fully erect. If you have especially long thumbs, thus giving an advantage to your opponent because of the extra wide goal post length, well, tough for you. Goals posts must be balanced on the wrists at the edge of the goal line, and should not be higher than a few inches off the playing surface.

To kick, the kicker may stand the football upright, balancing it with one finger, and flick it with another. The football must travel in the air over the entire length of the playing surface and go over the space created by the horizontal thumbs and between the space created by the vertical index fingers. Footballs that travel higher than the index fingers, but over the vertical plane created by the thumbs are acceptable. In fact, the football usually ends up being flicked right in the face of your opponent.

Speaking of your opponent, they are responsible for referring the kick. They will call whether it is good or not.

Two-point Conversions

In lieu of an extra-point kick, we also think it's okay to move the ball two full ball lengths away from the edge of the table and try to hang it over the edge. If you do so successfully, it's two points. Hope that makes sense. I'm less articulate than Mikey boy. -Philip