NFL Huddle: What's new in Topps NFL Huddle 2017
Can you smell that? It's the scent of pigskin in the air, which either means that cliches be damned, pigs are flying in your neck of the woods, or the new NFL season is right around the corner.
If it is indeed the latter. Topps wants to celebrate as only it knows how, by getting you into some sweet digital NFL trading cards of your favorite players and teams. There's a good chance it wants you to use the NFL Huddle app more than ever, actually, because the company no longer has a license to make physical football cards.
Not only that but NFL Huddle has gone all futuristic by updating to NFL Huddle 2017, a good year ahead of us. While this is customary in football circles (see also: Madden 17), we should note that the app has actually been given more than a fresh coat of paint for the new season.
To wit ...
New cover athlete
So long J.J. Watt. We'll see you terrorizing quarterbacks again soon, provided your injuries heal. Or maybe even playing at 75 percent since you're a bad man.
In his place is St. Louis Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley, or as my son calls him "Gurley II." A fresh new face for the new season.
Leveling up
NFL Huddle has borrowed a page from Topps' UFC Knockout app, awarding XP like it was a video game. Every time you log in for the first time in a day, open packs, complete insert sets, use the Card Exchange, or compete and place in contests, you'll earn more of them.
Eventually, you'll level up, granting you a free pack with an exclusive card in it. Topps also says additional content will be unlocked as you head for the level cap of 50.
New cards
This probably goes without saying, but there's a whole bunch of new digital football cards as we get ever closer to the 2016 NFL kickoff. The new card design is the first base set in Huddle history created especially for the app -- because of that licensing thing mentioned above -- and it makes it much easier to tell at a glance how the card scores in contests.
In the latest update notes, Topps also promised a number of new and returning inserts will be arriving in the weeks to come, like relics, Signature Series, Rising Stars, and Rivalries. The Card Exchange, which has been featured in other Topps apps, will also be a way to get your hands on some rarer cards.
If all of that doesn't entice you to jump back in, Topps is also giving users a free gold card and 25,000 coins the first time they log in after the update. Time to check out what's new and get yourself worked into even more of an NFL frenzy than you already were.