Madden 23 offers a variety of alternatives, whether you're seeking to play a friendly football game with a friend sitting next to you on the sofa or you want to engage in a more competitive online match with bragging rights (or larger stakes). Naturally, some of those choices involve franchise mode, a mode that has suffered serious problems recently (and for most of the year), which is why we feel it is necessary to explain how to play with other options if you were burned and are finding it difficult to begin another franchise.

You can also alter the conditions of your prospective friendship-ending contest before the game starts by changing the quarter length, playing style, and time of day. You don't even need to tempt fate by tearing your friendship apart over a competitive game, so rest assured. Perhaps you'd want to play as a team against online opponents in order to combine your efforts and include a third friend.

There are many different methods you can use to play with buddies, so it's worthwhile to go over the options and explain how to set it up each one.

Play Now

If you're on the couch with a friend who enjoys football and you want to get a game started right away, the Play Now option is perhaps the simplest to navigate. From there, click "Play Now" once more to choose the home and away teams and set up a game with the teams you want to see. It will be time for the two of you to compete for Madden 23 dominance once you have decided on a few factors, such as the mentioned quarter length and style of play.

Don't overlook the alternatives for the Pro Bowl & Madden Legacy games, in which the two of you can take on either the NFL's top players right now or historical icons.

Online head-to-head comparison

The Play With Friends option is a nice one to browse for connecting to play games with friends online, as you may guess from the menu's name. Online Head-to-Head is essentially a derived version of such a play now mode, with the exception that your opponent is a long distance away rather than physically present. Select Play A Friend from the menu, look up your friend's online ID in the list, and after choosing them, start a new game.

From there, you can vary the length and level of difficulty, but you cannot change the competitive nature of the game. When you're ready, invite your friend to the game, choose your team, and then wait for them to accept.

Superstar KO & The Yard

Superstar KO & The Yard are similar modes in that both let you play games with the same team with friends; however, they also have some little distinctions. You and your buddies will form a team in Superstar KO and play short 11-on-11 games using OT rules after hiring a famous coach and a few superstar players. Simply make sure that your squad size is set to 2v2 / 3v3 according to how many buddies you have with you. Before taking on online opponents, you'll need to come to an agreement on the roles that each of you will perform on the team.

On the other side, in The Yard, you can play as the character you design in the Face of a Franchise career mode online. Again, you can play in teams of up to two friends, but the games only have six players on each team and are meant to be casual, like backyard games.You'll then want to form a team so that you can let your friends join your team, whether you decide to play Ranked H2H or Live Events. If you want to have the highest chance of success, the roles you choose should fit the archetypes of your players. Gaining awards from winning games will let you improve your player's abilities or attire. For the ultimate Madden friendship experience, you may even play against three additional friends online in The Yard by entering a matchmaking password.

Madden Ultimate Team

There are a few ways for you and your pals to explore the world of Madden 23 together, though Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) might not be the ideal option for playing with friends. This is especially true if you haven't been keeping up with gathering the cards necessary to put together a good team. Inside the online menu, you have the option to play the unranked game against a friend. This should appease players who want to compare lineups in addition to skill sets.

The other interesting feature is Squads, in which you can once again team up with up to two buddies. However, this time, you'll each bring a member of the MUT squad to create your overall team. Even though it will be beneficial if everyone is aware of their responsibilities and communicates, having fun with your friends can occasionally be more enjoyable when you're not taking yourself too seriously.

Franchising Mode

Creating an online franchise might be a good idea if you have lots of friends and want to play with them but want something a bit more sophisticated. Obviously, if you wanted to have a friend on each team in the league, you would need 31 pals. Instead of launching your own franchise, you may locate one that already exists and is searching for a few new franchisees. Reddit or perhaps the Operation Sports boards might be an excellent place to start your search.

Participating in a franchise has the advantage that you will now have to outperform your friends on the field in whatever games you play, in addition to being better at roster management. An online franchise has the drawback of occasionally being completely unreachable due to server problems, which has been a problem for many this year.