The player directly controls one member of a five-man team, with the object of carrying a football over the opposing team's goal line. The playing area is littered with hazards such as pits, bushes and logs. A ball carrier who trips over any of these, or who is punched by an opponent, fumbles the ball. The field is also laden with weapons: axes, maces, nooses, scythes, spears, swords and torches. A player can pick up one of these by running over it. It will appear at the top of the screen next to the player's score as a "concealed weapon", several weapons may be carried at once and one may be carried over after a touchdown. The ball carrier can be "grappled", essentially a mass tackle into which multiple characters can jump. Having a concealed weapon as well as having more characters jump into the grapple greatly increases a team's chance of gaining or retaining possession, although weapons cannot be used if both team captains are in the grapple. A character who is injured by a concealed weapon is out of play until a touchdown is scored. If one team gets too far behind in score in the second half of the game, a computer-controlled troll is added to the losing side to help even the odds, and behaves more aggressively than regular players. Additionally, the troll cannot be killed by weapons. Up to two trolls can be in play at a time during a standard game. During a one player "Pro Pigskin" game, if the computer-controlled team continues to lose heavily even after a troll has been added or falls behind very quickly early on, an option for a "Troll Bowl" will appear. If selected the player will face an entire team of trolls with only human players on their own side. Gameplay tips are given between periods and statistics are given at the end of the game. Statistics cover Goals Scored, Injuries Inflicted and Pigskin Possession Time. Before the game we can read about teams background. Both teams are renegades bands. The blue band is led by Thor Akenbak, and the red one's captain is Atilla DeSoil.
Scoring
A touchdown is worth six points, with a one-point bonus for keeping possession of the ball for longer than a minimum time. It is possible to gain very high scores by eliminating most of the opposing team and then maintaining possession of the ball for as long as possible. Since a period can only end on a change of possession, a player can keep gaining single possession points well after the period clock has run out.
Controls
Pigskin has two pass buttons, a punch button, and a button for selecting the team's strategy.
Sega Genesis version
There is no scythe and torch. The music is shorter and plays at a lower volume. The game features soundbites from Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glanville. There is a hidden sound test.
Offers
At one time, the makers of Pigskin 621 A.D. offered tickets to the Super Bowl as part of a sweepstakes promotion associated with the arcade game. The game also advertised a free players handbook available by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to a specified post-office box.
Development
Designers Jeff Nauman and Brian Colin had previously worked on the Midway Games Arch Rivals and Rampage, which are referenced in the game's tagline "Ancient Archrivals on a Rampage." Pigskin is the last of only seven games made for Midway's MCR-68k system before completely switching over to newer TMS34010 based systems.
