For most players, Madden is all about realism. They want to get as close to the real thing as possible, avoiding “cheesy” plays like impossible catches, inexplicable defensive lapses, and unguardable running backs.

Facing an overpowering CPU that seems to know your every move can be exhausting but slinging passes left and right with 99% completion can make the game less challenging and boring. And, if you also know how to get in the zone in Madden, you’ll be virtually unstoppable.

Setting realistic game sliders can help you avoid these pitfalls and achieve the perfect balance you’re looking for.

Read on and learn how to set realistic game sliders in Madden 22!

About game sliders and difficulties

Adjusting your game sliders will have a big impact on gameplay.

You can change anything from how often the refs will call certain penalties to your QB’s throwing accuracy and your WR’s catching. Combined with the game style (Arcade, Simulation, Competitive), your game sliders will dictate how the game flows and which types of plays are easier/harder to execute both on offense and defense.

As a general rule, we know that default game sliders in Madden tend to favor certain things and make the game a little unrealistic. For example, if realism is what you’re after, you’ll likely have to reduce your QB accuracy from what it is by default.

However, you also need to consider your difficulty. On All-Madden, connecting passes will be harder so you don’t want to reduce your QB accuracy slider too much. If you’re playing on Pro difficulty, feel free to go as low as 20 on QB accuracy since the passing game is way too easy on Pro.

That said, you know which difficulty suits you best depending on your skill so be honest to yourself and don’t go for realism if it will result in tough gameplay and frustration.

The most realistic game sliders in Madden 22

Important note: these are all Madden 22 All-Pro suited sliders for the All-Pro difficulty, Simulation style. If you’re playing on All-Madden, you’ll need to significantly increase almost all user sliders and reduce CPU to get a more realistic experience.

Penalties

The way you set your penalty sliders will affect how likely your players will be to commit a certain penalty.

Keep in mind that, if you tweak Coaching Adjustments, this will directly impact your penalties. The game sliders we recommend below only will only be realistic if you don’t change Coach Adjustments.

Here are realistic game sliders for penalties:

  • Offside 70
  • False Start 70
  • Offensive Holding 65
  • Facemask 65
  • Illegal Block in the Back 50
  • Roughing the passer 50
  • Defensive Pass Interference 70
  • Ineligible Receiver Downfield ON
  • Offensive Pass Interference ON
  • Kick Catch Interference ON
  • Intentional Grounding ON
  • Roughing the Kicker ON
  • Running into the Kicker ON
  • Illegal Contact ON
Realistic game sliders - penalties

Game options

Game options are largely subjective and refer to things like quarter duration, play clock, etc. Most of these can be left entirely to your preference although we would advise reducing both quarter duration and play clock.

Here is what we find provides us the best experience.

  • Skill Level All-Pro (or All-Madden)
  • Game Style Simulation
  • Quarter Length 10 Minutes
  • Play Clock ON
  • Accelerated Clock ON
  • Minimum Play Clock Time 15-20 Seconds
  • Auto Flip Defensive Play Call ON
  • Ball Hawk: Optional
  • Heat Seeker: Optional
  • Switch Assist: ON
  • Coach Mode: Off
  • Injury: 15
  • Fatigue: 60
  • Player Speed Parity Scale: 50
Realistic game sliders - game options

User and CPU sliders

These sliders will have the biggest impact on your gameplay. They dictate how your players will act and perform compared to the CPU. If you’re playing on All-Pro, you’ll have to reduce your settings a little bit to get a more realistic experience and avoid overpowering the CPU with your quarterback.

Again, feel free to adapt these to make the game the most enjoyable for you. For example, if you’re not as crafty on defense, you can adjust these sliders to avoid getting scored on easily. We feel like the game sliders below are pretty well balanced for a realistic experience.

Player skill:

  • QB Accuracy 30
  • Pass Blocking 20
  • WR Catching 50
  • Run Blocking 35
  • Fumbles 50
  • Reaction Time 60
  • Interceptions 40
  • Pass Coverage 60
  • Tackling: 70
  • FG Power: 60
  • FG Accuracy: 45
  • Punt Power: 60
  • Punt Accuracy: 55
  • Kickoff Power: 65
Realistic game sliders - player skill

CPU skill:

  • QB Accuracy 50
  • Pass Blocking 60
  • WR Catching 45
  • Run Blocking 65
  • Fumbles 55
  • Reaction Time 60
  • Interceptions 45
  • Pass Coverage 55
  • Tackling 30
  • FG Power: 60
  • FG Accuracy: 45
  • Punt Power: 60
  • Punt Accuracy: 55
  • Kickoff Power: 65
Realistic game sliders - CPU skill

What is the best game style for a realistic experience?

As mentioned, most realistic Madden 22 sliders alone won’t be enough to get the best experience in Madden – you’ll need to combine them with the ideal game style.

Like each year, there are three game styles in Madden 22:

  • Arcade: cinematic, big plays, considered a little over-the-top and unrealistic
  • Simulation: true to the actual game, considered the most realistic
  • Competitive: stick skills are most important, the online H2H standard

It’s generally accepted that the Simulation style is the best if you’re looking for a realistic experience. That’s what we recommend as well, and the sliders covered above are for the Simulation style.

However, Arcade can also be pretty interesting and not as unrealistic as people make it out to be. If you play around with game sliders, you’ll be able to strike a balance and experience some exciting games without each drive being incredibly over the top.

It’s not like amazing plays don’t happen in real life – so you can try to control the Arcade style with game sliders and get a good mix of action and reality.

Conclusion

The best Madden 22 sliders will be different for each player, so feel free not to stick to these settings we listed above.

Still, they should serve as a good starting point if you’re playing on All-Pro. If you’re playing on All-Madden, you’ll need to take a different approach: ramp up your settings but reduce CPU’s or you’ll probably see some frustration.

Use our Madden 22 sliders as a template and tweak them until you create an experience that works best for your style and skills!