Weekly Fantasy games come into their own when the season enters the closing stages and the interest of those cast adrift in mini-leagues starts to waver. PlayON is a weekly Fantasy offering thatโs newly arrived on our radars, having come out of beta to be released publicly in the last month. After a few weeks dabbling with what it has to offer, we thought weโd get involved and bring it to your attention.
What is PlayON?
The concept of PlayON is beautifully simple, although there is a welcome level of depth underpinning the game that perhaps other weekly games have lacked; a factor that will appeal to the more seasoned Fantasy manager.
You pick a starting eleven from the Premier League squads, limited by a budget of ยฃ100 million. There is no restriction on the number of players you can sign from each club and you must build your squad in a 4-4-2 formation. Easy.
The depth comes in when you start to look at player prices. These vary week to week and are based on an algorithm that measures recent performance and adjusts their price accordingly. With a bit of research and knowledge, then, you can easily spot a bargain to hopefully give you an edge. You can resave your team as many times as you want right up to 10 minutes before the first kick-off. Itโs your last saved team that gets entered into all your games.
Once your team is built, this can then be used to enter a number of multiplayer games or one-on-one challenges. You can play a free multiplayer game without making a deposit or just challenge another player for fun.
Alternatively, you can play for cash. Entering a multiplayer game for a set stake, youโll have a chance of wining your share of the pot should you finish high enough in the rankings โ this week thereโs a ยฃ1,000 guaranteed pot for a ยฃ2 entry. Similarly, you can challenge another player one-on-one with a slider used to select the amount at stake. The likes of Robbie Fowler, Gareth Southgate and Opta Joe are all playing the game and are there to be challenged.
Why Should I Play?
Apart from the pricing system giving the knowledgeable Fantasy manager an edge, PlayONโs scoring system plays into the hands of those familiar and comfortable with statistics.
While goals, assists and clean sheets all contribute big points to your playersโ totals, you also score points for shots on target, saves, interceptions, clearances and tackles. All the data is gathered from Opta so, those Scout visitors who have access to our Members area will have a real edge when it comes to team selection. Using our tables and player comparison tool, you can quickly begin to unearth some gems when you couple this with the player pricing.
The live matchday experience is also rather good. Once the matches kick-off, you can watch a live feed of the match events that effect your team with your points totting up as they roll in, vidiprinter style. The standings in your games are also updated live so you can see how youโre faring and if youโre currently in the money.
The game is also developing communities of players, united under their own club. Simply choose the club you wish to represent. Each week you play your team points get added to your club total. In addition, the top points scorer from each club represents the club in the โLeague of Titansโ the following week.
Every 10 weeks, the top two teams in each division are promoted and the bottom 2 teams are relegated.
How Do I Start?
Itโs all pretty easy. Register an account at PlayON at www.playon.co.uk. You donโt have to make a deposit as you can play the free multiplayer games without shelling out.
Weโve been set up as Ambassadors in the game along with Fowler, Southgate and OptaJoe. This doesnโt mean weโll be handing out ferrero rocher before the match but it does mean we get a fancy badge and can set up multiplayer games and be challenged for one-on-ones.
We have a Fantasy Football Scout free multiplayer game running that all can join and you can find us and challenge our team to a one-on-one game for ยฃ1. You can also easily create your own games for you and a group of mates.
Youโll also find the Fantasy Football Scout team in the โAmbassadors Gameโ which has a prize pot of over ยฃ1000 and is just ยฃ2.20 to enter. Weโve entered that over the last two weeks and have been in profit. For those who fancy waging some cash to win some cash, this is the route we recommend.
With the knowledge in the Fantasy Football Scout community, weโd expect to see some familiar names up there on the leader board come Saturday afternoon.
As a new game in the Fantasy market, weโd be interested to get your feedback on the game. Weโve enjoyed our experience so far and, as we look for new games to support next season, PlayON is certainly in the running.
PlayON, like many weekly Fantasy games, is a form of gambling so you have to be aged over 18 and over to play and, if you do wager some cash, please remember to gamble responsibly.
