After giving you the heads-up about the brand new World Cup website launched by PlayON yesterday at www.playon.co , we now turn our attention to the rule set as the minutes quickly tick away before tomorrow’s opener between Brazil and Croatia:

Team Selection

PlayON is running Gameweeks (where you pick teams and enter one-on-one and multiplayer games) for all groups as well as for each individual group so you can pick players from all 32 countries or from just the four countries in a particular group.

You have a budget of £100m to spend on XI players in a 4-4-2 formation but, unlike most other Fantasy games, PlayON does not place any limit on the number of players you can select from any given country – providing it’s within your budgetary restrictions you can pick as many as you want from an individual nation.

Fantasy managers must save their team of XI two hours prior to the start of each Gameweek, with the deadline for Round 1 All Groups and Round 1 Group A at 19.00 tomorrow evening. A new addition to PlayON for the World Cup is being able to pick multiple teams, so you can pick up to three different teams in each Gameweek, thus increasing your chances of success.

Games

As we mentioned in yesterday’s intro article, PlayON offers Fantasy managers the option to play for cash.

New game types for the World Cup are multiplier games, where you can double or treble your money, as well as limit entry games so rather than playing against hundreds of people, you can enter games with a maximum of 5, 10 or 20 entrants.

You can also opt for One-on-One games against your mates or Ambassadors – including Fantasy Football Scout, OptaJoe and Robbie Fowler – for free or for cash.

One other exciting new addition for the World Cup is in-play games, which are due to be released over the coming days. This will enable Fantasy managers to continue to enter their teams into games as the matches are unfolding. More on this over the coming days.

Player Prices

PlayON differs from most Fantasy games in that player prices are re-evaluated in accordance with the previous game’s events. If a budget midfielder bags a brace in the opening round of fixtures, you can expect a price hike prior to his next appearance – essentially, this ensures PlayON is one of the most dynamic Fantasy games around, with no two rounds of player prices the same.

Scoring Points

At the back, keepers are awarded 100 points for every save made, though a penalty stop will earn 750 points. Only goalkeepers and defenders benefit from clean sheets, earning 500 points apiece, whilst they also collect 50 points for every registered clearance – on the downside, they lose 250 points for every goal conceded.

In every other aspect of the Scoring Matrix, the points accrued are the same regardless of player classification. For further defensive actions, a tackle will earn your player 25 points, whilst an interception is looked upon as more valuable and will help collect 50 points – ball winners and those with the ability to break up opponents’ play are smiled upon kindly.

Unsurprisingly, finding the net is afforded the highest reward, with 1,000 points accrued, whilst providing an assist will earn your player 400 points. Picking players with a keen eye for goal is also a canny tactic in PlayON – a shot on target will help 200 points, whether it’s a five-yard sitter into the keeper’s arms or a speculative 40-yard daisy-cutter.

Keepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards all earn five points for every five minutes played – selecting key players who won’t be replaced in the latter stages of matches looks a handy plan, then. Avoiding card-happy players is also worth considering – a yellow card takes 250 points from a player’s total, whilst a red card deducts a hefty 500 points.

PlayON also has a Live Matchday, which updates in real time, thus allowing Fantasy managers to keep an eye on how their teams are performing. As mentioned above, in-play games are being released over the coming days.

Leaderboard

PlayON’s Top 5 Leaderboard offers another chance of winning some cash. The Leaderboard takes your top 5 Gameweek scores over the course of the World Cup and adds them together. No problem if you miss the start of the tournament or miss any given Gameweek, you have 31 Gameweeks to score points in, with your top 5 counting for the Leaderboard. The Fantasy manager with the highest total from their top 5 scores wins £500. It’s worth noting that only teams entered into at least one real money game in the Gameweek count towards the total.

We will follow up with our Round 1 player picks article tomorrow but for now, head over to www.playon.co to pick your teams and enter some games.