In a fine example of mixing business with pleasure, I’ve been helping devise Guardian.co.uk’s new Fantasy Football game, which launched last night. In the hope this blog’s reader will join in the fun, I’ve set up a Completetosh.com league – The League of Scoundrels. Joining details are below. Go on! Do it now! So much more fun than work!
First, the sales pitch… we looked around the market and saw quite a few rather dull games which people were charging for. So we’ve worked with one of the leading fantasy game makers – Clever.tv – to build a free game that is… well, hopefully a little smarter than your average fantasy football game.
Obviously, the central idea is still to assemble a team with your £100m budget, and win points based on the players’ real performances in the Premier League. But, instead of just getting points for an assist, or a goal, or a clean sheet, there are a bunch of other ways to score points – tackles, shots on target, interceptions, and more – which should make this a much more interesting and nuanced play than you might get elsewhere. We think it’ll mean that managers who take a punt on some of the Premiership’s less lauded names may well be rewarded.
Then we added choices of formations, a squad system, stuck on a gorgeous interface, and club supporter and national leagues that your team can all be part of. Best of all, the game’s free. And there’s a £50k prize fund.
We think it’s going to be a scream.
I’m thrilled with how it’s turned out, yet – despite my involvement – it’s still guaranteed that I’ll be rubbish at actually playing it. So now’s your chance to humiliate me (in some cases, again). Better still, your one team can be part of many leagues, meaning you don’t need to have multiple teams, which would be a fiddle.
To sign up: first go to Fantasy Football, pick your team and save it. Then click on Friends’ Leagues. You’ll need to enter the league name: League of Scoundrels. And the password: Completetosh.
You’ll see my team – Cristal Palace – is already there, and ready for its heroic plummet to the foot of the table. Your glory is assured.
Right, I’ve picked my team, joined the league, and received my confirmation email, but I can’t log in to see my team again. When I click on ‘Sign in’ I get a blank teamsheet again, and no obvious link to view my team. Is this a known problem, or should I contact tech support?
Wonderful. Perhaps this will finally stop me playing the C4 version. Have signed up and look forward to finding out what went wrong with my best laid plans.
Nick – we had a launch-day glitch that affected everyone. It’s working again now. Ahem. Sorry.
hi 2 all.
just joined your league.looking forward to the game and the season.
all the best
Alas, this is something for which I am completely unqualified. Failure.
I understand non Uk residents can’t win any of the prizes. But are they able to play for fun? It looks really good.
Hi Mort – without referring to m’legal friends, I think the competition – prizes and the rest – is open only to UK residents. But, so long as you’re not in a place that says such things are illegal, you can play for fun.
Hi, any advice on which is the best fantasy format?? Currently on the Premier League one, but my experience with fantasy Australian Rules is that the newspaper competition is usually better then the one organised by the official site.
Dave – I’m biased, and would clearly say the Guardian’s game is best…
the best fantasy game by far!! way better than FPL.
the only thing missing from the guardians version (and is quite annoying) is that if one of your players is missing it won’t use one of your subs automatically!
will be signing upto your league!