Everything you need to know about Online Football Squares
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Yes, 100% free. There are no premium tiers, no hidden fees, and no limits on how many games you can create. Every feature on the platform is available to everyone at no cost. We are supported by advertisements, which is how we keep the service free. You will never be asked to pay for anything.
No. There are no accounts on Online Football Squares. When you create a game, you set an admin password that you use to manage it. Players claim squares by just entering their name. Nobody needs to sign up, log in, or provide an email address. This makes it easy to share with large groups since there is zero friction for people joining your game.
Every game has a unique link and a short game code. You can click the "Copy Link" button on your game page to copy the full URL, then send it through text, email, Slack, or any messaging app. If the full link is too long, you can also just share the game code (the letters and numbers at the end of the URL). Players can enter that code on our homepage to find your game. Either way works.
Yes. When creating a game, you can set a "Player Password" that people must enter before they can see or claim squares. This is useful if you want to keep the game limited to your specific group and do not want random people stumbling in. Anyone with the link will be prompted for the password before they can access the game board.
A standard squares grid has 100 squares, so you can have up to 100 participants if everyone takes one square. In practice, most groups have fewer people with each person claiming multiple squares to fill the board. There is no minimum or maximum number of players. The game works whether you have 5 people splitting the board or 100 people each taking one square.
When you create a game and select a matchup from our schedule (NFL, college football, NBA, college basketball, or NHL), we automatically track the score during the game. The score on your grid updates every few minutes while the game is being played. When a quarter or period ends, the platform detects the winning square and highlights it on the grid. You do not need to refresh the page or enter anything manually.
Score data comes from third-party sources and may occasionally be delayed or temporarily unavailable. This is rare, but it can happen. If you notice that scores are not updating, do not worry. As the admin, you can always enter scores manually from your admin panel. Just click the "Scores" button and type in the score at the end of each quarter. The grid will update and highlight the winner just like it would with automatic scoring.
We currently support live score tracking for five leagues: NFL, college football (FBS), NBA, college basketball (Division I), and NHL. When you create a game and pick a matchup from any of these leagues, scores will update automatically during the game. If you want to play squares for a sport or league we do not cover, you can always create a custom game and enter scores manually.
Wait until all or most of the squares are claimed before assigning numbers. The reason is fairness. If the numbers are visible while people are still choosing squares, they could try to grab the squares with the "best" numbers, which defeats the purpose of the game being random. The ideal flow is: let everyone claim their squares, then assign the numbers, then lock the grid. Do all three before the game starts.
Locking the grid freezes the board so that players can no longer claim, edit, or remove squares. This is meant to protect the integrity of the game once it starts. You should lock the grid before kickoff or tip-off so that no changes can be made during the game. As the admin, you can still make edits after locking if you need to (for example, fixing a misspelled name), but regular players will not be able to modify anything.
By default, no. Once a square is claimed, other players cannot take it. However, there is an "Allow Override" setting that the admin can enable if they want players to be able to claim squares that are already taken. This is turned off by default. Regardless of which setting you use, every change to the board is recorded in the Change Log, so you can always see exactly who changed what and when.
Unfortunately, we cannot recover admin passwords. For security, passwords are hashed before they are stored, which means we do not have access to them in plain text. There is no way for us to look up or reset your password. If you have lost your admin password, you will need to create a new game and have your group reclaim their squares. We strongly recommend saving your admin password somewhere safe when you first create the game.
The Change Log is a record of every modification made to the board. Every time a square is claimed, edited, or removed, it gets logged with a timestamp. This is visible to the admin and provides a full audit trail of what happened on the board. It is especially useful if there is ever a question about who had a square or when a change was made.
Yes. You can create as many games as you want, all for free. Some groups create separate games for different matchups, different friend groups, or different events throughout the season. Each game has its own link, its own admin password, and its own board. There is no limit.
Yes. We have automatic score tracking for all NFL and FBS college football games, but you can also create a custom game for any matchup. Just choose the "Custom" option when creating your game and enter whatever team names you want. You will need to enter the scores manually during the game, but everything else works the same way. This also works great for non-football events where you want to use a squares-style grid.
Absolutely. Even though "football" is in the name, our platform supports NBA basketball, college basketball, and NHL hockey in addition to NFL and college football. All five sports have live score tracking. The rules are the same across all sports. The only difference is how the periods are structured. Football and basketball use quarters (college basketball uses halves), and hockey uses three periods. The platform handles these differences automatically based on the sport you select.
That depends on the scoring mode you chose when creating the game. In Standard mode, the final score (including any overtime points) is used for the Final quarter winner. There are still just 4 winners total. In "With Overtime" mode, the end-of-regulation score is tracked separately as Q4, and the post-overtime final score determines a 5th winner. This gives you a bonus winning opportunity if the game goes to overtime. If the game does not go to overtime, Q4 and Final will be the same result.
Online Football Squares is a game tracking tool only. We do not facilitate, encourage, or process any financial transactions of any kind. The platform is designed for fun and bragging rights. How participants choose to use the game among themselves is their own responsibility and must comply with their local laws and regulations. Please see our Terms of Service for more details.
Yes. The entire platform is designed to work on any device. The grid, the admin panel, and the game creation page all adjust to fit your screen whether you are on a phone, tablet, or desktop computer. You can also cast the game to a TV if you want to display it on a big screen during a party or watch event.
Yes. There is a print button in the footer of the game page, or you can use your browser's built-in print function. The grid is optimized for printing, so unnecessary elements like navigation and buttons are automatically hidden. This is a nice option if you want a physical copy for a party or to post on a bulletin board at the office.
Yes. You can switch between light and dark mode using the toggle in the footer of any page. Your preference is saved automatically so you do not need to set it every time you visit. The grid, admin panel, and all pages are fully styled for both modes.
Games are stored on our servers for an extended period, but games that have been inactive for a very long time may eventually be cleaned up. We recommend taking a screenshot or using the print feature to save a copy of your final grid for your records. That way you have a permanent record even if the game is removed from our servers down the road.
Yes. Anyone with the game link (and the player password, if one is set) can view the board without claiming any squares. This is great for people who just want to follow along and see the scores and winners without being a participant.
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