What Makes ScoreBadger Different From Other Prediction Games?
We are going to do something slightly unusual here and write honestly about our own product. Not a sales pitch - an actual assessment of what ScoreBadger does well, what it does differently, and where other platforms might suit you better. If that sounds like a strange approach for a company blog, good. That is sort of the point.
There are loads of football prediction games out there. Superbru, FPL predictor leagues, betting apps with free-to-play sections, WhatsApp groups where someone keeps score in a spreadsheet. They all work. Some of them are very good. So why would you pick ScoreBadger?
It Is Free - Properly Free
A lot of prediction games call themselves free but the reality is more complicated. Some lock private leagues behind a paywall. Others give you a limited number of predictions before asking you to upgrade. A few are technically free but so heavily monetised with ads that the experience feels like navigating a minefield. We have written a full breakdown of free vs paid models if you want the detailed comparison.
ScoreBadger is free. Not freemium, not free-with-asterisks. The core game - making predictions, creating leagues, competing on leaderboards, inviting your mates - costs nothing. That is a deliberate choice, not a temporary marketing strategy.
We think the prediction game itself should never be behind a paywall. The moment you start charging people to play, you shrink the community. Someone's mate does not join because they do not want to pay. A work league falls apart because half the office is not willing to spend money. The game gets worse for everyone.
Scoring That Actually Makes Sense
One of the most common complaints about prediction games is overcomplicated scoring. Bonus points for the first goalscorer, multipliers for certain matches, penalty deductions for late submissions, tiered scoring based on league membership level. It gets messy quickly and it makes the game feel like work.
ScoreBadger uses two tiers of points and that is it. Get the exact score right: 3 points. Get the correct result but wrong scoreline: 1 point. No bonus modifiers, no complexity, no small print.
This sounds like a limitation but it is actually a design decision we feel strongly about. Simple scoring means everyone understands the game immediately. You do not need to read a rules page. You do not need to calculate whether predicting a draw is worth more than predicting a narrow away win. You just predict the score and see what happens.
